What happened in crypto today: $101K DeFi hack, MARA’s $1.3B loss, and more

Ethereum developers have launched an initiative to fix a structural flaw that has caused billions in user losses, including the Bybit hack. Outdated DeFi infrastructure can remain vulnerable even after migrating to new architectures, as seen in the Huma Finance exploit.

Notably, Bitcoin [BTC] mining firm MARA posted hefty losses in Q1 2026, with most of that attributable to the crypto downturn.

Here’s a closer look at what happened in crypto today.

An open standard designed to end blind signing

Recently, Ethereum advocates put forth a “clear signing” initiative that will eliminate the “low-level, machine-readable formats” of transaction approval that are accurate but need technical expertise to parse.

Instead, they seek to move towards clear, human-readable, and structured descriptions of what a transaction will do. Wallets can consistently present this information to users.

Bitcoin hopium and the road to a crypto bull market

On the 12th of May, AMBCrypto reported that MARA Holdings saw an 18% drop in Q1 revenue to $176 million. The net loss totaled $1.3 billion, with 90% coming due to the crypto downturn, the company said. The report also noted that the mining company is proceeding with its aggressive AI pivot plans.

CEO of The Bitcoin Bond Company, Pierre Rochard, observed that the current bear market cycle appears to have decoupled from previous ones. The 2015 bear market saw an 85% drawdown, while the 2022 one resulted in a 77% correction to the price bottom.

Meanwhile, this cycle’s low at $60k was only 52% below the ATH. Rochard reasoned that consistent inflows from ETF investors and corporate demand for BTC have led to reduced market volatility.

In other news, Arthur Hayes explained in an essay that war is inflationary, predicting that the recent conflict would see the U.S. Federal Reserve hasten money printing to ease monetary policy. In these conditions, a Bitcoin rally to $126,000 in 2026 would be “a foregone conclusion”, according to Hayes.

DTCC collaborates with Chainlink amid rising DeFi hacks

In a press release, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced that its Collateral AppChain platform will leverage Chainlink’s [LINK] Runtime Environment (CRE) and data standard to enable near real-time collateral management.

The platform is expected to go live in Q4 2026. DTCC’s platform will enable 24/7, near-real-time settlement to reduce delays in today’s collateral system, strengthening the case for integrating blockchains with real-world data.

Digital asset companies Galaxy and SharpLink are set to allocate $125 million in DeFi liquidity protocols and other on-chain yield-bearing strategies. They will achieve this through the Galaxy Sharplink Onchain Yield Fund. It enables the latter to maintain its exposure to Ethereum. The function of DATs also expands from passive holding to actively managed strategies.

Meanwhile, the $101.4k Huma Finance exploit further tarnished the reputation of DeFi. The attacker targeted the flawed account-validation logic, highlighting hidden operational risks in aging DeFi infrastructure.

Final Summary

• The Ethereum Foundation’s One Trillion Dollar Security Initiative is committed to the clear signing initiative. This will end the blind signing that has cost the industry billions.
• Bitcoin hopium was alive and well owing to ETF inflows and corporate demand, combined with inflation from conflict.