The Solana Foundation and security firm Asymmetric Research on Monday introduced STRIDE, a new tiered security initiative aimed at strengthening protections for decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols across the Solana ecosystem through continuous evaluations, real-time threat monitoring, and formal verification. The launch follows last week's Drift Protocol exploit, in which $286 million was stolen in about 12 minutes. STRIDE—short for Solana Trust, Resilience and Infrastructure for DeFi Enterprises—is designed to move the ecosystem away from one-off audits and toward ongoing, foundation-funded coverage scaled to a protocol's size and risk profile. The framework is organized around eight security pillars spanning operational security, access controls, multisig configuration, and governance-related vulnerabilities. Asymmetric Research will perform hands-on reviews of participating projects and publish results in a public repository, giving users and investors visibility into each protocol's security posture. All Solana DeFi protocols can apply, and every participating project will receive an independent evaluation and a published report regardless of size. According to the announcement, protocols that pass STRIDE's assessment and maintain more than $10 million in total value locked (TVL) will qualify for foundation-funded 24/7 operational security support and real-time threat monitoring. Monitoring intensity will be risk-based, with higher-value protocols receiving deeper coverage intended to surface suspicious activity before it escalates. For protocols with more than $100 million in TVL, the Solana Foundation will fund formal verification—a method that uses mathematical proofs to evaluate all possible execution paths in a smart contract, addressing vulnerability classes that traditional audits can miss. STRIDE v0.1 is live now and is expected to iterate as real-world assessments generate feedback. Alongside STRIDE, the foundation also launched the Solana Incident Response Network (SIRN), a coalition of security firms focused on real-time crisis coordination across the ecosystem. Founding members are Asymmetric Research, OtterSec, Neodyme, Squads, and Zeroshadow. SIRN is open to all Solana protocols, with response priority determined by TVL and potential impact. The foundation said STRIDE builds on no-cost tooling already available to the ecosystem, including Hypernative for ecosystem-wide threat detection, Range Security for real-time risk alerts, Neodyme's Riverguard for attack simulation, Sec3 XRay for static analysis, and Auditware Radar for template-based issue detection. Projects such as Squads Multisig, Kamino, and Jupiter Lend have set high internal standards, in some cases undergoing 10 or more audits; STRIDE is intended to extend comparable protections to teams that cannot independently fund that level of coverage. The Solana Foundation also participates in the Crypto Defenders Alliance for cross-industry fraud prevention, positioning STRIDE as a Solana-specific layer alongside broader initiatives. The Drift Protocol breach remains the largest DeFi exploit of 2026 so far. Drift, Solana's biggest perpetuals exchange, saw TVL fall from $550 million to $234 million. Its token, DRIFT, was down more than 37% over the past seven days as of 6:30 p.m. Eastern on Monday, and is 98.5% below its all-time high of $2.60 recorded in November 2024.

On-chain data shows a transfer of 102,656,737 USDC, valued at USD 102,623,373, from Aave to an unidentified whale wallet.

Bitcoin pushed above $70,000 earlier today but quickly ran into heavy selling. With substantial overhead resistance, current levels offer little justification even for speculative buying. Upside appears capped while downside risk remains meaningful. Gold, by contrast, offers a more attractive risk-reward profile.

Fairshake, a cryptocurrency-backed political action committee, said it spent more than $130 million on media buys for the 2024 general election and still has $193 million in campaign funds available as the November 2026 midterm elections approach. Separately, Fellowship PAC said it has raised more than $100 million and named Tether executive Jesse Spiro as its chair.

A proposed SEC "safe harbor" framework for crypto is now headed for review at the White House, according to Atkins. He said the agency expects to release the proposal "shortly."

The Solana Foundation (@SolanaFndn) unveiled a broad set of security initiatives led by Asymmetric Research, introducing continuous threat monitoring, expanded audit coverage for DeFi protocols, and a new rapid-response coalition. Under the STRIDE program, DeFi protocols will be assessed across eight security pillars, with results published publicly. Protocols with more than $10M in total value locked (TVL) will receive 24/7 active threat monitoring funded through Foundation grants. Protocols above $100M TVL will also get Foundation-funded formal verification, a mathematical proof-based approach designed to test every possible execution path. The Foundation also launched the Solana Incident Response Network (SIRN), bringing together Asymmetric Research, OtterSec, Neodyme, Squads, and ZeroShadow to coordinate real-time crisis response. In addition, the Foundation said free security tools are now available to all Solana builders, including Hypernative threat detection, Range Security alerting, Neodyme's Riverguard attack simulation, and Sec3's XRay static analysis. The announcement comes five days after the $285M Drift Protocol hack on April 1, the largest DeFi exploit of 2026 and the second-largest in Solana's history.

A U.S. appeals court has handed Kalshi a major legal win, ruling that New Jersey cannot apply state gambling laws to the company's sports-related event contracts. In a 2–1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has exclusive jurisdiction over the contracts, characterizing them as swaps traded on a CFTC-licensed platform. Judge David Porter wrote that federal oversight controls in this area, and the panel upheld a preliminary injunction that had already halted New Jersey's cease-and-desist order. The ruling is notable as the first federal appeals court decision to squarely address whether prediction-market contracts are governed by federal financial regulation or by state gambling regimes. The decision was not unanimous. Judge Jane Richards Roth dissented, arguing Kalshi's products function as sports betting and are not transformed into futures-like instruments merely through registration and labeling. Reuters reported that Roth said the offerings were "virtually indistinguishable from the betting products available on online sportsbooks." New Jersey is considering its next steps. Reuters reported the state could seek a rehearing by the full Third Circuit. Similar conflicts involving prediction markets and state gaming regulators are also playing out in Nevada, Massachusetts, Arizona, Connecticut, and Illinois. For Kalshi, the Third Circuit ruling strengthens its nationwide case that the CFTC—and not state regulators—sets the rules for these markets. The CFTC has supported the company's federal position in other litigation, and the new appellate decision adds weight to that argument. The wider legal fight remains active across multiple jurisdictions and could ultimately reach an en banc review or the U.S. Supreme Court. Related: CFTC Takes Three States to Court Over Prediction Market Control Disclaimer: The information presented in this article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Coin Edition is not responsible for any losses arising from the use of content, products, or services mentioned. Readers should exercise caution before taking any action related to the company.

Polymarket's prediction market on whether "US forces enter Iran by April 30" has moved to 100% and is now marked "In Review" pending settlement. Total volume has reached $193 million, including $101 million tied to the April 30 expiry. Yes shares last traded at 99.6 cents. The order book shows more than $15.9 million in asks stacked from 99.6 to 99.9 cents, signaling the market is treating a US ground entry into Iran as a fait accompli. A separate Polymarket contract on whether "another country" will carry out military action against Iran by April is priced at 27%. The "US forces enter Iran" market is the largest geopolitical prediction contract of 2026 and ranks among the highest-volume single contracts in Polymarket's history. Interest has surged after weeks of escalating US-Israel strikes following the launch of Operation Epic Fury on February 28.

Bitcoin's 30-day average transaction fees have fallen to 2.5 BTC per day, the lowest level since 2011, pointing to subdued on-chain demand.