Total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (DeFi) has fallen by about 39% in 2026 so far, declining to just over $70 billion from roughly $115 billion in January.

A Wednesday report from crypto data aggregator CryptoRank attributed the decline to the broader market correction that followed the October 2025 crypto market peak.

After Bitcoin reached a record high above $122,000, a market-wide liquidation event on Oct. 10, 2025, erased more than $19 billion in leveraged positions and accelerated a deleveraging cycle across digital assets.

Despite the decline, CryptoRank noted that the current drawdown remains far smaller than during the 2021-2022 bear market, suggesting a more resilient DeFi market.

DeFi TVL, 1-year chart, monthly. Source: CryptoRank

Fallout from Kelp DAO exploit accelerated the DeFi TVL decline: analyst

CryptoRank said security incidents added another layer of pressure on DeFi in 2026, with 121 hacks and roughly $942 million in losses year-to-date. While exploits were not the primary driver of the decline, the data provider said their frequency likely weighed on user confidence and reinforced capital outflows from DeFi.

According to Nicolai Søndergaard, senior research analyst at crypto intelligence platform Nansen, the fallout from the $293 million Kelp DAO exploit on April 18 compressed into days what would otherwise have been weeks of DeFi outflows. Aave users withdrew about $15 billion in deposits in the four days following the exploit.

Related: CryptoQuant warns on Strategy’s dividend coverage as cash reserve falls 38%

The second quarter of 2026 became the most-hacked quarter on record by incident count, with 83 exploits targeting crypto protocols. However, the $755 million stolen during the quarter remained well below the $3.56 billion lost in the fourth quarter of 2020, the costliest quarter for crypto hacks on record.

The falling total value stolen is not due to more robust industry security but a sign that hackers are expanding their attack surface, according to Dmytro Matviiv, CEO of crowdsourced security and bug bounty platform HackenProof. He told Cointelegraph that the lower aggregate losses are “misread as progress,” but only the leading protocols have become harder to exploit, forcing attackers to expand their attack surface.

Alvin Kan, chief operating officer at Bitget Wallet, said that the cyber exploits are making users more cautious, but added that these may also result in capital leaving “weaker” DeFi protocols for those with “stronger venues and clearer yield models,” leading to more industry consolidation.

Magazine: Bitcoin, the ‘canary in the coal mine,’ XRP transaction demand falls 91.5%: Market Moves

Gold and silver have both retreated sharply from their January 2025 highs, falling below key psychological milestones. Gold is down roughly 28% from its January peak of $5,600 and now trading below $4,000 per ounce, while silver has fallen more than 50%, slipping beneath $59 per ounce on Wednesday.

The sell-off has been driven largely by growing fears of tighter monetary policy under new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh. Markets are currently pricing in two 25 basis point rate hikes by March 2027, which would lift the federal funds rate to 4.00%-4.25% due to renewed inflation fears.

The reversal marks a dramatic shift from the dominant macro narrative of 2025, the “debasement trade“, the belief that persistent fiscal deficits and rising government debt would continue to erode the purchasing power of fiat currencies.

Bitcoin, however, largely stagnated throughout much of 2025, trading around the $100,000 level while gold and silver rallied aggressively. The divergence led many investors to question whether bitcoin still belonged in the debasement trade and whether its role as a hedge against fiat currency dilution had weakened.

TLDR

• Qualcomm confirmed its acquisition of AI infrastructure software provider Modular, with the transaction reportedly valued at approximately $4 billion according to Bloomberg.
• The acquisition brings software capabilities that enable AI model deployment across various hardware platforms, supporting Qualcomm’s data center ambitions.
• Modular’s valuation has surged significantly from $1.6 billion following a $250 million funding round completed nine months prior.
• Shares of QCOM gained 1.1% in premarket hours following an 8% decline Tuesday, with the stock posting 57% gains over the last three-month period.
• The acquisition announcement coincided with Qualcomm’s investor day Wednesday, where the company planned to reveal a major data center chip partnership and unveil next-gen processor details.

Qualcomm (QCOM) announced its agreement to purchase Modular, a company specializing in AI infrastructure software, in a transaction that Bloomberg sources estimate at roughly $4 billion. The chipmaker has not publicly disclosed the official acquisition price.

QUALCOMM Incorporated, QCOM

Shares of QCOM advanced 1.1% during premarket Wednesday trading, rebounding from an 8% slide in the previous session. The semiconductor company’s stock has surged 57% during the past three-month timeframe.

Established in 2022, Modular has secured $380 million in total capital, with its most recent financing being a $250 million investment round completed in September 2025. The company carried a $1.6 billion valuation following that funding round — meaning the reported $4 billion purchase price represents more than a 2.5-fold increase in less than twelve months.

Qualcomm indicated the transaction should finalize during the latter half of 2026.

Modular’s technology provides software infrastructure that allows developers and enterprises to deploy AI models with optimized performance across diverse hardware architectures. This cross-platform compatibility represents a strategic asset for Qualcomm’s broader objectives.

“The acquisition is expected to strengthen Qualcomm Technologies’ ability to deliver a more optimized AI compute layer across a broad range of platforms and use cases,” Qualcomm said in a statement.

The company added that it “deepens the software foundation for Qualcomm Technologies’ data center strategy.”

The chipmaker has intensified its data center expansion efforts as part of a strategy to diversify beyond the smartphone chip sector, which experiences significant market fluctuations.

What Analysts Are Saying

Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, provided commentary on the transaction, highlighting the difference between Qualcomm‘s existing strengths and Modular’s complementary capabilities.

“Qualcomm is very good at edge enabling software, but that’s not the same as data center software capability,” Moorhead said. “Strategically, this could help to better answer the data center question.”

The observation holds merit. While Qualcomm has established strong AI chip positioning in edge computing applications — including smartphones, personal computers, and automotive systems — the data center segment presents distinct challenges, and Modular’s technology addresses that capability gap.

Investor Day in Focus

Qualcomm’s investor day also took place Wednesday, an event drawing significant market attention as analysts anticipated the company would identify a major data center chip client.

Information regarding Qualcomm’s upcoming processor architecture was also expected to be shared, further heightening investor attention surrounding the stock.

In separate reporting, The Information indicated that Qualcomm is pursuing discussions to acquire AI chip developer Tenstorrent in a transaction estimated between $8 billion and $10 billion. Neither company has confirmed those negotiations.

Qualcomm has not publicly revealed the financial terms of the Modular acquisition, and company representatives declined to provide pricing details when approached by Barron’s.

• KuCoin Pay expands crypto payments to Bangladesh, Mexico, and Zambia.
• Platform links stablecoins with local banks and mobile money rails.
• KuCoin targets real-world crypto use in high-growth emerging markets.

KuCoin Pay, the cryptocurrency payment platform developed by KuCoin, has expanded its transfer-based payment capabilities across Bangladesh, Mexico, and Zambia.

The move aims to connect digital assets with widely used local payment systems in high-growth markets.

The rollout integrates cryptocurrencies and stablecoins with established banking and payment networks across the three markets.

These include the bKash and Nagad mobile payment platforms in Bangladesh, SPEI-compatible bank transfer routes in Mexico, and mobile money services offered by MTN Group and Airtel Africa in Zambia.

The expansion reflects the growing role of local bank transfers and mobile money services in emerging economies, where consumers increasingly rely on these systems for salary payments, remittances, merchant transactions, and peer-to-peer transfers.

Integration with local financial infrastructure

KuCoin Pay said its platform is designed to integrate digital assets with familiar financial systems, reducing the complexity often associated with moving cryptocurrencies into everyday financial activity.

The company noted that its technology supports localized payment routing through deep integration with local banking and payment rails.

Rather than requiring users to navigate complex backend processes, the platform identifies appropriate payment routes through a unified technical interface.

According to the company, this approach allows digital asset transactions to function more like traditional e-wallets, mobile money services, or local bank transfer tools.

By connecting cryptocurrencies and stablecoins with existing financial infrastructure, KuCoin Pay aims to make digital assets more practical for real-world use cases while reducing friction and simplifying the transfer process.

Focus on practical crypto applications

KuCoin executives said payments represent one of the most important pathways for digital assets to gain broader utility within the real economy.

“Crypto is emerging as a new asset class with growing relevance in the real economy, and payments are one of the most important ways for this value to reach users,” said Alicia Kao, Managing Director of KuCoin.

“Through KuCoin Pay, we are building trusted and localized connections between digital assets and existing banking, mobile money and transfer rails. By integrating crypto with the financial systems people already use, we are helping digital assets move beyond holding and trading into practical financial activity, while supporting more inclusive and future-ready financial ecosystems in high-growth markets.”

The company said the expansion is intended to improve accessibility to digital assets by enabling users to interact with cryptocurrencies through payment systems they already use in their daily lives.

Further expansion planned

Looking ahead, KuCoin Pay said it plans to continue expanding compatibility with local banking and payment systems in additional markets.

The company also intends to improve technical response speeds and broaden practical cryptocurrency payment applications across supported regions worldwide.

The latest expansion underscores a broader industry trend toward integrating digital assets with existing financial infrastructure, particularly in emerging markets where mobile money and local transfer networks play an increasingly central role in everyday commerce and financial inclusion.