This week, the market capitalisation and volatility indices dropped by –3.89% and -4.76%, respectively, while the volume index increased slightly by +1.32%.
The 7-day moving average (7DMA) of Bitcoin network transactions declined to 333,000, a 64% decrease from its peak of 927,000 transactions, according to data from Dune. Daily transaction fees have stabilised around US$500,000, down from higher levels seen at the end of 2024.
The decline is attributed to a shift in network utilisation, with Bitcoin-based protocols like Runes, Ordinals, and BRC-20 accounting for around 30% of total transactions. Market dynamics have shifted towards other blockchain ecosystems, such as Solana, capturing specific on-chain niches and trading volumes.
News Highlights
The Ethereum Foundationallocated 45,000 ETH, valued at approximately $120 million, across four DeFi protocols, namely Aave Prime, Aave Core, Spark, and Compound. Despite criticising the Foundation’s management of its ETH holdings and operational costs, the community has reacted positively to this allocation, viewing it as a significant step towards deeper DeFi engagement.
Hyperliquidlaunched HyperEVM, an ecosystem component that integrates an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) into its Layer-1 (L1) blockchain. This allows developers to run Ethereum-compatible smart contracts with enhanced performance.
Solana improved the network’s incentive structure and transaction processing by implementing a proposal to pay full priority fees to validators. By paying higher fees for priority processing, the initiative seeks to boost network efficiency and attract more validators to the blockchain.
Ethereum-based lending platform Liquity Protocolexperienced $30 million in outflows following the disclosure of a bug in its V2 upgrade. The announcement raised concerns among users, leading to a significant withdrawal of assets from the platform.
Research Roundup Newsletter [Jan 2025]: We present to you our latest issue of Research Roundup, featuring our deep dives into The Significance of Meme Coins and DeFAI.
DeFAI: DeFi x AI: DeFi is witnessing a fresh wave of innovation, with one of the most exciting developments being the fusion of DeFi and AI — often referred to as DeFAI. In this report, we look into the DeFAI landscape, and delve into Griffain and HeyAnon as case studies, both of which are notable examples in the abstraction protocol category.
From Trading to Broader Adoption: The Significance of Meme Coins: The launch of US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania’s meme coins, — $TRUMP and $MELANIA, — drove the meme coin hype to a new level. Meme coins are going beyond acting as an investment vehicle and becoming tools for community engagement, capital raising, and user acquisition.
4 AI Agent Tokens to Watch in 2025: Discover four of the most popular AI agent crypto tokens to watch in 2025, blending cutting-edge blockchain and artificial intelligence technology.
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DeFi & L1L2 Weekly — 📉 Transactions on the Bitcoin network dropped to a 1-year low. The Ethereum Foundation allocated 45,000 ETH to DeFi protocols
Transactions on the Bitcoin network dropped to a 1-year low. The Ethereum Foundation allocated 45,000 ETH to DeFi protocols. Standard Chartered established a JV to issue a HKD-backed stablecoin.
