DeFi & L1L2 Weekly — 📈 DEX trading volume reached a record high of US$436 billion in December; Hyperliquid launched native staking

DEX trading volume reached a record high of US$436B in Dec. Hyperliquid launched native staking. ai16z plans to create a launchpad for AI agents

Weekly DeFi Index

This week’s DeFi indices showed negative movements, with the market capitalisation, volume, and volatility indices declining -11.24%, -44.30%,and-56.00%, respectively.

• Aave (AAVE) and Chainlink (LINK) partnered to strengthen the decentralised finance (DeFi) ecosystem by integrating Chainlink’s Smart Value Recapture (SVR) oracles into Aave’s V3 platform. This initiative aims to optimise recaptured maximum extractable value (MEV) from liquidations.

Chart of the Week

According to DeFiLlama, the monthly trading volume on decentralised exchanges (DEXes) reached a record high of US$436 billion in December. The bullish performance was likely driven by renewed interest in crypto resulting from the outcome of the 2024 US presidential election in November.

Uniswap remained the leading DEX, recording $104.4 billion in trading volume over the past month, followed by Raydium with $58.1 billion.

News Highlights

• Derivatives exchange Hyperliquid launched native staking on its mainnet, allowing token holders to earn rewards by securing the network. Users can choose to delegate their tokens to validators based on various metrics such as uptime, commission, and reputation. According to data compiled by ASXN, $384 million worth of HYPE tokens have been staked.
• The decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) behind the AI agent platform, ai16z, is planning to create a launchpad similar to pump.fun. The initiative aims to generate value for its native token via initial agent offerings, liquidity pools, and launch fees.
• Solana DEX aggregator Jupiter plans to expand its token distribution through an airdrop event called ‘Jupuary’. The project will distribute 700 million JUP tokens, valued at $580 million, to users, stakers, and contributors this month.
• The Open Network (TON) Foundation announced a partnership with Jupiter to incubate a new DEX aggregator on the TON blockchain. The collaboration aims to enhance the scalability of the TON DeFi ecosystem by tapping into Jupiter’s expertise and network to create inter-chain trading opportunities.
• Ethereum Layer-2 (L2) rollup Fuel Network launched the Fuel Agent Kit, which is designed to assist developers with existing or creating new AI agents within the Fuel ecosystem. This launch came after a month-long airdrop that distributed over 1 billion tokens.
• The Telegram-based tap-to-earn game, Hamster Kombat, announced plans to launch an L2 network called Hamster Network on TON. The team will present a detailed roadmap strategy in the coming weeks, with the goal of enhancing Hamster Kombat’s presence in the decentralised gaming sector.
• Frax Finance commenced voting for the proposal to onboard the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity (BUIDL) Fund, which will back the DeFi protocol’s upcoming frxUSD stablecoin. So far, 2.8 million votes have been cast in favour of the proposal. If approved, the initiative will offer the Frax community a range of benefits, including yield generation, multiple asset transfer options, and reduced counter-party risk.

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