COMP rose over 6% to approximately US$53 after a governance crisis with the Compound lending protocol was avoided. A whale named Humpy and a group called the Golden Boys had proposed a controversial yield-bearing protocol called “goldCOMP”, which raised concerns about vote manipulation and centralisation. They have now agreed to a counter-proposal to create a staking product controlled by the Compound DAO. This will distribute 30% of market reserves annually to staked COMP holders and will be audited for security and risk management. This move nullifies the initial proposal to allocate $24 million in COMP in exchange for goldCOMP, easing stakeholder concerns and boosting market confidence.
The AAVE token surged significantly following a proposal to implement a fee switch on the Aave protocol. This proposal intends to introduce a mechanism to collect a portion of the protocol’s revenue and distribute it to AAVE token holders. The market reacted positively to this potential change, viewing it as a way to enhance the token’s value and provide additional incentives for holding AAVE.
Chart of the Week
Solana has reached several milestones, marking a remarkable period of growth in the cryptocurrency space.
Solana’s total value locked (TVL) has climbed to $5.6 billion, the highest level since January 2022.
Additionally, its decentralised exchange (DEX) volume (30-day moving average) surpassed that of Ethereum’s and showed strong momentum in the past weeks.
News Highlights
Chains
StarkWare, a prominent Layer-2 scaling solution provider for Ethereum, is planning to integrate the Cosmos Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol into its StarkNet network.
Ethereum L2 solution Arbitrum proposed expanding its Orbit Chain beyond the Ethereum ecosystem. Orbit Chain is a decentralised network built on Arbitrum that aims to enable cross-chain interoperability and scalability.
Lava Networklaunched its public mainnet, with support from Filecoin Network, Starknet Foundation, and Cosmos Hub. The launch includes $2 million in incentive pools from the supported ecosystems to reward mainnet participants.
Router Protocol launched the mainnet of its new blockchain called Router Chain, which is designed for “chain abstraction” – a concept aimed at making the user experience of blockchains more seamless, especially for cross-chain transactions.
DeFi Protocols
Ethena, the protocol behind the $3.2 billion stablecoin USDe, plans to allocate a portion of its $235 million USDT collateral assets (around 7%) and its $45 million surplus Reserve Fund to real-world asset (RWA) products:
BlackRock’s $500 million tokenised fund, BUIDL, has applied for a $34 million allocation from Ethena’s Reserve Fund.
Steakhouse Financial has also applied for a Reserve Fund allocation with a USDC lending vault on the Morpho Blue DeFi platform.
Other protocols like Mountain Protocol (issuer of USDM stablecoin) have also signaled interest in applying for Ethena’s RWA investment plan.
Solana-based lending protocol Solend has been rebranded to “Save” as part of a broader overhaul. Save has launched a new USD stablecoin called “sSUSD” and a new utility token called “saveSOL” that will be used for governance and incentives within the protocol.
Security
The MonoSwap DEX suffered a phishing attack targeting one of its developers. The attack allowed hackers to gain control over MonoSwap’s financial operations and drain a substantial portion of the staked liquidity from the platform’s farming pools. The exact amount of stolen funds has not been disclosed publicly, but the MonoSwap team has advised users to immediately withdraw all staked positions to prevent further losses.
Others
Circle, the issuer of USDC stablecoin, is reportedly trading at a valuation of around $5 billion as it prepares for a planned Initial Public Offering (IPO). This valuation is significantly lower than the $9 billion valuation Circle was reported to be seeking in 2022. Circle has not provided an official timeline for its IPO, but the company has been working towards going public for several years.
Research Roundup Newsletter [June 2024]: We present to you our latest issue of Research Roundup, featuring our deep dives into ETH ETFs, GameFi, and New Layer-2s.
Spot Ethereum ETFs: In May, the SEC approved eight spot Ether ETFs, potentially launching in July. These ETFs, unlike Bitcoin’s, offer staking rewards. Projections estimate ETH ETFs could see $1.4 to $4.5 billion in inflows and $700 million to $2.4 billion in trading volume within six months. Ethereum’s scalability upgrades enhance its investment appeal.
What Is LayerZero and How to Buy the ZRO Token: The TON coin and its affiliation with Telegram is an initiative to merge cryptocurrency with its extensive messaging platform. Here’s how it works.
What Is MakerDAO (DAI)?: Learn about MakerDAO, the DAO of DAOs, and its stablecoin, DAI — including how to use, trade, and create it.
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DeFi & L1L2 Weekly – 📈 Solana’s TVL and DEX volume hit milestones; StarkWare is planning to integrate Cosmos’s IBC
Solana’s TVL and DEX volume hit milestones. StarkWare is planning to integrate Cosmos’s IBC. Ethena plans to allocate funds to RWA for yield and BlackRock’s BUIDL applied.
