The Defiant

GM Defiers!

Blast has finally penciled in Feb. 29 for its mainnet launch. The news comes four months after the controversial Layer 2 began accepting deposits from users.

In other news, BTC is again leading the markets with a renewed rally, a fake Lido revenue sharing proposal sent LDO flying, Gauntlet teamed up with Morpho, Arkis closed a $2.2M pre-seed funding round, and Dune Analytics partnered with the cloud computing giant Snowflake.

Plus, Uniswap is set to debut new features including limit orders.

✍️ In today’s newsletter:

Blast’s Feb. 29 mainnet launch
BTC posts new 2024 highs
Fake proposal spikes LDO price
Morpho taps Gauntlet
Arkis raises $2.2M
Snowflake hosts Dune Analytics data sales
Uniswap launches limit orders

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Trading via lending protocols - the how and the why

📈 Markets in the last 24 hrs:

	Ticker	Value	24h

Ticker	Value	24h
Bitcoin	$54,6755.65	%
Ethereum	$3,189 2.43	%
Gold	1st Future$2,029	-0.50 %
S&P 500	5069.53	-0.38 %
Arch Web	32.62 1.93	%
Learn more about Arch Indices ,[object Object]		%

🎬 WATCH

Check out our video explaining how you can qualify for multiple airdrops through Ethereum restaking. Also watch our podcast with Avery Ching, the co-founder and CTO of Aptos, who discusses the roadmap and controversy surrounding the Layer 1 network developed by former Facebook engineers.

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📅 Blast Schedules Mainnet Launch As TVL Pushed Above $2B

Blast has scheduled its long-awaited mainnet launch of its Layer 2 network for Feb. 29. The news coincides with the project’s total value locked surpassing $2B roughly four months after it began accepting deposits. Blast has attracted criticism for its strategy of using airdrop incentives to attract deposits without publishing code or launching its network for several months.

🦄 UNI Soars 60% On Fee Switch Proposal

UNI is rallying in response to a governance proposal advocating for the activation of Uniswap’s long-anticipated fee-switch to the benefit of UNI stakers. The price of UNI jumped 60% in a day in response to the news, with the token gaining 71% in two weeks to trade at its highest level since March 2022. The momentum positioned UNI as the second-strongest performing cryptocurrency of the past seven days.

🚀 Bitcoin Surges Above $54,000

The crypto markets continue to roar into new 2024 highs, with BTC last changing hands for more than $57,000 after record inflows to Bitcoin ETFs last week. The combined crypto market cap is above $2T for the first time since January 2022, with Ether trading at $3,250.

📈 LDO Spikes 10% On Fake Revenue Sharing Proposal

A now-deleted governance proposal appears to have comprised to catalyst for the price of Lido’s LDO governance token suddenly jumping 10% on Feb. 26. The proposal called for tokenholders to receive a share of Lido’s protocol revenue, taking inspiration from Uniswap’s recent fee-switch proposal.

🤝 Gauntlet Partners With Morpho As TVL Rises

Gauntlet, the web3 risk management firm, has announced a partnership with Morpho, the growing DeFi money market protocol. The news follows Aave and Gaunlet’s four-year collaberation coming to an end last week, and also comes amid the backdrop of proposal gaining momentum for Aave to offer incentives to users migrating their assets over from Morpho.

💰 Arkis Raises $2.2 Million To Accelerate Institutional Adoption Of DeFi

Arkis has closed a $2.2M pre-seed funding round led by Gumi Cryptos Capital. Arkis will use the funds to build out DeFi products for institutional investors commanding at least $50M in assets, including undercollateralized lending, on-chain margin trading, and asset valuation services. Arkis is set to complete its public launch in the coming weeks following several months of private beta transactions.

☁️ Dune Analytics Partners With Cloud Computing Giant Snowflake

Dune Analytics, the popular web3 analytics platform, has teamed up with Snowflake, the cloud-computing giant worth $74B, to offer its data for sale via Snowflake’s marketplace. Dune Analytics’s data is now available alongside the likes of Mastercard, CapitalOne, and Crunchbase.

🦄 Uniswap Adds New Features Including Limit Orders

Uniswap, the leading decentralized exchange, is rolling out new features over the next four to six weeks. The DEX will begin by introducing limit orders, with a browser extension and real-time data platform set to go live in the coming weeks. Uniswap is also set to launch its v4 iteration later this year.

🌍 ELSEWHERE

Spot Bitcoin ETFs accumulate 300K BTC as net inflow rises to $6B (Cointelegraph)
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Hits Record Volume of Over $1.3B for Second Consecutive Day (CoinDesk)
Bitfinex Hacker Now US Government Witness in Classic Plot Twist (CoinGape)