Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, Flying Tulip founder Andre Cronje said that DeFi protocols have evolved into a new financial paradigm of “onchain finance,” but have sacrificed some of their inherent immutability and decentralization. Meanwhile, Bitwise’s Matt Hougan expects revenue-capture mechanisms to spread across DeFi applications and layer-1 networks over the next 12 to 24 months and Hong Kong’s regulated stablecoin market moved into distribution as HashKey began offering HKDAP to eligible investors.

‘DeFi doesn’t exist anymore,’ just onchain finance: Andre Cronje

Most decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols are no longer truly decentralized, according to Andre Cronje, founder of DeFi platform Flying Tulip and creator of Fantom Network.

“I don’t think DeFi exists anymore outside of those very small niches,” Cronje told Cointelegraph during Thursday’s Chain Reaction X Spaces show. 

He argued that “true DeFi” needs to be decentralized, immutable and without an intermediary, adding: “That statement isn’t really true for pretty much any other protocols running today.”

It’s an idea that Cronje has been raising for months. Earlier this year, he said much of DeFi is “no longer DeFi” in the strict sense, as builders debate whether circuit breakers and other emergency controls are now necessary to protect users from exploits. 

Total value locked (TVL) in DeFi more than halved over the past 10 months, to $75 billion at the time of writing from $167 billion in early October 2025, according to DefiLlama.

Crypto valuations could double as protocols link revenue to tokens: Bitwise CIO

Crypto valuations could at least double as protocols increasingly use revenue to fund token buybacks and burns, according to Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan. 

On Wednesday, Hougan said crypto outside of Bitcoin is becoming a revenue-driven market in which network activity feeds into native-token value. He said investors have not priced in that change, leaving some crypto assets undervalued.

Hougan pointed to Hyperliquid, Uniswap, Aave, Pump.fun and Lighter, protocols that use fees to repurchase or remove tokens from circulation. He said he expects decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and layer-1 networks to adopt similar revenue-capture mechanisms over the next 12 to 24 months. 

Stronger links between protocol revenue and token value could give investors conventional valuation metrics, Hougan said, adding that token holders lack shareholders’ legal claims to cash flow and that community-set tokenomics can change.

Hong Kong’s stablecoin push moves from licensing to distribution

HashKey Exchange has become an authorized distributor for Anchorpoint Financial’s Hong Kong dollar-backed HKDAP stablecoin, opening beta access to eligible institutions and professional investors as the city’s regulated stablecoin market begins to develop.

HashKey said it has already completed its first HKDAP minting and redemption transaction with eligible clients, including fiat on- and off-ramping. HashKey and Anchorpoint plan to broaden distribution and explore applications spanning cross-border payments, settlement and tokenized finance.

HKDAP, short for “HKD At Par,” is designed as regulated tokenized money backed by the Hong Kong dollar. Its issuer, Anchorpoint, is a joint venture between Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), HKT and Animoca Brands and was among the first companies licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to issue stablecoins.

The rollout marks an early test of Hong Kong’s new stablecoin framework as the city tries to build a market beyond US dollar-pegged tokens. Citi has estimated Hong Kong dollar stablecoin circulation could eventually reach $16 billion, although current adoption data remains limited.