Weekly DeFi Index

This week, the market capitalisation and volume indices dropped by -14.02% and -9.16%, respectively, while the volatility index increased by +8.50%.

• Uniswap introduced Continuous Clearing Auctions (CCA), a new on-chain token sale mechanism designed to provide transparent price discovery and fair access to token launches. The system debuted with the token sale of Aztec, a privacy-focused network, and aims to improve liquidity formation and reduce advantages for large investors.
• Aave launched a retail savings app, aiming to compete with traditional banks by providing higher-yield deposit options and real-time interest tracking. Additionally, the app includes up to $1 million in user balance protection.
• 1inch introduced Aqua, a liquidity protocol that allows DeFi strategies to share the same capital base without locking funds in specific smart contracts. This ’shared liquidity layer’ enables users to run multiple strategies simultaneously while keeping their assets in their wallets. Aqua aims to improve capital and utility efficiency, allowing liquidity providers to engage in various DeFi activities at once, such as providing liquidity, voting in governance, or posting collateral.

Chart of the Week

PayPal's PYUSD supply surged by approximately 22% in the past week, adding $625 million to its circulating supply and making it the sixth-largest stablecoin by market cap. This rapid increase was driven by new minting activity, with all newly created PYUSD tokens reportedly flowing into the Ethereum network, raising its total supply there to $2.38 billion.

PYUSD's market share in the stablecoin market is now over 1%. PYUSD’s growth may be attributed to PayPal's large user base and strong brand recognition, supporting trust and adoption of PYUSD in both traditional finance and crypto markets.

News Highlights

• Figment, OpenTrade, and Crypto.com launched a 15% annual yield product for institutional investors, using Solana staking and perpetual futures to generate returns without exposing investors to price volatility. The product allows users to deposit stablecoins and earn interest while keeping their assets custodied in legally segregated accounts by Crypto.com.
• Ethereum released new technical details about its upcoming Interop Layer (EIL), designed to unify its growing L2 ecosystem by allowing users to send tokens, mint NFTs, and trade across different rollups without switching networks or using bridges. The EIL aims to reduce the need for wallets and dapps to integrate with each L2 separately, reducing fragmentation and improving usability.
• JPMorgan launched a USD deposit token, JPM Coin (JPMD), on Base, following a successful proof-of-concept. This token allows institutional clients to transfer funds efficiently and securely on-chain. Unlike stablecoins, deposit tokens are interest-bearing and provide a new option to institutional investors.
• Circle is expanding into the FX market with the launch of Circle StableFX, an on-chain FX platform built on its L1 blockchain, Arc. The platform aims to improve FX market infrastructure by offering institutions deeper global liquidity access, reducing counterparty risk, and eliminating the need for multiple intermediaries.
• Circle launched xReserve, a system that allows blockchain teams to issue USDC-backed stablecoins that can move seamlessly across different blockchains.
• Tether made a strategic investment in Ledn, a provider of Bitcoin-backed consumer loans, to expand access to credit secured by digital assets.
• The Sui blockchain will launch USDsui, a US-compliant native stablecoin built using Bridge's Open Issuance platform, a Stripe-owned entity. USDsui will work across Sui's wallets, DeFi protocols, and applications, and will be interoperable with other Bridge-powered stablecoins.
• Paxos launched USDG0, an omnichain stablecoin that extends its regulated USDG stablecoin to multiple blockchains including Hyperliquid and Aptos, using LayerZero’s OFT standard.
• Mastercard partnered with Polygon to introduce verified usernames for crypto transfers, allowing users to send digital assets using human-readable aliases instead of lengthy wallet addresses.
• Major EU-based fintech company Revolut partnered with Polygon Labs to allow customers in the UK and EEA to send and receive stablecoins like USDC and USDT via the Polygon blockchain through the Revolut app.
• Centrifuge, a real-world asset (RWA) protocol, unveiled Centrifuge Whitelabel, a tokenisation platform designed to help institutions, fintechs, and DeFi applications create tokenised financial products.
• The Trump Organization, the real estate firm tied to the US President's family, plans to tokenise a luxury resort project, Trump International Hotel Maldives, developed in partnership with Saudi real estate developer Dar Global. The project includes 80 beach and overwater villas, and is expected to open by the end of 2028, and will allow investors to purchase digital shares of the project from the early stages.
• Hyperliquid paused deposits and withdrawals last Wednesday due to speculation of a trading scheme involving the POPCAT memecoin. An on-chain analyst suggested a trader attempted to manipulate POPCAT's price by placing large buy orders, resulting in significant losses for Hyperliquid's liquidity providers. This incident echoes a similar manipulation event in March involving the Solana memecoin, JELLYJELLY.

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