Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, the CFTC moved to explore cryptocurrency regulation as the CLARITY Act remains stalled in Congress. Meanwhile, Flying Tulip founder Andre Cronje argued that most DeFi protocols have evolved into “onchain finance” after sacrificing decentralization and immutability, while Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said crypto valuations could at least double as more protocols link revenue to token buybacks and burns.

CFTC moves on crypto rules as CLARITY bill stalls

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will explore cryptocurrency regulation without waiting for Congress to advance the CLARITY Act, following a similar move by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The agency said its Innovation Advisory Committee will meet Aug. 20 to discuss policy issues involving crypto assets, artificial intelligence and prediction markets. Crypto discussions could include regulatory actions to complement future legislation, following the Senate’s failure to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act before its August recess. The SEC is also considering new rules to establish a tailored offering framework for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets, while supporting congressional efforts to pass broader market-structure legislation.

Meanwhile, the CFTC continues to operate with limited leadership. Chair Michael Selig remains its only Senate-confirmed commissioner, leaving four seats vacant on the five-member bipartisan commission.

Lawmakers have urged President Donald Trump to nominate additional commissioners, though no new nominations have been announced. Other CFTC staff are expected to join Selig for the Aug. 20 advisory committee meeting as the agency considers its approach to crypto oversight.

‘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.