#starknet

#starknet

The KelpDAO exploiter drained approximately $292 million from the liquid restaking protocol's Layerzero-powered bridge on April 18, in what has become the largest decentralized finance (DeFi) exploit of 2026.

TezQuest is designed as an interactive layer to TezDev, turning the event into a hands-on experience rather than a series of talks. Attendees are encouraged to explore projects across the ecosystem, complete challenges, and directly interact with teams building on Tezos.

Remember back in 2021 when everyone thought a cartoon monkey was the peak of human financial evolution? Well, we have come a long way since then. If you are reading this in 2026, you already know that the "NFTs are dead" crowd was mostly wrong. They were just looking at the wrong things. While the hype around speculative art might have cooled, the actual tech behind digital ownership has grown into a massive, sturdy engine for the global economy.

On most modern blockchains, transaction data is publicly viewable in the mempool before it is sequenced, executed and confirmed in a block. This transparency creates avenues for sophisticated parties to engage in extractive practices known as Maximal Extractable Value (MEV). MEV exploits the block proposer's ability to reorder, include or omit transactions for financial gain.

MEV is especially notorious on Ethereum, where it continues to be extracted at a rate equivalent to 11% of block rewards. Data shows that nearly $300,000 was lost in sandwich attacks in September. This reveals that MEV is a recurring hidden fee, not a minor inefficiency, hitting large trades hardest in volatile markets.