DeFi refers to a suite of financial services — lending, borrowing, trading, yield generation — built on public blockchains, primarily Ethereum. It aims to replicate and disintermediate traditional finance without banks or intermediaries. At its peak in 2021, over $180 billion was locked in DeFi protocols.
A Crypto Winter refers to an extended bear market in the cryptocurrency space — characterised by sustained price declines of 70–90% from peak values, collapsed trading volumes, project failures, and industry layoffs. Major crypto winters occurred in 2014, 2018, and 2022.
FTX was once the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange. In November 2022, a report revealed FTX's balance sheet was dominated by its own FTT token. A bank run ensued, revealing an $8 billion hole — customer funds had been secretly lent to SBF's trading firm Alameda Research.