Weekly DeFi Index
This week’s market cap, volume, and volatility indices were negative at -3.62%, -2.43%, and -14.78%, respectively.
Chart of the Week
Cronos Labs has kicked off recruitment for the third cohort of its US$100 million accelerator programme, which aims to support project teams building at the intersection of AI and cryptocurrency. The recruitment phase commenced on 4 September, to coincide with Korea Blockchain Week. It includes Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, CertiK, PeckShield, and various other firms as programme mentors.
TVL of Top Chains
Top DEX by Chain
News Highlights
- The Ethereum Foundation announced the official release of the Ethereum Execution Layer Specification (EELS), after more than a year of development. EELS is a reference implementation of the Ethereum Execution Layer, written in the Python programming language. EELS is designed to help developers simulate the Ethereum Execution Layer, making it easier for them to develop and test applications.
- MakerDAO co-founder Rune Christensen has proposed building MakerDAO’s upcoming native chain off a fork of Solana’s codebase, instead of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). The native chain, called NewChain, is part of the fifth and final phase of the MakerDAO Endgame upgrade announced in May.
- Uniswap has unveiled its plans to release Uniswap v4, which is scheduled to launch after Ethereum’s upcoming Cancun-Deneb (Dencun) upgrade. According to the organisation’s official statement, Uniswap v4 will offer features like programmable liquidity and Smart Order Routing (SOR). It will also introduce plugins called hooks, or contracts that run at various points of a pool action’s lifecycle.
- Polygon Labs has announced that Polygon zkEVM is now fully open-source under an AGPL v3 licence, allowing the technology to be modified, used, and distributed by anyone under the terms of the licence. On top of this, it is also set to welcome its very first major upgrade since the protocol’s launch, dubbed ‘Dragon Fruit’ or ForkID5. It is expected to launch in the mainnet during the week of 11 September.
- Following a Crypto.com issuer pilot, payments giant Visa has expanded its stablecoin settlement capabilities and is now using the Solana blockchain as part of its USDC-focused pilots with merchant acquirers Worldpay and Nuvei. Users can now choose USDC stablecoin settlement instead of receiving fiat currencies when they transact.
- A group of large Ethereum stakers voluntarily agreed to devote themselves to a 22% self-limit rule that would restrict the scope of their staking activities on the network to a certain threshold. The rule aims to uphold decentralisation by ensuring that at least four major staking entities (including Rocket Pool, StakeWise, Stader Labs, and Diva Staking) would need to collude in order for the chain to reach finalisation.
Recent Research Reports
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| Decentralised Stablecoins | Research Roundup Newsletter [July 2023] | Crypto Market Sizing Report H1 2023 |
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| Decentralised Stablecoins | |
| Research Roundup Newsletter [July 2023] | |
| Crypto Market Sizing Report H1 2023 |
- Decentralised Stablecoins: Stablecoins are well positioned to facilitate broader adoption of cryptocurrencies. We explore the key decentralised stablecoin projects and their innovative mechanisms.
- Research Roundup Newsletter [July 2023]: We present to you our latest issue of Research Roundup, featuring trending market insights in July, charts of the month, and our latest research exploring real-world assets.
- Crypto Market Sizing Report H1 2023: Global crypto owners reached 516 million by the first half of 2023.
- Alpha Navigator: Quest for Alpha [July 2023]: Risk assets continued their positive price action in July, although BTC dipped slightly. The macro calendar was quiet up until mid-August, when US CPI data and FOMC minutes were released.
Recent University Articles
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| What Is Tether (USDT)? Understanding the US Dollar Stablecoin | Crypto Remittance Scams: What They Are and How to Avoid Them | What Are Get-Rich-Quick Scams? |
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| What Is Tether (USDT)? Understanding the US Dollar Stablecoin | |
| Crypto Remittance Scams: What They Are and How to Avoid Them | |
| What Are Get-Rich-Quick Scams? |
- What Is Tether (USDT)? Understanding the US Dollar Stablecoin: In this article, we explore what the Tether stablecoin is, how it works, and how to use it in cryptocurrency trading.
- Crypto Remittance Scams: What They Are and How to Avoid Them: Sending crypto to receive crypto? That doesn’t sound right! In this article, learn about remittance scams and how to recognise them.
- What Are Get-Rich-Quick Scams?: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Learn how get-rich-quick crypto scams work, how to spot them, and how to avoid them.
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Research and Insights Team
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