DeFi Hacks Happening Every Day; Institutions Are Still Coming
From The Defiant by The Defiant
June 1, 2026 · 57 min
About this episode
The episode discusses recent DeFi hacks, institutional interest in DeFi, and the challenges of operational security.
April saw some of the worst DeFi losses in recent memory, and even OpenZeppelin co-founder Manuel Aráoz warned people to get out. But while CT feels gloomy, institutions are not stepping back - they're leaning in with more diligence, stronger infrastructure requirements, and growing demand for onchain yield.In this livestream, Camila Russo is joined by John Zettler of Kraken, Sunand Raghupathi of Veda, and Anthony DeMartino of Sentora to break down what the latest hacks actually revealed: why many recent attacks look more like supply-chain and key-management failures than pure smart-contract exploits, why DeFi's next big challenge is operational security, and why that does not automatically kill the institutional DeFi thesis.They also unpack Kraken's new Bitcoin Vault, the rise of risk-curated vaults, why enterprises still see onchain finance as inevitable, and why fundamentals may be diverging sharply from price action. If you want the clearest view yet on whether DeFi is actually ready for institutions, this is the debate to watch.
People in this episode
Host: Camila Russo
Guests: John Zettler, Sunand Raghupathi, Anthony DeMartino
Topics covered
- DeFi hacks
- institutional investment
- operational security
- onchain finance
- Bitcoin Vault
- risk-curated vaults
Keywords
- DeFi
- hacks
- institutions
- operational security
- Bitcoin Vault
- onchain yield
- smart contracts
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Kraken, Veda, Sentora, OpenZeppelin
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