Bitcoin hits $103K but DeFi is a mixed bag: Finance Redefined

The cryptocurrency market continued to surge this past week as the overall digital asset market capitalization exceeded $3.27 trillion, an 8.6% increase over the previous week.

Bitcoin (BTC) reached a high of $103,600 on May 8 after reclaiming $100,000 for the first time since January. Its market dominance also surged above 60%, reflecting more bullish BTC sentiment. This marked the third time BTC has broken through six figures since it reached the milestone on Dec. 5, 2024, and again on Jan. 20, ahead of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration. 

The BTC rise coincided with Trump announcing a trade deal with the United Kingdom, which may include removing a 10% blanket tariff on all imports.

In the wider crypto space, Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade implemented much-needed improvements for the crypto ecosystem. The upgrade was followed by a 26% price surge for Ether (ETH), rising from $1,800 on May 7 to over $2,300 on May 9.

Bitcoin DeFi sees surge in mining participation despite drop in TVL

Messari’s “State of Rootstock” report for 2025 showed that merged mining participation surged to an all-time high of 81% in Q1 2025, up from 56.4% in the previous quarter. The surge was attributed to onboarding major mining pools SpiderPool and Foundry. 

The influx of mining support boosted Rootstock’s hash power above 740 exahashes per second. This surpassed Bitcoin’s total network hashrate recorded in October 2024, marking a more mature phase for the platform’s merged mining growth. 

The surge in merged mining participation came as Rootstock’s ecosystem faced headwinds. In Q1 2025, Rootstock’s total value locked (TVL) declined. Its Bitcoin TVL dropped 7.2%, while the dollar-denominated TVL fell by over 20% quarter-on-quarter.

This mirrored a broader downward trend across the DeFi sector, with Ethereum-based DeFi TVL showing a 27% decline in the same period.

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Hacken CEO sees “no shift” in crypto security as April hacks hit $357 million 

Crypto hacks in April saw nearly $360 million in assets stolen across 18 incidents. This represented an almost 1,000% increase over the amount lost in March. 

The largest loss came from an unauthorized Bitcoin transfer. On April 28, blockchain investigator ZachXBT reported a suspicious transaction of Bitcoin worth $330 million. He later confirmed that it was a social engineering attack that targeted an elderly American.  

In a Cointelegraph interview at the Token2049 event, Hacken CEO Dyma Budorin told Cointelegraph that the industry continues to rely on limited security measures even after the $1.4 billion Bybit hack incident. Budorin said that the space implements limited measures instead of deploying comprehensive strategies. 

“Most of the projects think, ‘Okay, we did pentests. That’s enough. Maybe bug bounty. That’s enough.’ It’s not enough,” Budorin told Cointelegraph. 

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AI decentralized apps are coming for the Web3 throne: DappRadar

While gaming and DeFi held on to the top spot in the decentralized applications (DApps) ecosystem, artificial intelligence is slowly catching up. 

Blockchain analytics platform DappRadar showed that Gaming and DeFi saw 21% DApp dominance in April. However, AI DApps climbed to 16%, up from the 11% recorded in the platform’s February data. 

“As user interest in artificial intelligence tools grows across industries, AI-powered DApps are steadily carving out their place in the decentralized ecosystem,” DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas said.

Gherghelas added that if the trend continues, AI could challenge the dominance of DeFi and gaming, signaling a “new era” in the DApp landscape. 

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Bitcoin-backed loans “obvious” next step — Xapo Bank CEO

Bitcoin holders are becoming more confident in using their BTC to borrow funds. In a Token2049 interview, Xapo Bank CEO Seamus Rocca told Cointelegraph that investors’ moods have shifted from short-term speculation to a more long-term outlook on Bitcoin. 

Rocca said that the confidence comes from broader institutional adoption and Bitcoin’s price levels that are “nowhere near” liquidation. 

Rocca said Bitcoin-backed loans allow holders to stay exposed to the asset when facing unexpected expenses. The executive said the smart thing to do is not sell the asset when the price increases.

However, when life gets in the way, Rocca said investors can avoid liquidating their Bitcoin by borrowing against the asset and paying interest. This way, they can hold on to the assets despite needing liquidity for their expenses. 

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DeFi Market Overview

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the green.

The memecoin Pepe (PEPE) rose by over 53% as the week’s biggest gainer, followed by the Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) token, which was up by 47% during the past week. Ether (ETH) was the third-biggest gainer, showing an increase of 35%.

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.