Hemi offers an alternative to centralized exchanges.

Hemi offers a solid alternative to potentially insecure, CEX-managed assets by providing a vibrant, secure, and accessible DeFi ecosystem.

In February 2025, Bybit—one of the world’s largest centralized exchanges (CEXs)—suffered a catastrophic exploit due to a single point of failure. The Lazarus Group claimed responsibility for the attack, which saw over $1.5 billion in assets quickly drained and laundered.

Not all threats to users come from external actors. Sometimes it’s the response to a breach that reveals how centralized a supposedly distributed network really is. When Cetus Protocol was exploited earlier this year for $223 million on the Sui network, the foundation intervened. What seemed like decisive action—pausing wallet activity through a coordinated validator response—exposed a quieter truth: control was concentrated, and the principles of censorship resistance were compromised. The ability for validators to collude and override on-chain behavior introduces a new kind of risk. In some cases, the cure is worse than the illness.

While platform hacks are nothing new, they point to a widespread issue in crypto: reliance on concentrated control to govern sensitive systems. Bybit customers were assured their assets remained backed 1:1, but they had no choice but to trust that emergency liquidity would be found. For users on the Sui network, the exploit raised a different concern—the possibility that coordinated validator action could override the chain’s supposed finality.

Whether it’s through compromised hot wallets, internal key mismanagement, bypassed MFA due to centralized access, or systemic censorship via collusion, attackers continue to exploit central choke points in crypto infrastructure.

Hemi DeFi Is an Alternative to Unsafe CEXs

Hemi gives you a reason to take your Bitcoin off a CEX, self-custody it, and put it to work—earning yield, lending, staking, trading, and more—without compromising security. Hemi’s DeFi ecosystem enables all of this without exposing you to the risks of centralized systems. You hold the keys.

Through decentralized infrastructure across Ethereum and Bitcoin, Hemi enables true programmability for Bitcoin. Its trust-minimized tunnels link Bitcoin and Ethereum without central points of custody. Wrapping and issuance are managed via smart contracts and multisig vaults—an architecture that removes third-party control and single points of failure.

Finality on Hemi cannot be rolled back. More critically, Hemi introduces superfinality, powered by its Proof-of-Proof (PoP) protocol. PoP miners submit Hemi transaction data into Bitcoin blocks. Once those blocks are sufficiently confirmed, reversing a transaction would require enough brute force to attack both Bitcoin and Hemi simultaneously—an economically impossible task.

Earn Securely with Hemi DeFi

Keep your BTC secure—and productive—with Hemi. During the Mainnet Season of the Hemi Points program, providing liquidity with hemiBTC is one of the most effective ways to earn points. Tunnel into Hemi and start earning immediately, with 3x, 5x, or even 8x boosts when you provide hemiBTC liquidity in select pools with partners including Sushi, Oku, Izumi, and DODO.