A wave of high-profile crypto hacks is raising fresh concerns among Wall Street firms about the risks of decentralised finance, even as broader blockchain adoption continues.
Recent exploits, including attacks on KelpDAO and Drift Protocol, have exposed vulnerabilities in cross-chain infrastructure, a key component of the industry’s next growth phase.
“I totally agree with you that this is going to hurt the DeFi story,”
Said Noelle Acheson, adding:
“It’s not going to hurt the tokenisation story at all.”
Acheson said most institutional activity already occurs on permissioned blockchains, limiting direct exposure to DeFi risks, though interoperability remains critical to the long-term value of tokenisation.
The fallout has also intensified scrutiny on stablecoin issuers, particularly after a lawsuit against Circle alleged it failed to freeze funds linked to a major exploit.
“If we don’t sort this out… that could keep large institutions away from stable coins period,”
Acheson said, warning of growing regulatory uncertainty.
Circle has defended its approach, stating it only freezes assets when legally required, as debates continue over the role of stablecoin issuers in responding to security incidents.