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Beeple turns ETHDenver into a post-apocalyptic wasteland

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Beeple turns ETHDenver into a post-apocalyptic wasteland

The latest ETHDenver conference, which got underway earlier this week, has been depicted as a post-apocalyptic wasteland of crumbling booths and discarded conference swag in a new painting by renowned NFT artist Beeple.

Ethereum has declined 29% over the past 12 months, costing investors over $90 billion in market capitalization.

In an effort to convey the sheer scale of the collapse, Beeple, who’s one of the highest-earning NFT creators in history, has created a nightmarish scene that imagines a decrepit venue stacked with trash, pigeons, stray dogs, and destitute attendees.

Tattered signs hang from the ceiling and trash boxes are filled with worthless merchandise from prior campaigns like DeFi Summer, NFTs, and memecoins.

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The image immediately resonated on Crypto Twitter and spurred users to post their own wasteland jokes. One likened ETHDenver to Skid Row, a famous homeless area of downtown Los Angeles.

Read more: Beeple NFT tops almost every ‘Old World Masters’ ever auctioned

ETHDenver stats crater

Attendance at the flagship Ethereum conference, which once rivaled the largest Bitcoin conference from 2023-2024, has collapsed this year. Indeed, ticket sales have dipped below 10,000 from a previous 25,000 high.

The number of side events planned a month in advance, such as mixers, afterparties, and workshops, also fell 85% from last year’s 668.

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I have to say that this was the internal monologue of most of the attendees at ETHDenver,” agreed one attendee.

“The show was about 1/10th the size of last year’s. Probably a lot more reminiscent of ETHDenver 2019 and not what we would have expected for ETHDenver 2026.”

“Hilarious Trump even said no ETHDenver and threw a crypto event at Mar a Lago,” noted another observer.

The Trump family’s crypto forum in Palm Beach, Florida and a White House stablecoin meeting directly conflicted with the dates of ETHDenver 2026.

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Others disagreed entirely. Indeed, Jesse Pollack posted a stream of positive updates, as did other Ethereum permabulls like David Hoffman.

Several users posted photos and videos from the conference floor under Beeple’s art to contest his characterization.

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin ignored the social drama entirely, quietly posting technical updates. The Ethereum Foundation posted its 2026 roadmap to minimal media attention.

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Crypto World

Aave V3 Avoided Unrecovered Bad Debt From 2023 to 2025: Study

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Aave V3 Avoided Unrecovered Bad Debt From 2023 to 2025: Study

A Bank of Canada staff paper found that Aave V3 reported zero non-performing loans in 2024, with overcollateralization and automated liquidations helping prevent lender losses in its Ethereum lending market.

Using transaction-level data from Jan. 27, 2023, to May 6, 2025, the study found that positions were typically liquidated before collateral values fell below outstanding debt, helping contain lender losses across the sample.

But the model came with a tradeoff, the paper said. While it protected lenders from unrecovered losses, it also shifted risk onto borrowers and constrained capital efficiency compared with traditional lending systems.

According to the paper, Aave V3’s design relies on automated risk controls rather than traditional underwriting, requiring borrowers to post more collateral than they borrow and liquidating positions when they breach risk thresholds.

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Daily lending earnings, circulating supply, and borrowing volumes (USD) on Aave V3. Source: Bank of Canada

Recursive leverage fueled borrowing demand

According to the paper, Aave V3’s lending activity was not driven solely by users seeking liquidity. It found that recursive leverage accounted for over 20% of total borrowed volume and 8.2% of borrowing transactions during the sample period. 

Recursive leverage involves repeatedly borrowing against collateral, redeploying the borrowed assets as new collateral and borrowing again to amplify exposure.

Related: Aave V4 goes live on Ethereum after governance vote clears rollout

The study said the dynamic made borrowers more exposed when markets turned. According to the paper, liquidations on Aave V3 tended to occur in concentrated waves, with four assets accounting for 90% of total liquidated value. 

This includes Wrapped Ether (WETH), Wrapped Staked Ether (wstETH), Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) and Wrapped eETH (weETH).

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The paper estimated that borrower losses during major liquidation events could be significant. It said liquidation fees typically ranged from 5% to 10% of liquidated value, while missed gains from subsequent price recoveries pushed combined losses to about 10% to 30% in some cases. 

The staff paper suggested that while the design for Aave V3 helped prevent unrecovered bad debt in the sample, it did so by exposing borrowers to abrupt losses when collateral prices fell sharply. 

Cointelegraph reached out to Aave for comment but did not receive a response before publication.

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