A recent $292 million cyber attack on April 18 has had a significant impact on the DeFi sector, but it has shown its ability to withstand such incidents, according to Standard Chartered. The attack on KelpDAO had a ripple effect on AAVE, the largest DeFi lender, as stolen tokens were used as collateral to borrow other assets, resulting in a sharp liquidity crunch. Despite this, the bank expects tokenized real-world assets to reach a $2 trillion market cap by the end of 2028, driven by the continued growth of DeFi lending and stablecoin liquidity.
The report highlights the resilience of the sector, with AAVE and other DeFi firms committing over $300 million to stabilize the system, and the incident is expected to accelerate structural upgrades, including AAVE's V4 upgrade and the forthcoming Ethereum Economic Zone, aimed at reducing reliance on cross-chain bridges.