Weekly DeFi Index

This week, market cap, volume, and volatility indices increased by +8.89%, +21.74%, and +40.74%, respectively.

• The Jupiter DAO successfully passed a governance proposal to shift toward zero net-new emissions for its JUP token. By postponing “Jupuary” airdrops, pausing team vesting, and offsetting Mercurial stakeholder sales, the DAO is aiming to stabilize token value amid market downturns.
• Aave Labsproposed a $50 million “Aave Will Win” funding package to transition the protocol to a DAO-funded revenue model, sparking a governance dispute with service provider ACI over historical funding transparency and accountability.

Chart of the Week

Escalating Middle East tensions, occurring while traditional financial markets were closed over the weekend, spotlighted the continuous operation of crypto derivatives exchanges. Hyperliquid’s oil and precious metal contracts drew significant attention, driving trading volume and market discussion around Hyperliquid’s HIP-3. This framework enables the permissionless deployment of perpetual futures markets linked to real-world assets (RWAs).

As conflict intensified, Hyperliquid’s USOIL-USDH perpetual contract (pegged to U.S. crude prices) increased approximately 18% from $81.9 on February 27 to a high of $97.3 per barrel on March 1. Over the last seven days, trading volume and open interest (OI) for the contract skyrocketed by over 18 times and 5 times, respectively.

News Highlights

• Crypto.com introduced Crypto.com IRAs, the first crypto-native retirement accounts allowing users to hold both stocks and crypto in a single app. Benefits include an up to 5% contribution match, uncapped 2% match on transfers/rollovers, and zero account fees.
• OpenClaw is now integrated into the Crypto.com App, allowing users to deploy a personal AI trading agent via the Agent Key feature, which enables trade execution through a secure API key while maintaining user control.
• World Liberty Financial introduced a new governance mechanism linking voting power to staked tokens as its USD1 stablecoin supply exceeds $4.7 billion, signaling a shift toward more centralized incentivization for long-term holders.
• European Banks are in discussions with cryptocurrency exchanges to secure liquidity for upcoming euro-pegged stablecoins, positioning to fulfill MiCA regulatory standards and streamline institutional trading within the eurozone.
• Tether engaged Deloitte to provide its first official reserve report for the USAT stablecoin, a move intended to enhance transparency and address long-standing regulatory concerns regarding the backing of its assets.
• Starknetintroduced strkBTC, a new primitive intended to bridge Bitcoin liquidity into its Layer-2 network while enhancing privacy for Bitcoin-based DeFi transactions.

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