DeFi & L1L2 Weekly – 🚀 Cronos zkEVM Alpha Mainnet Launches; Solana DEXes Volume Plummets for the Third Consecutive Week

Cronos zkEVM Alpha mainnet launches with gasless transactions, easy onboarding. Solana DEXes’ volume drops for third week. EigenLayer lets ERC-20 tokens become restakable assets.

Weekly DeFi Index

The market capitalisation and volatility indices grew slightly by +0.69% and +0.12% respectively, while the volume was negative at -4.20%.

• MakerDAO (MKR) has decided to disable borrowing against Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) and reduce its vault debt ceilings to zero. This move follows concerns over WBTC’s custodian, BitGo, transferring control to a joint venture involving BiT Global and Justin Sun, whose reputation has raised security concerns. Current WBTC positions remain unaffected for now. Other DeFi platforms like Aave are also considering alternatives like tBTC.
• Aave (AAVE) reached a new all-time high with 40,000 weekly active borrowers. This growth is driven by new lending markets like Base and Scroll. Aave’s total value locked (TVL) has increased by 70% this year and now stands at US$11.85 billion.
• Curve DAO (CRV) founder, Michael Egorov, proposed a request for 21 million CRV tokens (~$6.3 million) to support the development of Curve Finance. The proposal has sparked debate due to lack of clarity on fund utilisation and potential impact on the DAO’s financial sustainability.

Chart of the Week

Trading volume on Solana decentralised exchanges (DEXes) continues to fall for the third week since the week of 29 July. Last week, it also marked the largest week-on-week drop by 35%. Volume on Pump.fun and Raydium plunged by 26% and 19%, respectively. Additionally, Solana Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs) experienced a record outflow of $39 million from the week of 12 August to 16 August, according to CoinShares.

The drops may have resulted from a sharp decline in trading volumes of meme coins, on which Solana heavily relies.

News Highlights

• Cronos Labs launched the Cronos zkEVM Alpha Mainnet, a Layer-2 blockchain on Ethereum powered by ZKsync technology. This network is part of a collaboration involving Matter Labs, Crypto.com, and others. The zkEVM uses $zkCRO as its gas token and features innovations like native account abstraction and a secure Ethereum bridge. It aims to enhance user experience with features like gasless transactions and simplified onboarding.
• EigenLayer introduced permissionless token support, allowing any ERC-20 token to be used as a restakable asset. This upgrade aims to expand the range of assets in EigenLayer, attracting more validators and enhancing security across decentralised networks. The feature is live on the testnet and set for mainnet deployment soon.
• Arbitrum DAO approved an ARB staking proposal that introduces a liquid staked ARB token, stARB, to enhance governance and utility. It aims to address token utility issues and improve security by incentivising active delegation and staking. The new system will use surplus sequencer fees to reward stakers and implement a Karma Score – measured by a combination of Snapshot voting stats, on-chain voting stats, and forum activity – for delegate eligibility. This initiative seeks to increase ecosystem participation and protect against governance attacks.
• Optimism Foundation reverted to permissioned fraud proofs after community audits discovered vulnerabilities in its permissionless system, including two high-severity issues. To address these, a hard fork named “Granite” is scheduled for 10 September. The decision was made to ensure network stability and security, although no user assets were at risk.
• Tether launched its USDT stablecoin on the Aptos blockchain. This integration aims to leverage Aptos’ scalability, providing users with low gas fees for transactions.
• Solayer Labs launched its Solana restaking protocol on the mainnet, marking the start of Solana’s restaking era. Initial Asset Verification Systems (AVSs) include Bonk, AltLayer, and others. This development aims to enhance Solana’s staking ecosystem.

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