Cardano’s $120M DeFi push: Orion fund, Cardano Prime, and what comes next

Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem is entering a make-or-break phase. Between a new $80 million venture program, a bold 120 million ADA DeFi proposal, and fresh infrastructure like oracles and analytics, the network is clearly gearing up for the next cycle. At the same time, users are facing security scares and the loss of key tools, so it’s a moment to be both excited and cautious.

Security warning: wallet drains linked to Second Phi

Before diving into growth plans, it’s important to highlight a serious security concern. Some users who interacted with Cardano DeFi through the Second Phi app (the evolution of the Yoroi wallet) have reported their wallets being drained.

So far, there’s no clear public pattern or confirmed root cause. What is visible on-chain is that affected wallets are being emptied and converted heavily into USDC, causing noticeable spikes and price fluctuations in that stablecoin on Cardano.

Until more details are known, users should:

• Be cautious using Second Phi, especially on mobile.
• Limit exposure in hot wallets and avoid signing transactions you don’t fully understand.
• Double-check URLs, extensions, and app permissions before interacting with DeFi protocols.

This situation is still developing, so treat it as a red flag and manage risk accordingly.

IOG’s new media push: from Cardano 360 to Block 45

Cardano’s core development company is reshaping how it communicates with the community. The long-running monthly show Cardano 360 has quietly stepped back, making room for a new content format called Block 45.

Block 45 focuses on Cardano’s roadmap to 2030, including how the network plans to scale to tens of millions of transactions per month. A key theme is that Cardano will need robust layer-2 solutions to reach that vision and to make transaction fees, not reserves, the main driver of long-term sustainability for stake pool operators.

The new format aims to be more accessible and less technical while still covering critical topics like scaling, economic sustainability, and protocol upgrades.

The Orion fund: $80M to accelerate Cardano startups

One of the biggest developments is the arrival of the Orion fund, an $80 million venture program backed by Cardano’s treasury. The goal is to identify and accelerate the next wave of high-impact projects building on Cardano, especially in DeFi.

Draper Dragon’s venture studio Cometa Labs and Draper University are involved in running programs that connect founders with capital, mentorship, and go-to-market support. They’re currently recruiting projects into two main tracks:

Genesis Hacker House

This track is aimed at very early-stage builders. If you have a strong idea but haven’t launched a product yet, Genesis is designed to help you go from concept to viable prototype on Cardano.

Apex Growth Accelerator

This track targets existing Cardano projects that already have a product or early traction but need help scaling. The focus is on growth, product-market fit, and attracting deeper liquidity and users.

Applications are open, with deadlines currently set around July 10 for the Hacker House and September 1 for the Growth Accelerator. For founders already in crypto or those considering a move to Cardano, Orion represents one of the largest dedicated funding opportunities the ecosystem has seen.

Cardano Prime and Alpha Growth’s 120M ADA proposal

Alongside Orion, an even more ambitious idea is on the table: Cardano Prime, a DeFi-focused program proposed by Alpha Growth, a firm that specializes in growing on-chain liquidity and usage for DeFi protocols.

Alpha Growth has worked with multiple top DeFi projects on other chains, helping them attract and retain liquidity and move from “zero to real market success.” Based on that track record, they’ve been invited to design a comprehensive DeFi growth strategy for Cardano.

What Cardano Prime wants to do

The Cardano Prime proposal asks the treasury for 120 million ADA (around $19.2 million at $0.16). The idea is to:

• Audit what’s not working in Cardano DeFi today.
• Redesign incentives, liquidity programs, and user flows across protocols.
• Upgrade or reconfigure key DeFi components to make Cardano more competitive with other chains.
• Attract new liquidity and make it “sticky” instead of short-term mercenary capital.

A key design choice is independence: the relationship is structured so that existing Cardano entities cannot dictate what Alpha Growth does. The intent is to bring in outside DeFi specialists who are judged only on real-world results, not internal politics or legacy preferences.

Why the 120M ADA ask is controversial

120 million ADA is a huge number, especially with Cardano’s price depressed. It also comes at a time when the network’s treasury withdrawal limits are nearly maxed for the current period. That raises tough questions:

• Is this the right time to deploy such a large chunk of treasury funds?
• Will the expected DeFi growth justify the cost?
• Can an external team truly align with Cardano’s long-term values and governance?

On the other hand, if Cardano doesn’t significantly improve its DeFi layer before the next bull run, it risks falling further behind ecosystems that already have deep liquidity, mature DEXs, and strong yield opportunities. That’s the trade-off the community will need to weigh as it evaluates the proposal.

For more context on how treasury decisions can shape a network’s future, it’s worth comparing Cardano’s approach to other ecosystems in pieces like this analysis of Cardano vs. Polkadot treasury strategy.

New infrastructure: oracles, cross-chain, and analytics

Big DeFi growth requires more than just capital; it needs solid infrastructure. Several key building blocks are either live or on the way to Cardano:

• Layer-2 solutions (e.g., L2s like LAYUS) to increase throughput and reduce costs while keeping Cardano as the settlement layer.
• Paris upgrade and LayerZero integration to improve finality and cross-chain connectivity, making it easier to move assets and liquidity between Cardano and other chains.
• Pyth Network as a major oracle provider, delivering high-quality price feeds to DeFi apps.
• Dune Analytics support, enabling better on-chain data visibility and dashboards.
• Fireblocks integration, which can help institutions and larger players custody and move assets on Cardano.

It’s likely that external DeFi specialists like Alpha Growth insisted on this kind of infrastructure as a prerequisite. Without oracles, cross-chain bridges, and analytics, it’s difficult to attract serious liquidity or build complex products like derivatives, money markets, and structured products.

Defragmenting liquidity with Dano Finance’s global order book

One of Cardano’s quiet strengths is its growing set of stablecoins, including USDM, USDA, USDX, and bridged assets like USDC. But more stablecoins can also mean fragmented liquidity if each one is isolated in its own pool.

Dano Finance is tackling this with a “global order book” approach. Instead of only swapping the token you specify in a single pool, Dano routes trades through multiple pools and DEXs to find the best overall path.

For example, swapping 10,000 USDM to ADA might involve:

• USDM → USDA on Dano
• USDA → ADA on Minswap

From the user’s perspective, it’s one swap. Under the hood, Dano is composing liquidity from different protocols to get you the best rate. The result is:

• Less risk of a single stablecoin “monopoly.”
• Better prices for larger trades.
• More efficient use of all the liquidity scattered across Cardano DEXs and lending platforms.

Life after TapTools: Fetch and new analytics options

TapTools, one of Cardano’s most popular token analytics dashboards, has shut down due to an unsustainable burn rate and infrastructure and salary costs. This leaves a noticeable gap for traders and DeFi users who relied on its charts and token data.

Several teams are stepping up to fill that gap. One of the most prominent is Hosky’s Fetch, originally a DEX aggregator that is now expanding into richer analytics. Fetch is gradually adding features similar to what TapTools offered, such as token charts, liquidity data, and more detailed market information.

Users who depended on TapTools should explore Fetch as a potential replacement and keep an eye on other emerging analytics platforms in the ecosystem. As infrastructure costs drop and AI tools make development easier, more lean, low-cost analytics products are likely to appear.

Automated arbitrage on Cardano with Surge V2

Arbitrage trading—buying an asset where it’s cheaper and selling where it’s more expensive—helps keep prices aligned across DEXs. On most chains, this is dominated by bots and specialized traders. Cardano is now getting a more accessible version of this via Surge V2.

Surge V2 connects to multiple Cardano DEXs, including Minswap, SundaeSwap, WingRiders, and Splash. Users can deposit assets like ADA or USDM and configure rules that let the platform automatically execute arbitrage trades when profitable spreads appear between these DEXs.

This has two main effects:

• It opens up arbitrage opportunities to more users, not just custom bot operators.
• It helps stabilize prices across Cardano’s DEX ecosystem, improving market efficiency.

As more liquidity and trading pairs appear on Cardano, tools like Surge can play an important role in keeping markets healthy and responsive.

Pyth Pro price feeds are free for a year

Oracles are a core piece of DeFi infrastructure, but they can be expensive for early-stage teams. Pyth is easing that burden by making its Pyth Pro price feeds free for one year for Cardano projects.

This is a big deal for builders who want to launch products like:

• Lending and borrowing markets.
• Perpetual futures or options platforms.
• Synthetic assets and structured products.
• Advanced portfolio tools and risk dashboards.

Normally, paying for high-quality price feeds can be a significant overhead before a product has users or revenue. By removing that cost for a year, Pyth gives teams more runway to build, iterate, and focus on the hardest part: getting users.

Van Rossum hard fork: preparing for the Hydra era

On the protocol side, Cardano is preparing for the Van Rossum hard fork, named in memory of Max Van Rossum, a respected community member and governance contributor who passed away in October 2023. Naming hard forks after key contributors has become a way for the ecosystem to honor its builders.

Van Rossum is a Hydra-era hard fork that lays groundwork for the next major phase, known as Djedra. It’s focused on enabling the scaling features needed to bring Hydra and other advanced capabilities fully online, which in turn should support much higher transaction throughput for DeFi and beyond.

For users, this upgrade should be seamless. For stake pool operators (SPOs), it requires upgrading to the latest Cardano node version (11.0.1 at the time of reporting). Pools that don’t upgrade in time risk:

• Missing out on block production after the fork.
• Losing rewards for blocks minted on outdated software.

Delegators can check their pool’s status on tools like PoolTool by looking at which node version their pool is using and ensuring it’s on the latest protocol. If a pool is lagging, delegators should encourage the operator to upgrade or consider moving to a more up-to-date pool.

Why this moment matters for Cardano DeFi

Cardano is at a critical crossroads. On one side, there are real challenges: security scares like the Second Phi wallet drains, the shutdown of major tools like TapTools, and the risk of depleting treasury funds without clear returns. On the other side, there’s a serious push to finally unlock Cardano’s DeFi potential through:

• The $80M Orion fund for new and growing projects.
• The proposed 120M ADA Cardano Prime program led by external DeFi specialists.
• New infrastructure like Pyth, LayerZero, Dune, and Fireblocks.
• Innovative protocols such as Dano Finance and Surge that make DeFi more efficient.

Whether you’re a builder, investor, or everyday user, the decisions made over the next year—especially around treasury spending and ecosystem priorities—will shape Cardano’s competitiveness for years to come. For those following the project’s long-term story, this is one of the most important chapters since smart contracts first went live.

If you want to see how Cardano’s broader ecosystem is evolving, including its growing app layer, it’s also worth looking at how new platforms like Second Phi have tried to position themselves as super-apps, as covered in this deep dive into Cardano’s first crypto super-app.