DeFi & L1L2 Weekly — 📈 AI token bot Clanker competes with Pump.fun on trading volume; Avalanche’s largest upgrade, Avalanche9000, went live

Clanker, an AI Token Bot, competes with Pump.fun on trading volume. Avalanche’s largest upgrade, Avalanche9000, went live. Ripple began rolling out its RLUSD stablecoin globally.

Weekly DeFi Index

This week’s DeFi indices showed mixed movements, with the market capitalisation index growing +17.51%, while volume and volatility indices declined-10.67%and-6.46%, respectively.

Layer-1 (L1) blockchain Avalanche successfully activated its much-anticipated Avalanche9000 upgrade, which features the most significant technical changes to date. It introduced enhancements designed to reduce costs associated with sending transactions, operating validators, and developing applications.

Chart of the Week

Clanker, an AI token bot designed for quick token deployment, rapidly gained popularity after it launched on 8 November. Users simply need to tag Clanker on Farcaster clients like Warpcast or Supercast, describe their token concept, and the bot creates the token on Base.

Data from Dune revealed that the trading volume of tokens deployed by Clanker peaked at US$114.2 million on 26 November, accounting for 32% of Pump.fun’s daily trading volume. Its trading volume over the past 30 days stands at $1.1 billion, which constitutes 10% of the trading volume on Pump.fun over the same period.

News Highlights

• Ripple launched its USD stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum. Each RLUSD token is fully backed by US dollar deposits, government bonds, and cash equivalents. The stablecoin will be available on Uphold, Bitso, and MoonPay, with plans to expand to other major platforms in the coming weeks.
• Ethena Labs’s new stablecoin, USDtb, will be predominantly backed by the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity (BUIDL) Fund. The asset will function independently of Ethena’s existing stablecoin, USDe, offering flexibility and risk mitigation throughout Ethena’s ecosystem for users and exchange partners.
• Synthetix announced the relaunch of Synthetix Exchange, which now features an updated user interface and support for multi-collateral perpetuals (MCPs) on the Base Layer-2 (L2) network. The exchange serves as its flagship product alongside Synthetix Leverage Tokens, offering an improved trading experience with lower fees and deeper liquidity.
• Cryptocurrency application developer Mass integrated Synthetix’s leveraged perpetuals platform into its new mobile decentralised finance (DeFi) trading app. The platform combines on-chain trading and self-custody with the design features of a centralised exchange app, letting users trade perpetual futures with up to 25x leverage.
• L1 blockchain SUI partnered with Ant Digital, the technology arm of China’s Ant Group, to tokenise real-world assets (RWAs) with a particular focus on the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) sector. The collaboration will concentrate on tokenising assets from a leading Chinese solar material manufacturer.
• Decentralised physical infrastructure network (DePIN) platform Uplink launched on the Avalanche, making it the first DePIN project on the L1 network. Uplink aims to decentralise internet connectivity by incentivising users to share existing networks while deploying new infrastructure in areas without online access.
• According to blockchain analytics platform Spot On Chain, decentralised perpetuals trading platform Hyperliquid saw net inflows of $1 billion in USDC since the launch of its native token, HYPE. The platform’s deposit bridge currently holds more than 2.2 billion USDC.
• Bitcoin L2 platform Stacks launched sBTC, a non-custodial, programmable bitcoin-backed asset, on the Aptos network. An initial deposit cap of 1,000 BTC has been set for controlled testing, with plans to gradually increase the limit over time.
• Marc Zeller, the founder of the Aave-Chan Initiative delegate platform, proposed that Aave should exit the Polygon network because of vulnerabilities in its bridge. His suggestion came in response to a recent Polygon governance proposal recommending the allocation of stablecoin reserves on its Proof-of-Stake bridge towards an incentivised programme, which could change the risk profile of the bridged assets.

Recent Research Reports

• Ethereum Pectra Upgrade: The Pectra upgrade aims to address Ethereum’s mainnet performance with three key objectives: fix existing network issues, improve user experience, and prepare for future upgrades.
• Alpha Navigator: Quest for Alpha [November 2024]: Our latest issue of Alpha Navigator, an institutional-focused report, covers macro trends, market-neutral pair trades, style factor screening, and event-driven ideas.
• Tokenised BTC: This report provides a comparative overview of tokenised BTC, examining the key benefits and challenges associated with different models, as well as the disruptive impact of new market entrants like CDCBTC.

Recent University Articles

• Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash — A Closer Look at Their Shared Origins and Diverging Paths: Discover the key differences between bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) in this in-depth guide.
• Solana Tokenomics: Everything to Know: Solana’s tokenomics is based on staking incentives, vesting schedules, and inflation controls. Here’s how it works.
• What Is Solana’s Proof of History? SOL’s Unique Consensus Mechanism: Proof of History (PoH) is Solana’s consensus mechanism which enables faster transaction processing and improved scalability. Here’s how it works.

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