DeFi Resurgent: Weekly Recap Jan. 15
How’s that for action?
Building on the rally last week, investors stoked a good dose of mojo in the DeFi derivatives markets this week. As Owen Fernau reports, liquid staking derivatives surged this week when Euler Finance listed cbETH for the first time as a collateral asset. That’s the staked ETH provided by Coinbase. Likewise, Owen also conducted an exclusive interview with Lucas Vogelsang, the co-founder and CEO of Centrifuge, a DeFi project committed to putting as many real-world assets as possible on-chain. It’s a fascinating look at how DeFi is maturing by engaging with TradFi and toeing the line on compliance.
Stable Stablecoins
At the same time, Aleks Gilbert interviewed Sam Kazemian, the CEO of Frax, which is building a new stablecoin ecosystem. Before you shout out “No! Terra!” check out Aleks’ great read on how Frax is designed to avoid the pitfalls of that disgraced system and build something, well, stable. Frax’s governance token has tripled since November, so investors like what they see so far.
In another telling development, it’s becoming clearer than ever that DeFi is going to need tieups with TradFi to stoke growth. Reporting from the CfC St Moritz conference in the Swiss Alps, Edward Robinson learned how sophisticated investors, banks, and other traditional institutions remain high on the promise of DeFi despite the failures of FTX, Celsius, and other CeFi projects.
More Drama
Which isn’t to say there won’t be more drama unfolding this year. Sam Haig has been covering the ups and downs at SushiSwap as the DEX has struggled to settle a series of leadership crises. This week he teamed up with Tarang Khaitan to unpack Sushi’s latest overhaul of its tokenomics model. It’s a deep dive into the governance challenges that many DeFi projects are wrestling with.
Rounding out the week, The Defiant YouTube channel covered the soaring performance of DeFi AI tokens, and the latest news from the FTX bankruptcy.
And check out our new Defiant Shorts channel on YouTube — very cool takes the latest crypto headlines.
Enjoy!
Today’s Sponsors
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Podcast
An Inside look Into Solana After FTX’s Collapse
In our conversation, we dive deep into Tal’s work on crypto inside Facebook (Meta), his transition to Solana, the resurgence of NFTs on the network, and all the hype with the $BONK meme coin.
We also discuss what it’s like working full-time in Web3, the Solana Phone, as well as the future of Solana after the collapse of FTX.
Best of the Week
The Defiant Interview
Centrifuge Quietly Sets Pace in Real World Assets Race
Co-founder Lucas Vogelsang on How Any Asset Can go On-Chain and the Rise of RWAs
By Owen Fernau
“Put it on the blockchain.” It’s a phrase that almost became a joke to highlight the supposed uselessness of the distributed ledger technology. But Centrifuge, a project designed to put debt products on-chain, is making the cliche look serious. It has facilitated $252M in financing.
Read the full story in The Defiant
Stablecoin Ecosystems
Frax Triples in Value Amid the Wreckage of FTX
Founder Sam Kazemian Makes Strides in Building New Stablecoin Ecosystem
Buoyed by the fast growth of its lending and liquid staking businesses, stablecoin issuer Frax Finance is on a tear to start the new year.
Read the full story in The Defiant
Liquidity Staking
LSDs Gather Mojo as Euler Lists Staked ETH as Collateral
More Than $26M in cbETH Deposited on First Day of Listing
By Owen Fernau
In the clearest sign yet Ether-based derivatives are picking up momentum, Euler Finance on Wednesday listed cbETH, a staking instrument offered by Coinbase, as a collateral asset.
Read the full story in The Defiant
Letter from St. Moritz
DeFi + TradFi: The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship
Crypto Players Gather in the Shadow of the Alps and FTX
It isn’t often that I ride a chair lift to dinner, but last week I found myself carried up the slopes of St Moritz toward a meal with some of the most influential players in crypto.
Read the full story in The Defiant
Market Action
Perpetuals Action Soars as Volatility Stokes Trading
Synthetix Records ATH in Users After Release of V2
By Owen Fernau
As crypto markets rallied to kick off the new year, a handful of DeFi’s subsectors are outperforming. Liquid staking derivatives (LSDs) have been big winners, with Lido’s TVL jumping a third, to $7.8B, since Jan. 1. Another sector, perpetual futures — a derivative that behaves like a futures contract but doesn’t expire — is now spiking, too.
Read the full story in The Defiant
NFT Royalties
Gamemaker Shakes Up NFT Royalties With New Smart Contracts
NFT Creators May Get Help on Royalties from Limit Break Plan
By Owen Fernau
It was a long time coming. The NFT space, suffering with collapsed prices and questionable utility, received a much needed jolt in the arm on Jan. 10. A gaming company released a set of smart contracts designed to dramatically expand the tokens’ capabilities.
Read the full story in The Defiant
Opinion
Cross-Chain Messaging Can Blow Open Interoperability
It’s Time to Move Away From Vulnerable Bridges
By Derek Yoo
We all know how important interoperability is for the growth of the blockchain ecosystem. The most promising interoperability technologies are cross-chain messaging protocols that allow smart contracts on different chains to communicate with each other without having to send the actual tokens between chains. This means applications work with any asset or service regardless of which blockchain it is on.
Read the full story in The Defiant
Defiant Video
Weekly Recap: DeFi Trading Revives as 2022 Horrorshow Fades From View
Everything you didn’t know about Bitzlato
FTX’s Billions Detailed in Court Exhibit
Why are Crypto AI tokens pumping?
Can FTX Customers Expect Any Money Back?
Friday
News
- Frax Triples in Value as Stablecoin System Takes Shape Buoyed by the fast growth of its lending and liquid staking businesses, stablecoin issuer Frax Finance is on a tear to start the new year.
- Frax Poised to Roll Out ‘Compliant’ Stablecoin Frax, the DAO behind the eponymous stablecoin, may build a “compliant,” dollar-pegged stablecoin if legislation introduced last month in the U.S. Senate does not pass this year.
- Sushi’s Ambitious Revamp May be ‘Too Complex’ It’s one of the most volatile DEXs in a space renowned for its torque. Now Sushi, the No. 5 decentralized exchange, has laid out an ambitious restructuring plan.
- FTX CEO Says Exchange Could Restart Operations FTX’s FTT token soared Thursday following news the bankrupt exchange may resume operations. In an interview published Thursday morning, new CEO John Ray told The Wall Street Journal he had established an internal task force to study the possibility.
The Defiant Interview
- Centrifuge Quietly Sets Pace in Real World Assets Race “Put it on the blockchain.” It’s a phrase that almost became a joke to highlight the supposed uselessness of the distributed ledger technology. But Centrifuge, a project designed to put debt products on-chain, is making the cliche look serious. It has facilitated $252M in financing.
Thursday
News
- LSDs Gather Mojo as Euler Lists Staked ETH as Collateral In the clearest sign yet Ether-based derivatives are picking up momentum, Euler Finance on Wednesday listed cbETH, a staking instrument offered by Coinbase, as a collateral asset.
- Genesis Global Capital To File For Bankruptcy More than two months after it froze customer assets, Genesis Global Capital is preparing to file for bankruptcy, according to Bloomberg.
Opinion
- Cross-Chain Messaging Can Blow Open Interoperability We all know how important interoperability is for the growth of the blockchain ecosystem. The most promising interoperability technologies are cross-chain messaging protocols that allow smart contracts on different chains to communicate with each other without having to send the actual tokens between chains. This means applications work with any asset or service regardless of which blockchain it is on.
DeFi Explainers
- What was Luna? Last May, LUNA, the native token for the Terra ecosystem, was swept up in one of the most impactful failures in crypto. By some estimates, the collapse of Terra triggered $83 billion in losses.
Wednesday
News
- Perpetuals Action Soars as Volatility Stokes Trading As crypto markets rallied to kick off the new year, a handful of DeFi’s subsectors are outperforming. Liquid staking derivatives (LSDs) have been big winners, with Lido’s TVL jumping a third, to $7.8B, since Jan. 1. Another sector, perpetual futures — a derivative that behaves like a futures contract but doesn’t expire — is now spiking, too.
- Gamemaker Shakes Up NFT Royalties With New Smart Contracts It was a long time coming. The NFT space, suffering with collapsed prices and questionable utility, received a much needed jolt in the arm on Jan. 10. A gaming company released a set of smart contracts designed to dramatically expand the tokens’ capabilities.
Tuesday
News
- DeFi Heavyweights Curve and Aave Surge As Crypto Rally Stalls Major cryptocurrencies nudged higher to begin the week as the rally that kicked off 2023 begins to show signs of slowing down.
- Yuga Labs Launches Dookey Dash Skill-Based NFT Game Yuga Labs, the company behind the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection, has unveiled a new NFT mint, which will require players to compete in a skill-based game.
Conference Journal
- DeFi + TradFi: The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship It isn’t often that I ride a chair lift to dinner, but last week I found myself carried up the slopes of St Moritz toward a meal with some of the most influential players in crypto.
Community Love
Thanking all the amazing Defiers for the support and love this week (and always)!
Popular metaverse tokens have rallied strongly over the week 🚀
📈 $MANA +82%
📈 $SAND +42%
📈 $IMX +30%
What's causing the rally?👇 pic.twitter.com/9xCFFx2gOQ
— The Defiant (@DefiantNews) January 19, 2023
A must read from @EddieRob235 on #DeFi as a revolution or an IT upgrade for TradFi?
DeFi gives you more control: “depositing on centralized exchanges is akin to lending them money at 0%. With so much opacity, CEX’s can do whatever they want with customers’ capital, for free.” https://t.co/GZhv9fVoC5
— Swarm Markets (@SwarmMarkets) January 18, 2023
Who's going to @EthereumDenver?
I'll be there representing @DefiantNews team there, and I would love to connect IRL with my CT frens. ✊
— DiegoCabral.eth/.lens (✊,🦇🔊) (@DiegoCabral__) January 19, 2023
🗞 "It isn’t often that I ride a chair lift to dinner, but last week I found myself carried up the slopes of St Moritz toward a meal with some of the most influential players in crypto." Thank you, @EddieRob235, for your detailed report on CfC St. Moritz 🤩https://t.co/ZXmkcrAj8W
— CfC St. Moritz (@CFCstmoritz) January 18, 2023
GM
🔥🔥🔥 the 19th ArtDrop #NFT is 🔥🔥🔥
🙏🏻 @riogerz amazing work
Hey @ethmovie anon did you claim your #WAGMAM #NFTs yet? pic.twitter.com/2T4f42HSBd
— The Infinite Machine Movie & Collection (@ETHMovie) January 17, 2023
@DiegoCabral__ fucking loving this @DefiantNews POAP🫡 pic.twitter.com/viTZMXypcu
— Renato Martinez (@renacassinelli) January 13, 2023
How is @Microsoft thinking about NFTs? 🤔
"What I think is misunderstood is the extensible design space that NFTs give you. We actually use NFTs as a tool in our supply chain work to be able to uniquely track all of these high value goods across our supply chain." – @yorkerhodes pic.twitter.com/6bDsrebLFE
— The Defiant (@DefiantNews) January 18, 2023
Investors appear to be eagerly awaiting the release of the $GHO and $crvUSD stablecoins 👀📈
DeFi stalwarts @AaveAave and @CurveFinance — both of which both plan on launching native, dollar-pegged stablecoins this year — have been outperforming broader markets. pic.twitter.com/N3gWd3drTf
— The Defiant (@DefiantNews) January 17, 2023
