DeFi & L1L2 Weekly (13/09/2023)

Circle’s USDC launches on Optimism, Base, and Cosmos. dYdX to launch decentralised order book exchange on Cosmos. Sushi expands to Aptos and marks first non-EVM chain deployment.

Weekly DeFi Index

This week’s market cap and volume indices were negative at -4.23% and -14.88%, respectively, while the volatility index was positive at +32.53%.

Chart of the Week

LayerZero Labs, the team behind the cross-chain messaging protocol LayerZero, announced on Tuesday a new collaboration with Google Cloud to enhance the security of its cross-chain environment. Through the agreement, Google Cloud will verify the validity of every message sent across 15 chains on LayerZero’s network, and will be configured as the default oracle as of 19 September. Developers building dapps on top of LayerZero will now be able to use the Google Cloud Oracle to verify transactions. To date, the network has reached nearly 70 million executed messages after more than a year from going live.

Learn more about LayerZero and other cross-chain interoperability protocols in our report Layer-0: Infrastructure For Customised Blockchains

TVL of Top Chains

Top DEX by Chain

News Highlights

• Circle’s USDC stablecoin is natively launching  on six new blockchains, including Base, Optimism, and Cosmos via the Noble network. The launch is part of Circle’s plan to improve the utility of USDC by bringing the stablecoin to more blockchains in a native token.
• DEX platform dYdX is planning to launch a fully decentralised order book exchange as it migrates its ecosystem from the Ethereum network to the interchain network Cosmos. The order book will be decentralised and hosted within the validators.
• Decentralised exchange Sushi has expanded its services to Layer-1 blockchain Aptos — the first time Sushi has been accessible on a blockchain that is not compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
• The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has charged three DeFi operations — namely Opyn, ZeroEx, and Deridex — with offering illegal derivatives trading. The firms face a number of accusations based on their use of blockchain-based protocols and smart contracts to function as trading platforms, and have been ordered by the CFTC to cease activities and pay respective penalties.
• Cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx confirmed that it was hacked on 12 September, with approximately US$27 million worth of cryptocurrency drained from the platform. The exchange appointed a special investigative team to determine the cause, and also confirmed that affected users will receive 100% compensation for any loss due to this breach.

Recent Research Reports

• Research Roundup Newsletter [August 2023]: We present to you our latest issue of Research Roundup, featuring trending market insights in August, charts of the month, and our latest research on decentralised stablecoins.
• Alpha Navigator: Quest for Alpha [August 2023]: Asset classes dipped in August; BTC and ETH underperformed. No surprises from the central bankers summit at Jackson Hole. China intensifies economic stimulus.
• Decentralised Stablecoins: Stablecoins are well positioned to facilitate broader adoption of cryptocurrencies. We explore the key decentralised stablecoin projects and their innovative mechanisms.

Recent University Articles

• What Is Cardano (ADA)?: In this article, learn about Cardano’s scalable, sustainable, and interoperable blockchain solution, as well as the features of its native token, ADA.
• What Is PYUSD? PayPal’s New Stablecoin — and Where to Get It: PayPal has launched its own cryptocurrency: the PYUSD stablecoin. In this article, learn about its uses and tokenomics, plus how to trade it.
• What Is USD Coin (USDC)?: In this article, we explore Circle’s USDC, a leading stablecoin in the cryptocurrency market, diving into its tokenomics, backing, and utility.

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