🔎 Vitalik Has $9.2M Deployed In DeFi

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On-chain analysis shows that Vitalik Buterin is a frequent user of DeFi protocols despite criticizing the sector’s propensity for yield farming and liquidity mining. Buterin has executed more than 200 DEX trades and has $9.2 million deployed across major DeFi protocols.

Markets dropped ahead of the Fed’s interest rate decision, with BTC and ETH slipping 2% and 3%, respectively. DOT plunged 5%, while SOL dipped 3%.

Sky, the project formerly known as MakerDAO, completed its rebrand with the deployment of its new Sky dApp alongside the SKY governance token and USDS stablecoin.

Optimism is facing pressure to accelerate its decentralization. A petition from GFX Labs calls for OP Labs and the Optimism Foundation to transfer all governance power and community resources to OP holders by Q3 2025.

Plus, Flappy Bird to make web3 return, TON Foundation teams up with Curve on stable swaps, alt L1s stage market comeback, Google Cloud launches Ethereum RPC, and Hemi Labs closes $15M funding round.

✍️ In today’s newsletter:

Vitalik is quietly using DeFi
Markets drop ahead of Fed
Sky ships new dApp and tokens
GFX Labs demand Optimism decentralize
Flappy Bird’s on-chain revival
TON Foundation taps Curve for stable swaps
Alt Layer 1s post double-digit gains
Google Cloud’s blockchain RPC
VCs back Hemi Network

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Goat Network is the first BTC L2 to offer sustainable BTC yield

DIA launches ‘Lumina ’ – a brand-new trustless oracle network. Its modular, rollup-based design enables the verifiable sourcing and delivery of any data to any blockchain. Fully decentralized and permissionless.

️👀 Vitalik May Not Love DeFi, But He Certainly Uses It

On-chain analysis shows that the wallet owned by Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s chief scientist, has conducted 213 DEX trades and currently has $9.2 million deployed across top DeFi protocols including Aave and Sky. The findings come after Buterin has come under fire for criticizing DeFi yield farms and liquidity mining, with Vitalik likening the segment to a snake eating its own tail.

📉Crypto Markets Drop Ahead of Fed Decision

Cryptocurrency markets traded lower on Wednesday amid expectations of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve. “While drawdowns and high volatility are expected, don’t let that detract you from the path to higher BTC prices," wrote QCP Capital.

🆕 Sky Completes Rebrand By Launching New dApp and Tokens

Sky has completed its rebrand from MakerDAO with the launch of a new dApp. Sky also shipped its new governance token, SKY, and stablecoin, USDS, allowing users to migrate their existing MKR and DAI to the new assets.

📝 GFX Labs Petitions Optimism To Hasten Decentralization

GFX Labs is demanding that Optimism hasten efforts to decentralize. A petition calls on OP Labs and the Optimism Foundation to transfer all “system powers, resources, and access to governance” to OP tokenholders within the next 12 months.

🐦 Hit Mobile Game Flappy Bird Launches Crypto-based Comeback

Flappy Bird, a viral mobile game that garnered 50 million downloads in 2013 and 2014, will launch on The Open Network next year. The news follows the Flappy Bird Foundation Group purchasing the trademark and rights to the game, eliciting pushback from the game’s original creator and mainstream press.

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🤝 TON Foundation Partners With Curve on Stable Swap Project

The TON Foundation is teaming up with Curve Finance to launch optimized stable swaps on The Open Network. The TON Foundation will leverage Curve’s Constant Function Market Maker protocol to facilitate low-slippage stablecoin swaps. Curve founder Michael Egorov will serve as an adviser to the project.

📈 “Good Tech” Leads Altcoin Bounce

The native tokens of Alt Layer 1 networks are posting significant gains as memecoin mania fades. SUI, Celestia, Fantom, and Bittensor each posted double-digit gains for the past seven days.

😶‍🌫️ Google Cloud Launches Blockchain RPC Service For Ethereum

Google Cloud continues to deepen its involvement with web3. The cloud computing provider launched an RPC for Ethereum, with plans to expand support for other blockchains soon.

💰 Hemi Labs Closes $15 Million Funding Round Led By Breyer Capital and Binance

Hemi Labs, a modular Layer 2 co-founded by blockchain pioneers Jeff Garzik and Max Sanchez, closed a $15 million funding round led by Binance Labs, Breyer Capital, and Big Brain Holdings. Hemi Network aims to foster a DeFi ecosystem leveraging both the Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchains.

🌍 ELSEWHERE

Digital asset payment gets boost with Visa-dtcpay tie-up on cryptocurrency transactions (Straits Times)
Borderless Capital Introduces $100M DePIN Fund Backed by Peaq, Solana Foundation (CoinDesk)
Finnish Police Seeking Hex Founder Richard Heart for Suspected Gross Tax Evasion, Assault (Decrypt)
Buterin at Token2049: ‘We’re Not Early to Crypto, But We’re Early to Crypto Being Usable’ (Unchained)