The cryptocurrency ecosystem was hit by yet another exploit as hackers drained $128 million from the decentralized finance (Defi) protocol Balancer. In more positive developments, Google Finance has announced plans to incorporate prediction market data from Kalshi and Polymarket in search results over the next few weeks. Here are some of the other major developments in the past week. DeFi The total value locked (TVL) into decentralized finance protocols has risen 40% since late September on Flare’s blockchain for data. The surge has been driven by demand for an asset that has very little to do with DeFi for most of its history: XRP. Technology Google Finance has announced it is incorporating prediction market data from Kalshi and Polymarket in its search results. The implementation will be completed over the next few weeks and is part of a new AI-powered upgrade. Business JPMorgan Chase has revealed it holds 5.28 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ETF as of September 30, a 64% increase since June. Institutional investors are pivoting to regulated crypto vehicles and investment products as they look to diversify their holdings and explore Bitcoin ETFs. Western Union has filed another trademark just days after announcing the launch of its own stablecoin in 2026. The trademark could encompass various cryptocurrency-related services. Forward Industries’ Board of Directors has authorized a $1 billion stock buyback program. The program allows the company to repurchase its outstanding common stock through September 30, 2027. The authorization comes as the treasury company filed a resale prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Ripple has closed a $500 million funding round, valuing the company at $40 billion, making it one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency deals of 2025. Citadel Securities, Fortress, and other major funds led the funding round. Ripple has expanded its US institutional offerings with the launch of a new digital asset spot prime brokerage platform for the US market. The launch comes after Ripple’s $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road and enables it to consolidate licenses and infrastructure under Ripple Prime. Web3 The mining arm of KuCoin, KuPool , has appointed Shelton Qui as its Chief Operating Officer. A seasoned figure in the blockchain and mining industry, Qui brings nearly ten years of experience to the role. He has also held key positions, including Marketing Director and Business Development Lead at SparkPool, formerly the world’s largest Ethereum mining pool. Bitcoin.com has partnered with Layer-1 blockchain Concordium to introduce age-verified stablecoin payments to a global user base of over 75 million wallets. The collaboration will see the integration of Concordium’s ‘1-Click Verify & Pay’ technology with the Bitcoin.com wallet to create a compliant, privacy-preserving payment solution. DogLibre was born out of a moment of helplessness, and uses technology, creativity, and community to reimagine how we care for dogs. The team comes from a diverse background and has worked on projects like MakerDAO and Decentraland. BTCC has revealed that trading activity on its tokenization of real-world asset (RWA) futures reached $29.2 billion USDT across the second and third quarters of 2025. This indicates a jump in on-chain demand for traditional asset exposure, with the RWA market crossing $30 billion in overall value. Momentum behind Donut Labs is growing ahead of what it calls the decentralized finance industry’s first agentic crypto browser. The company also announced it has raised $22 million in funding, just six months after announcing its mission to transform DeFi through agentic automation. Security Decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Balancer has lost $128 million after falling victim to a major exploit. According to available on-chain data, hackers drained osETH, WETH, and wstETH from the protocol’s vaults. The hacker is already consolidating the stolen assets, raising concerns about money laundering. The Berachain Foundation has confirmed the recovery of $12.8 million stolen during the BEX/Balancer v2 exploit. The foundation also distributed an emergency hard fork following the hack to address a vulnerability in its decentralized exchange. The US Appeals Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by an individual convicted of identity theft. The man claimed that the FBI seized and wiped a hard drive that contained over 3,400 BTC belonging to him. Regulation The United States has sanctioned a group of North Korean bankers and institutions accused of laundering millions of dollars linked to cyberattacks and illicit IT work schemes. According to US authorities, the laundered funds were used to fund Pyongyang’s weapons program. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
