Protocol Safety Pauses

Protocol Safety Pauses are manual or automated measures that freeze specific functions of a decentralized finance application to mitigate risk during an emergency. These pauses are often triggered by the detection of a stale oracle price, a suspected hack, or a significant market anomaly.

When a pause is active, users may be restricted from borrowing, withdrawing, or trading to prevent further loss of funds. The governance process typically dictates who has the authority to initiate these pauses and how they are eventually lifted.

While these measures can centralize control, they are often the only way to stop a rapidly unfolding exploit or systemic failure in a decentralized environment.