DeFi is like a minefield — I managed to avoid most of the mines, but some still hit me hard along the way. I decided to look back at the best and worst events that have impacted my investment portfolio.

Mozaic Finance

It all started with the hack of Mozaic Finance. I invested in MOZ during the private sale, the position brought massive gains, the project was growing, and my portfolio was expanding. I even became an influencer for Mozaic. But then the project got hacked, and ever since, it has been trying to relaunch. I still haven’t sold my position, and that was the first time my portfolio was indirectly affected by a hack.

FXS
I was a huge fan of the project, and my FXS position was the largest in my portfolio. I bought the tokens at around $5 and held them for over a year. We were all waiting eagerly for FRAX to reach 100% collateral so we could start receiving dividends. For a while, the collateral did reach 100%, dividends of 15% started being paid out, buybacks began, Fraxtal was set to launch, and other services were rolling out. Everything seemed overly positive for the project, but still, nothing could push the token’s value up. In the end, I sold my position at $5 and felt like a complete idiot. I thought this was the bottom, and as soon as I sold, the token would skyrocket without me. But as it turns out, selling FXS was one of my best decisions and lessons. Now, I view projects trying to fit into every DeFi niche with a lot more skepticism.

Algebra
I held a position in ALGB for quite some time, thinking I had found a hidden gem. Imagine creating a service that gets adopted by dozens of DEXs, and they pay you part of the earned commissions for using your software. Revenue is spent on token buybacks, the number of DEXs and TVL grows, revenue increases, and so do buybacks. It seemed like a solid investment. My first warning sign came when the team announced they were completely overhauling the tokenomics. For some reason, in DeFi, such news rarely brings anything good for token holders. So I decided to sell my tokens until things became clearer. Last month, the Algebra team did something terrible, and the token crashed because of their decision. Selling my position beforehand turned out to be another successful exit.

Penpie
Currently, my largest position is in the PNP token, and I got hit by the project's exploit. Again, my tokens are still there, but they’ve sharply devalued, just like with Mozaic. However, in the case of Penpie, my tokens are still backed by PENDLE tokens and generate income through fees and bribes. But it seems like the situation is worse, as the project is now working on compensating for the stolen funds, and there’s even talk of a complete default. I had often heard skepticism from fellow degens about how Magpie was churning out too many subDAOs without paying enough attention to audits. And it seems that the investment in PNP has already become my worst decision. But I still hold out hope that everything will turn out well, and Penpie can become one of those projects that survive tough times and emerge stronger.