Crypto security used to feel smaller.
Old qt wallets.
Bad backups.
Wrong file.
Infected machine.
Gone.
Brutal, but usually the blast radius was yours.
DeFi changed the blast radius.
Now one compromised signer, bridge, oracle, frontend, employee laptop, multisig flow or “safe” integration can hit people who never touched the exploit.
LPs get clipped.
Pegs move.
Routes freeze.
Token holders eat the repricing.
Liquidity disappears.
Then CT calls it yield.
Maybe that’s the wrong word.
A lot of APR is just payment for underwriting attack surface most users can’t even see.
Code risk.
Oracle risk.
Bridge risk.
Admin key risk.
Frontend risk.
Team opsec risk.
Human infiltration risk.
And the ugly part..
being loyal to your bag can make it worse.
Hold the token, LP the pool, stake in the app, bridge through the same stack, farm the incentives, and tell yourself you’re aligned.
Maybe.
Or maybe you stacked five versions of the same risk and called it conviction.
APR chasing is not research.
It is usually just walking toward the loudest cheese trap.
Highest APR is rarely the real question.
The real question is what risk am I actually being paid to carry, and who is spending money to take the other side?