In this tutorial, we’ll explore how you can stake and mint Lombard LBTCv on Bybit Web3 Staking with the Bybit Web3 Seed Phrase Wallet. 

In this tutorial, we’ll explore how you can stake BTC to mint 

Please note that in order to get started, you’ll first need to download the Bybit App on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. 

How to stake and mint LBTCv with Bybit Web3 Staking

: Launch the Bybit App on your mobile device and tap on the 

: Deposit BTC into your preferred Bybit Web3 Seed Phrase Wallet BTC address.

: Once you’ve deposited BTC into your wallet address, tap on the 

drop-down and select the BTC address into which you’ve deposited BTC. 

: Input the exact amount of BTC you’d like to stake, and tap on 

 and sign the message to allow this exact amount of BTC to be staked.

 page. Ensure that the amount of BTC is exactly the same as you wish to stake, and tap on 

: Tap on the icon located at the upper-right corner of the screen to check your transaction history.

: You’ll receive LBTCv in three progressive stages:

: Once you’ve received LBTCv, you can check your points (updated every hour).

If you wish to stake more BTC, simply repeat Steps 7 through 12. However, please

that you won’t be able to stake more BTC as long as you haven’t yet received your LBTCv.

To redeem your LBTC, simply scroll down the 

button. Then, wait three days for the successful redemption of LBTC.

If you wish to cancel your redemption, you can do so within these three days.

Beginner

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How to stake and mint Lombard LBTCv with Bybit Web3 Staking

A Chainlink Spot ETF would bridge TradFi and crypto, offering a simplified way to gain exposure to LINK without the complexities of digital wallets or exchanges.

There's been a recent surge in spot ETF applications as investors look for ways to sidestep the rigid frameworks of traditional finance. The success of 

 — drawing billions in inflows — signals a major shift in the way institutions approach crypto investments. 

 networks, is in line for its own Spot ETF. The proposed fund promises a direct, hassle-free way to invest in Chainlink (LINK), eliminating the need to deal with complex 

 and exchanges. This article explores what a Chainlink Spot ETF is, how it would work, its current market impact and what its potential approval could mean for investors and the broader crypto landscape.

A Chainlink Spot ETF is an exchange-traded fund, backed by Chainlink (LINK) tokens, that would directly track the market price of LINK, a cryptocurrency powering decentralized oracle networks, thus enabling investors to gain exposure without directly holding the asset itself.

 (ETF) would offer investors direct exposure to LINK’s price movements without requiring the investors to handle the digital asset directly. 

Authorized Participants (APs), typically large financial institutions or market makers approved by the ETF issuer, play a central role in maintaining liquidity and aligning the ETF’s market price with its net asset value (NAV). These entities facilitate the creation and redemption of ETF shares by acquiring LINK tokens from exchanges or over-the-counter markets, and transferring them to the ETF’s custodian, a regulated entity responsible for secure storage. 

In exchange, the ETF issuer provides APs with newly created shares, which represent fractional ownership of the underlying assets. The shares are then introduced to secondary markets for investors to trade.

Creation, redemption and listing of shares

When redeeming shares, APs collect ETF shares from the market and return them to the issuer, receiving LINK tokens from the custodian in return. These tokens can be sold on the open market or held, depending upon the AP’s strategy. This creation-redemption process enables an 

 mechanism that stabilizes the ETF’s price, relative to its underlying assets. 

If the ETF is trading at a premium to NAV, APs create and sell shares to capitalize on the price difference, pushing the market price downward. Conversely, if the ETF is trading at a discount, APs redeem shares, reducing supply and driving the price upward. This dynamic ensures that the ETF’s market price remains closely tied to LINK’s actual value. 

Shares are listed on exchanges and traded like traditional stocks, integrating seamlessly into existing portfolios while offering potential tax efficiencies. The structure combines the accessibility of conventional investments with the benefits of cryptocurrency exposure, appealing to those seeking indirect participation in LINK’s market movements through a regulated and familiar framework. For investors, the ETF will simplify exposure to Chainlink by eliminating the need to manage 

 or wallets, or navigate complex crypto exchanges. 

The Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF, which includes Chainlink (LINK), has gained attention as a significant development in the crypto ETF space. This ETF, 

 in February 2025 and currently provides exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

 with the SEC on Mar 14, 2025 to expand the ETF's scope to include additional cryptocurrencies like LINK, ADA and SOL. This application remains the sole filing for a Spot Link ETF (as of Mar 20, 2025). While the SEC has approved the fund's initial structure, its response to the inclusion of Chainlink and other assets remains pending.

The SEC has historically been cautious about approving spot cryptocurrency ETFs, due to concerns about market manipulation and investor protection. However, the approval of multi-asset ETFs such as NCIQ signals a potential shift in regulatory attitudes. Market sentiment has been cautiously optimistic, with investors viewing these developments as a step toward broader acceptance and integration of cryptocurrencies into traditional financial systems. The timeline for the approval of Chainlink Spot ETFs remains uncertain, but growing institutional interest and regulatory advancements suggest progress in the near future.

Current impact of Chainlink Spot ETF applications on the crypto market

The anticipation surrounding Chainlink Spot ETF applications is clearly influencing market sentiment. Although Chainlink's price hasn’t yet surged dramatically, increased investor interest and speculation about potential ETF approvals have boosted overall optimism. 

Data from LINK and CoinGlass reveals that 

 have fallen to 138.8 million coins, the lowest since September 2024, indicating that investors are holding onto their tokens in self-custody wallets instead of selling. This trend reflects a growing belief that SEC approval for a Spot LINK ETF could substantially boost the token’s price. In addition, Chainlink’s role as one of the largest oracle networks and its innovative cross-chain interoperability protocol for asset tokenization further reinforce this positive outlook.

What will it mean if a Chainlink Spot ETF application is approved?

The approval of a Chainlink Spot ETF would have some significant implications for both the cryptocurrency market and traditional financial sectors, as follows.

If you’re looking to capture the market and trade LINK tokens, Bybit offers the 

A Chainlink Spot ETF would connect cryptocurrency with traditional finance by allowing investors to track LINK’s price without the complications of managing digital wallets. Specifically, it would keep the ETF's price in line with LINK’s market value, increase liquidity and attract institutional investors. Approval of a Chainlink Spot ETF could drive LINK's price higher, similar to trends seen with Bitcoin ETFs, and confirm Chainlink’s importance in the crypto ecosystem, encouraging its use across various industries. 

However, investors need to be cautious of potential short-term price swings and changes in regulations. Overall, this ETF would make crypto investing simpler for a broader audience, strengthening Chainlink’s position and supporting wider acceptance of blockchain technology in the financial world.

Intermediate

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Chainlink Spot ETF: A gateway to decentralized oracle investment

Huma Finance 2.0, a composable platform built on Solana, introduces real-world yield derived from global payment financing.

The S&P 500 fell 3.5% as renewed U.S.-China trade tensions erased gains from Trump’s tariff pause. Investors now await consumer sentiment data and bank earnings. Gold jumped 2.6% to a record $3,171 amid U.S.-China trade tensions, weaker dollar, and rising Fed rate cut bets. The Coindesk Indices, which tracks the broader crypto market, are down by 1.50%, with Bitcoin and Ether down 3.29% and 8.79% respectively in the past 24 hours. Trade these markets and more with up to 500x leverage on Bybit MT5 using this 

Today's top performer is ZRC, up 34.3%, followed by Zircuit's partnership with Diffuse Protocol to enhance the DeFi ecosystem with real-time data and secure cross-chain interoperability.

Zircuit (ZRC), founded in 2021, is a hybrid Layer 2 blockchain combining optimistic and ZK rollups, offering fast transactions, low costs, and strong security through AI-driven monitoring. EVM-compatible and designed for DeFi, it supports staking and asset transfers via its Liquidity Hub and secure native bridge. Zircuit has 

 with Diffuse Protocol to enhance its platform. Diffuse provides real-time verifiable data feeds, trustless cross-chain data streams, and restaking of assets with collateral abstraction, further strengthening Zircuit's AI-powered hybrid zkEVM and boosting its DeFi ecosystem.

Check out the latest prices, charts, and data of 

, a composable platform built on Solana, introduces real-world yield derived from global payment financing. The platform offers two options: Classic Mode for stable USDC yield and Maxi Mode for increased rewards through Huma Feathers. Through the $PST token, users can engage with DeFi protocols, swap tokens, and use them as collateral. Huma Finance has already processed over $3.8 billion in transactions, providing reliable yields sourced from payment-financing fees instead of market speculation. Huma 2.0 aims to bring a new liquidity model to DeFi, offering a more stable alternative to traditional financial cycles.

Yesterday, Bitcoin spot ETFs saw $149.5M in net outflows, with $44.6M from GBTC and $104.9M from other ETFs.

 has raised an additional $10M in its Series B round, bringing total funding to $35.5M with backing from a16z and other top investors. Users can boost their airdrop points by joining Towns, especially higher-priced ones, and by engaging through daily actions like tipping, inviting friends, and participating in different communities.

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Huma Finance 2.0 launches on Solana, introducing real-world yield and composable DeFi integration

VeBetterDAO (B3TR) rewards eco-friendly actions with crypto, using VeChain's blockchain to power a transparent, community-driven path to sustainability.

Sustainability is the name of the game these days, both in the blockchain industry and in the wider business world. Companies large and small are joining carbon credit programs, initiating sustainability weeks and engaging in other environmental actions, both to support their green missions and to woo new customers. However, along with the broader sustainability drive, there's been a lot of "greenwashing,” a term that refers to deceptive advertising by businesses to exaggerate their real environmentally focused actions and impact.

In this atmosphere of rampant greenwashing, the ability to reliably verify, record and track sustainability actions by companies is paramount. This is where blockchain technology can prove invaluable. Thanks to its transparent, publicly verifiable, trackable and immutable chain of records, blockchain can be leveraged to accurately validate and prove eco-friendly actions. Most blockchains, however, aren’t specifically geared toward such functionality. Networks such as 

 (ETH) and other leading blockchains have been operating as general-purpose platforms with no specific industry in mind.

 (VET) is one of the few blockchain ecosystems that has made sustainability one of its pillars. The platform is home to several 

 (DApps) with environmentalism in mind. A key green initiative among these DApps is VeBetterDAO (B3TR) — an ecosystem of applications that lets businesses and individuals earn crypto rewards by completing tangible, sustainability-focused actions. Using the power of the VeChain blockchain, VeBetterDAO rewards genuinely sustainable actions by its users, contributing to a greener planet.

 (B3TR) is an ecosystem of sustainability-focused DApps on the VeChain platform designed to reward businesses and individuals for their environmentally friendly actions

 (DAO) driven by a community voting system that encourages contributions to making our planet cleaner for future generations. VeBetterDAO users can earn sustainability-focused crypto rewards by leveraging the DApps within the DAO’s ecosystem.

These DApps offer reward opportunities through actions like using environmentally friendly coffee cups, avoiding plastic bags, conserving energy, using cleaner public transport modes and planting trees. Many apps involve users sharing photos of their actions, or items that promote sustainability. For instance, the 

 app allows users to take a snapshot of their coffee routine to demonstrate the use of recyclable material.

The apps within the VeBetterDAO platform are called X2Earn Apps, with the “X” in the name referring to a placeholder for a specific app, e.g., Plant2Earn for an app that rewards users for planting trees or Sweat2Earn for a fitness-related app.

VeChain is a blockchain platform that powers VeBetterDAO. Technically speaking, VeChain refers to the overall 

 project, with sustainability promotion as one of its key goals. The actual blockchain network of the VeChain platform is called VeChainThor, although it’s often referred to simply as VeChain. 

 network that features high levels of scalability, low costs and a mechanism for tokenizing and tracking environmental contributions. Its enterprise-level blockchain is used by businesses in industries where accurate proving and tracking of sustainable and clean materials and products used along the supply chain is important. For instance, supermarkets can use the chain to track the origins of produce delivered to their warehouses to ensure that they indeed come from the claimed green sources.

VeChain was founded by Sunny Lu, a technology executive with a strong background in luxury retail and enterprise IT. The VeChain Foundation, launched by Lu in Singapore in 2017, supports the platform's development. The organization collaborates closely with the world-renowned Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to drive innovation in areas like sustainability and 

 (RWA) tokenization. The VeBetterDAO initiative was launched by the VeChain team in November 2024.

Creators are entities that launch sustainability-focused DApps within the VeBetterDAO ecosystem. The platform uses an endorsement process to ensure that only genuine creators can offer their solutions via the DAO. To qualify for listing on VeBetterDAO, creators need an endorsement from VeChain 

. Creators start the process by submitting an application form. If, after conducting background checks, the platform’s review panel accepts the creator, the creator is issued an X2Earn Creator NFT — a 

 that provides proof of initial qualification.

After receiving their Creator NFT, creators can submit their apps for further on-chain endorsement. At this stage, they join the VeBetterDAO platform and will need to be endorsed by VeChain nodes to qualify for funding allocations from the DAO.

As the app is endorsed by the nodes, it accumulates points that count toward qualifying for funding allocation. To qualify for funding, the app must earn at least 100 points from endorsers.

VeChain node operators act as endorsers for DApps on the DAO. Each node, represented by a 

 (NFT), can only endorse one app at a time. The network has different node types, with each type's endorsement carrying a different weight. As noted above, a DApp needs a total score of at least 100 from these endorsements to qualify for DAO funding. The table below summarizes the number of points creators can receive from endorsers, based on each NFT node type:

VeBetterDAO members are responsible for the platform's community-driven governance. To qualify for governance membership in the DAO, users must hold VOT3 — one of the two tokens utilized by the platform. VOT3 token holders can submit proposals to improve or change the way the DAO and its ecosystem operate. In order to activate a proposal, you'll need to deposit VOT3 tokens.

At the initial stage, the proposal is discussed in the DAO's forum. If it gains traction, the proposal will move on to a formal vote. During the formal vote, holders of VOT3 can support or reject the proposal or abstain.

VeBetterDAO uses a quadratic vote calculation model that’s designed to give more power to proposals supported by many members, even if the collective value of their VOT3 holdings is relatively minor. In contrast, if a proposal gains the support of a small number of members with significant VOT3 holdings, the quadratic calculation model is designed to attenuate the final score achieved by the proposal. This system is designed to avoid the usurpation of voting power by a small group of actors with substantial governance token funds.

VePassport is a bot detection system implemented by VeChain. It allows DApps on the network — including VeBetterDAO, and the sustainability apps within the DAO's ecosystem — to identify whether a 

 belongs to a real human or a bot. The DAO uses the VePassport detection mechanism during the voting process, which is vital for preventing bots from manipulating the platform's governance processes.

VePassport uses an extensive number of indicators to identify bot wallets, such as checking blacklists, tracking the wallet's actions within a certain period and verifying the user's investment amount. An identity verification mechanism may also be incorporated into VePassport in the future.

Besides being a bot detector, VePassport distributes weekly governance rewards to real users who achieve minimum qualification criteria. There are two criteria for eligibility: 1) Acquire a Moon tier GM NFT, and 2) use Better apps at least three times per quarter.

You can upgrade your GM NFT by donating B3TR tokens to the VeBetterDAO Treasury to unlock more rewards. The GM NFT features 10 levels in total. For example, the Moon tier, the second level, costs 10,000 B3TR and gives you a reward multiplier of 1.1x.

B3TR is VeBetterDAO’s main utility and reward token. Sustainability app users earn rewards in B3TR from their environmentally friendly activities. The token is also used when the DAO allocates funding to participating DApps. B3TR’s maximum supply is capped at 1 billion. The token was launched on VeChain in late November 2024, and has a regular weekly supply emission schedule designed to release the entire supply of 1 billion tokens over 12 years.

The token’s total finalized supply allocation shares (for the entire 1 billion B3TR) are divided into three major pools — X-allocations, Vote2Earn and the DAO’s Treasury. Some notes:

The table below shows the percentages of the total supply allocated to each pool:

, is pegged 1:1 to B3TR. The two tokens can easily be converted into each other. In order to participate in VeBetterDAO governance processes, you must hold VOT3 tokens. Activating proposals also requires a deposit of VOT3.

Unlike B3TR, VOT3 isn’t tradable on secondary markets, since it’s designed solely to support internal governance processes within VeBetterDAO. The only way to obtain VOT3 is by swapping B3TR tokens.

As of Apr 11, 2025, the B3TR token is trading at $0.12, which is 79% lower than its ATH of $0.576 on Feb 1, 2025, and 180.7% higher than its ATL of $0.04314 on Dec 20, 2024.

Long-term price forecasts for the B3TR token are mostly bullish.DigitalCoinPrice 

 of $0.39 in 2027 and $0.66 in 2030, respectively, while PricePrediction 

 at around $0.38 in 2027 and $0.99 in 2030.

The B3TR token is available on Bybit’s Spot market as a swap pair with USDT (

). If you don’t have a Bybit account, you can easily 

 and access hundreds of cryptocurrencies and trading products on Bybit’s Spot and Derivatives markets.

VeBetterDAO represents VeChain’s major push to establish leadership in the sustainability corner of the crypto industry. As of April 2025, the project is still in the early stages of its market presence, having been operational for less than six months. However, the VeChain platform itself has a multi-year history of promoting environmentally friendly solutions in supply chain and other industries.

Much of VeChain’s earlier reputation for sustainability came from the business sector, because companies could use the chain to benefit from its environmentally focused tokenization and its proving and tracking features. VeBetterDAO is now creating the same kind of opportunities for individual users as well. Actions as simple as using recyclable cutlery, picking up litter or planting a tree can now earn users crypto rewards. Thanks to the DAO’s ecosystem of X2Earn Apps, being rewarded for going green is no longer limited to enterprises, and anyone can contribute to a better planet and earn their rewards in the process — all thanks to VeBetterDAO.

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VeBetterDAO (B3TR): A community-driven approach to a better planet

Bybit Learn

DeFi

Solend is a decentralized lending protocol running on the Solana network. Find out everything about it including its near crash in this detailed article.

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 has been garnering the market’s attention. An algorithmic, decentralized protocol for lending and borrowing built on Solana, Solend opened gateways for Solana users to increase the methods they can employ to profit from the market. With prominent investors such as 

 and many others, Solend gained remarkable traction, achieving 

 just over a month after launch, achieved even prior to liquidity mining opportunities. 

In late June 2022, Solend once again grabbed the front page of several financial news sites. However, this time the reasons weren’t as favorable. Concerns regarding the liquidation of a whale account on Solend left Solana users panic-stricken about a potential major crash, sparking intense discussions. 

In this article, we’ll explore what Solend is, how a major crash almost occurred, and the impact it’s suffered from FTX’s downfall.

, using an algorithmic method to determine interest rates and collateral amounts. 

 in August of 2021. At that time, Solana’s popularity was increasing due to its speedy transactions and low fees. The addition of a lending protocol to the Solana ecosystem attracted a lot of market interest. Users can now earn higher returns than before.

Solend starts with a fairly basic premise: Users can deposit assets to their Solend accounts to earn interest. They can also use these deposits as collateral to take out loans. The platform’s main goal is to decentralize lending. 

Borrowers don’t need to take out a formal long-term loan, or justify their need for it. Instead, the platform enables them to take short-term loans with simpler deposits and no lengthy underwriting process. 

 automatically assign lending limits and collect interest.

In order to use Solend, users need to have a Solana 

. The SOL crypto asset is the backbone of this Solana-based lending protocol. Users can move to different denominations if they want, but SOL is the native currency for the platform. Solend has various "pools" of available crypto assets that operate with different currencies. For example, the 

 lets users work with all 20 of the crypto assets the platform currently supports.

Once users have their Solana wallet connected to the lending platform and they’ve added SOL to their account, they can begin borrowing or lending various types of crypto. The 

 option lets users look at how much interest they can earn, while the 

 option tells users how much they can borrow with their current crypto stake.

Each loan that users take has a liquidation threshold. If crypto values alter in a way that causes the loan to cross the liquidation threshold, users’ assets can be liquidated. The funds then go to the lenders as collateral for the loan.

There are many other similar DeFi lending platforms, such as 

, but Solend’s Solana-based lending protocol has some special features that set it apart.

Many users find Solend helpful for investing because it has low transaction fees. You can quickly borrow and sell crypto without getting hit with excessive transaction fees. Most of the platform's fees are just protocol fees you pay with each loan. These fees contribute to an insurance fund for the platform. 

, though it can vary slightly depending on which vault you use. There are also fees you pay for any Solana network transactions. The first time you interact with the network, you pay a 0.01 SOL fee. Then, for every subsequent transaction, you pay a low fee of around 0.000005 SOL. These fees are much cheaper than transaction fees on most other sites.

Unlike many other lending platforms, Solend prioritizes scalability. It doesn't require users to stick with one type of crypto, or conduct only low-level transactions. Users can leverage a wide range of crypto assets, with more being added to the platform regularly. You can choose from a variety of cryptocurrencies, such as native coins, stablecoins and meme coins, so there’s certainly a lot of versatility.

Despite Solend’s many features, its network isn't confusing to use. One of its most impressive aspects is its streamlined dashboard. Well-organized and visually pleasing, it’s intuitive to use. Most people can get started without requiring extensive tutorials, or confusing statistics that can cause investors to make errors.

A lot of Solend's success may be linked to its 

, which the network launched so that current users can encourage others to sign up through a referral link. The original user receives a small financial bonus when a new user participates. Right now, the financial incentive is set to 20% of each loan's origination fee.

Though the platform has some great perks, using it also comes with some potential problems. Before investing in any Solend strategies, there are a few risks you need to be aware of.

Solend’s liquidations are powered by the price feeds of 

 may report incorrect prices, causing wrongful liquidations to occur.

Given that Solend is an algorithmic, decentralized protocol, the crux of its operating system lies in smart contracts that facilitate the borrowing and lending of crypto assets. However, like any other type of software, these contracts can be a point of vulnerability. They could, for instance, potentially be exploited to steal or permanently freeze funds. 

Note that such risk is inherent to all smart contracts. Despite the fact that this risk cannot be fully eliminated, there are some methods and steps taken to mitigate it:

Solend’s smart contract has undergone a code audit by 

, which pays up to $1 million if a user identifies a critical vulnerability in the code. This incentivizes responsible disclosure instead of hacking.

Solend’s treasury of $20 million can be used as insurance for the Main Pool, should any exploits or hacks cause any of the protocol’s funds to be lost.

Solend's lending protocol only works when users are depositing crypto assets for others to borrow. If there are no crypto assets left in the pool — which would be the case should 100% of the crypto asset be lent out — any future withdrawal or borrowing becomes impossible. This is called 100% utilization, and it can occasionally be an issue.

This problem is resolved as long as users pay back their loans, or more users supply crypto assets to the pool. 

Solend offers over-collateralized loans, meaning that each loan the platform offers must be backed by collateral that’s worth more than the loan itself. However, collateral value is constantly shifting. 

 may determine that your loan is below the threshold. At this point, you can either add more collateral or let your existing collateral be liquidated. However, liquidating your position incurs a penalty. If you aren't paying close attention to your loans and investments, there's a chance you could end up accidentally losing your loan — and having to pay the liquidation costs.

People who lend on Solend’s platform may potentially run into situations where their loans cannot be covered. This can happen during large-scale liquidations or periods of market turmoil. When a lot of assets are liquidated at once, their worth may not be enough to cover the user’s loans, resulting in a negative balance known as bad debt that can harm the lender. 

 to isolate newer or riskier crypto assets. These pools are used to screen crypto assets that have less liquidity and higher volatility, which creates an exploitable opportunity and is deemed a risk for the main pool. In addition, deposit limits and collateralization ratios are also managed for this group of crypto assets.

Any bad debt created is filled via the insurance fund. However, this insurance fund is topped up by transaction fees, a source which isn’t limitless and can potentially run out.

In 2022 alone, Solend has faced multiple tough situations, partly due to the volatile market conditions and the fallout from big institutions failing, which has caused various crypto assets to suffer in price. Here are the three main issues that Solend has had to deal with.

On November 2, 2022, Solend was struck by an oracle exploit, resulting in $1.26 million in bad debt.

Three of its pools — Stable, Coin98 and Kamino USDH — were affected, since the exploit revolved around the 

 (USDH). As a result, these three pools have been disabled, and the exploiter’s address has been made known to exchanges.

FTX’s Downfall and Its Impact on Solend

CEX, has thrown the market into turmoil. Given that the Solana ecosystem had close ties with Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder of FTX, the 

 (TVL) of the DeFi ecosystem has taken a beating, partly attributed to the free-falling price of SOL.

There’s also been an impact on Solend, which had a TVL of over $280 million on November 2 and has since dropped all the way down to $28 million at the time of this writing (Nov. 23, 2022). This is a result of users withdrawing from the protocol, as well as the 

In addition, Solend was faced with an issue pertaining to the liquidation of a whale account. An unidentified whale who had borrowed $44 million against $51 million worth of SOL had to be liquidated, due to the drop in value of SOL collateral. However, on-chain SOL liquidity had taken a huge beating when the price plummeted 43% in 48 hours, and Solend had difficulties liquidating the whale’s account.

In an attempt to attract depositors and incentivize borrowers to repay their loans, thereby improving liquidity, the team at Solend tried to resolve this situation by raising the interest rate on SOL to more than 2,500%. In addition, they also created a Binance account to process the SOL liquidations, since the SOL liquidity was deeper on Binance as compared to the Solana chain itself.

Despite the commendable efforts from the Solend team, which expedited the liquidation of the whale account, Solend now sits with a bad debt of $6.5 million. As Soju, Head of Business Development at Solend, wrote in Solend’s Discord channel, “It’s looking very bad now” as the situation had yet to be fully resolved.

Prior to FTX’s downfall, Solend had encountered difficulties with regard to another whale liquidation in late June 2022. This particular incident took the DeFi space by storm, was intensely discussed by the Crypto Twitter community and appeared in news stories.

One of Solend's key vulnerabilities is that users join together to create a lending pool. This can lead to problems when a single borrower, called a 

, has an outsized presence within the Solana-based lending protocol. The June crash involved a 

 borrower who had an outstanding loan of $108 million worth of USDC and USDT. The borrower's stablecoin loan was backed by $170 million worth of SOL in their Solana wallet.

The whale's loan was the largest single-user loan on Solend, taking up a huge portion of the lending pool. This was fine — as long as SOL prices were high. However, when SOL prices started tanking around June 15, this huge loan became a problem. SOL prices were dropping to $27, so the whale's loan was quickly approaching its liquidating threshold.

Solend’s Developers Try Notifying the Whale

When Solend's developers noticed this issue, their first plan was to notify the lender of the impending liquidation. At this point, another one of the platform's vulnerabilities became apparent: Solend is entirely anonymous, so there’s no way to contact a user — outside of sending a message to their account. Unfortunately for the developers, the whale wasn't checking the messages sent to their own account.

If SOL's price were to reach $22.30 without the whale taking any action, their collateral would have to be liquidated, resulting in over $21 million of SOL being dumped at one time. Users feared a serious amount of fallout for the market. Though SOL is a fairly robust blockchain, with a market cap of around $11 billion, such a huge sale would have caused its value to tank even further.

It was a race against time, with the group desperately trying to notify the lender before the liquidation was set in motion. After private methods of contact failed, they turned to the internet. The developers posted on Reddit and Twitter, begging the borrower to contact them. They even sent an on-chain transaction with a memo, asking the whale to talk to them about the issue. Of course, making the issue public caused further problems. Users were spooked and started to pull their funds, resulting in fewer tokens in the pool and more funds being frozen.

Eventually, Solend was able to use an intermediary to contact the whale and get them to add more collateral to their account. However, before this took place, the platform had been seeking other solutions. They ended up enacting their first 

 (DAO) vote. This essentially required users to join together and vote on proposed solutions to the problem as described below.

Proposal 1: SLND1 — Mitigate Risk From Whales

Solend's first proposed measure was an "emergency powers" package. Named 

, it would have given Solend’s developers more control over users' accounts, allowing the platform to identify whales who represent more than 20% of the borrowing in any given pool. Solend would then have emergency power to take over these accounts in the event of any liquidation. The platform would be able to liquidate the account more slowly, so that lenders would get paid but SOL shares wouldn’t get dumped 

. At the time, this proposal was met with a lot of favor. Solend got just enough voting participation to meet their 1% quorum requirement, and the emergency ballot passed by 97.5%. 

However, users quickly found out that some unsavory dealings had been going on behind the scenes: Struggling to achieve enough user participation to reach a quorum, the platform found a user who owned over 1% of all the turnout tokens. This user’s outsized number of votes swayed the results of the election, while many members of the Solend community had been outspoken about how much they disliked the measure. They felt that it gave the platform too much control over individual users’ accounts, contesting the ethos of decentralization.

Proposal 2: SLND2 — Invalidate SLND1 & Increase Voting Time

Since there was so much public outcry over SLND1, the developers proposed a new measure, 

, which would essentially reverse everything that had been agreed to with SLND1. The new measure proposed both to cancel the idea of giving the Solend team more power over user accounts, and to increase the overall voting time.

This ballot ran into a similar problem as the first proposal. Once again, users were divided, and it mostly came down to the input of the same user, with their outsized voting power. This user initially said they would vote "No" on SLND2, because they didn't want to cave to public pressure. However, at the last minute, they decided to vote "Yes” and the proposal passed. The platform was no longer allowed to access user accounts in an emergency, while users were given more time on future votes.

Proposal 3: SLND3 — Introduce Account Borrowing Limit

After the first two controversial votes, Solend users were becoming fairly anxious. Fortunately, the platform was able to finally get in contact with the whale and work to resolve the ongoing situation. While this was happening, the team also began to work on a new proposal that would hopefully reduce the risks of another such occurrence.

’s ballot measure proposed to reduce borrowing limits for all users. The proposal suggested that, in the future, there should be a borrower ceiling of $50 million. This would hopefully prevent one borrower from being able to take up so many funds from a lending pool. The ballot passed on June 21, and the proposed limit went into effect. Though there was once again the issue of a single user deciding the vote, there was less public outcry because most people believed the new measure was a wise decision.

It's hard to clearly define Solend's effect on SOL, since the two are so closely related. SOL was definitely on the downturn before the lending protocol disaster. In fact, the Solana network crash was the main reason that all of the whale's SOL collateral was almost liquidated in the first place. 

During the days of constant, contradictory proposals, market uncertainty continued to drive SOL prices down. Many investors dumped their SOL out of fear that its value was about to drop further. However, even when the near crash was prevented, as a portion of the whale’s debt was moved to another protocol, the price of SOL didn’t immediately recover. It appeared that stabilizing Solend had prevented a bigger crash, but was unable to improve Solana’s ecosystem as a whole. 

The situation with Solend highlighted some key problems with the protocol. Many investors are now wary of lending to users, as the whale issue highlighted just how easily one bad call could destabilize any lending pool. It’s somewhat reassuring to see that the developers were able to handle things, and to keep users from losing money. However, if there’s a reoccurrence, the outcome may be very different. Despite the newer borrowing limits, there still isn't much regulation in place to prevent the same problem from happening again.

That said, there's no indication that borrowing on the platform or using it to leverage cryptos against each other is potentially disastrous. These sorts of activities don't necessarily run the same risk of drastic harm from a single large liquidation. However, the June 2022 crash did cause a limited lending pool. This could be a problem for investors whose plans involve acting quickly and constantly taking out various loans.

In addition to the practical issue of one whale borrower bringing things to a halt, the June crash also introduced some philosophical problems. Many investors had been drawn to the lending protocol because it claimed to be a DeFi program in which financial decisions weren't based on human error. 

However, all of the SLND proposals ended up coming down to a single user whose votes were heavily influenced by both the developer team and the Twitter outrage. The ability of one voter to purchase so much power shows that Solend may end up being influenced by personal bias and real-world politics just as much as the traditional financial system it criticizes.

SLND’s price has dropped by roughly 97% since its peak in November 2021. Given the current volatile market conditions, and potential contagion effects that could arise from FTX’s fallout, users should be careful when deciding whether to invest in SLND.

Ultimately, Solend’s decentralized lending and borrowing protocol has some exciting features. However, the recent near-crash shows the potential dangers of DeFi lending platforms. Despite claims that Solend’s program is decentralized and algorithmic, it ended up relying entirely on user behavior. Since it's lacking in regulations, this opens up vulnerabilities that can cause real financial damage. Solend’s lending protocol is certainly intriguing to tinker around with, but we'd recommend caution when working with large amounts of funds.

What Is Solend and How Did a Near Crash Almost Cripple It?

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