Lending protocol Aave and interoperability player LayerZero have launched a purge of ghost chains, low-activity networks identified as the weakest links in decentralized finance. LayerZero axed support for 32 chains including Arbitrum Nova and Gnosis Chain, while Aave shut down V3 deployments across six networks including Sonic, Scroll and Aptos. DeFi exploits caused $1.3 billion in losses during H1 2026, with over 40% coming from two incidents: KelpDAO ($292M) and Drift Protocol ($285M), both linked to infrastructure flaws rather than typical smart contract bugs. Following these attacks, over $15 billion migrated to rival Chainlink, and LayerZero’s bridge transfer volume dropped from $4 billion to $1 billion before recovering to $2 billion. Experts remain divided on the purge’s effectiveness: some view it as a necessary industry cleansing, while others argue it does not address the main causes of losses, which primarily stem from off-chain signing and bridging exploits.
Source: Read the original article
