A smart contract audit is a scoped, point-in-time review of code at a specific commit — evidence that experts looked, not proof that the code is safe. Nomad ($190M, 2022), Euler ($197M, 2023), Cetus ($223M, 2025) and Balancer V2 ($128M, 2025) were all audited before being drained (DefiLlama, as of 2026-07-16), so the useful question is never "was it audited?" but "what was in scope, at which commit, and which findings were actually fixed and re-reviewed?"
Bottom line: In April 2026, about $292 million of rsETH was stolen from a cross-chain bridge used by KelpDAO (built on LayerZero). It was not a smart-contract bug — it came from a single-verifier setup and compromised off-chain infrastructure.
Bottom line: Bitcoin aims to be a store of value ('digital gold'); Ethereum aims to be a platform that runs apps ('the world computer'). They have different goals — not better or worse.
Bottom line: staking means locking crypto to help secure a Proof-of-Stake network and earn rewards. It's a bit like interest — but with lock-ups and slashing risk.
Bottom line: DeFi recreates financial services — trading, lending, saving — using smart contracts instead of banks. Powerful, but the risks are yours to manage.
Bottom line: Ethereum is a blockchain you can run programs on. If Bitcoin is digital gold, Ethereum is the foundation for decentralized apps. Its currency is ETH.
Bottom line: a gas fee is the cost of doing something on a blockchain. Fees rise when the network is busy — use Layer 2, off-peak times, and batching to save.
