🚀Extended Rally Pushes BTC And ETH To Fresh Multi-Year Highs

Together with

GM Defiers!

Cryptocurrencies continue to surge to new local highs, with ETH tagging $2,860 as BTC changed hands for $52,800. The market momentum comes amid surging demand for Ethereum restaking tokens and extended bullishness surrounding the performance of spot Bitcoin ETFs.

In other news, Liquity announced plans to launch a new CDP protocol supporting LSTs and user-set interest rates. Prisma introduced a stablecoin backed by liquid restaking tokens, and Tranchess rolled out leveraged stETH exposure alongside its v3 iteration.

Plus, the ApeCoin DAO has decided to build its forthcoming ApeChain network on top of Arbitrum’s Orbit infrastructure.

✍️ In today’s newsletter:

• BTC and ETH tag new multi-year highs
• Liquity to launch new CDP protocol in late 2024
• Prisma introduces LRT-backed stablecoin
• Tranchess deploys v3 iteration
• ApeCoin DAO chooses Arbitrum Orbit for ApeChain

🎙️The Defiant Podcast & Interviews:

• Creating asset-backed stablecoins with the Reserve protocol

📈 Markets in the last 24 hrs:

🎬 WATCH

Check out our video exploring which projects could be next to announce airdrops within the Solana ecosystem. Also watch our interview with Jupiter Exchange founder, Meow, to get his response to the controversy and criticism surrounding the project’s recent airdrop and token sales on the LFG Launchpad.

THANKING OUR NEWSLETTER SPONSORS
| NEWSLETTER CONTINUES BELOW |

A developer-friendly, Rust-based smart contracts platform designed for scale and sensibility. Coming soon to mainnet, Soroban seamlessly integrates with and works alongside the existing Stellar blockchain. Start building on Soroban today.

The Reserve protocol empowers anyone to launch and govern asset-backed currencies called “RTokens.” Preserve your spending power with RTokens like ETH+ and hyUSD — yield-bearing crypto backed by baskets of on-chain collateral.

MARKETS

Ether Hits 19-Month High Amid Restaking Boom

TLDR Extended bullish market momentum has propelled top assets to new multi-year highs, with BTC trading at its highest level since December 2021 at nearly $53,000 and ETH tagging a 19-month high above $2,850.

SO WHAT The market milestones come as Ethereum’s restaking sector is on fire, with liquid restaking protocols rocketing to a $3.5B total value locked amid EigenLayer surpassing a $7B TVL. Bitcoin is enjoying continued momentum stemming from the impressive performance of the recently-launched Spot BTC ETFs, with BlackRock’s Bitcoin fund emerging among the top 7% largest ETF after just 23 days of trade.

READ MORE: Ether Hits 19-Month High Amid Restaking Boom

DEFI

Liquity To Launch New CDP Stablecoin Protocol In Late 2024

TLDR Liquity, the project behind the LUSD stablecoin, unveiled plans to launch a collateralized debt protocol in late 2024. The new protocol will introduce support for liquid staking tokens and debut user-set interest rates.

SO WHAT Liquity hopes to rectify the shortcomings of its existing protocol with the upcoming release, lamenting that its CDP has failed to remain competitive amid the rise of LSTs and changing macroeconomic conditions. The market cap of LUSD is down 50% since the start of September.

READ MORE: Liquity To Launch New CDP Stablecoin Protocol In Late 2024

STAKING

Prisma Introduces ULTRA Stablecoin Backed by Liquid Restaking Tokens

TLDR Prisma announced the launch of ULTRA, a new stablecoin backed by liquid restaking tokens (LRTs). EtherFi’s eETH token is the sole LRT supported as collateral for ULTRA minting at launch.

SO WHAT The launch of ULTRA signifies the growing composability of liquid restaking tokens within DeFi. However, some analysts have warned against integrating LRTs into lending protocols, warning that the threat of restaking slashing escalates the risk of cascading liquidations.

READ MORE: Prisma Introduces ULTRA Stablecoin Backed by Liquid Restaking Tokens

SPONSORED POST

Liquidation in DeFi can be a huge setback to users. They greatly reduce your exposure while making you pay a noticeable penalty, but there are a number of ways to keep your positions in lending protocols safe.

Luckily, there are a number of tools out there today to help you avoid liquidation. From alerts about your positions health rates, to automated protection options, this article will give you four methods that you can use to keep your positions protected and out of the hands of pesky liquidators.

As a bonus, we also touch on what kind of network conditions you can expect during major market crashes, to help you be best prepared for a potentially wild ride.

READ MORE: Four ways to prevent liquidations in DeFi (and one extra tip)

DEFI

Tranchess Offers Leveraged stETH Exposure Following V3 Launch

TLDR Tranchess has launched its v3 iteration, introducing new yield products for stETH holdings. Its Turb Yield ETH offering provides leveraged access to stETH yields, while users can also receive fixed staking rewards via Stable Yield ETH.

SO WHAT Tranchess worked with Lido, the team behind stETH, to launch the new products, expanding the utility of the leading liquid staking token. However, stETH now faces fierce competition from rising restaking tokens, with EtherFi’s eETH outpacing stETH’s growth in January.

READ MORE: Tranchess Offers Leveraged stETH Exposure Following V3 Launch

LAYER 3

ApeCoin DAO Chooses Arbitrum to Host ApeChain

TLDR The ApeCoin community has chosen to build its forthcoming gaming-focused Layer 3 network, ApeChain, on top of Arbitrum Orbit. The launch of ApeChain will introduce new utility for ApeCoin, with APE comprising both a vehicle for governance and a network fee token for the upcoming Layer 3.

SO WHAT The news follows a protracted downtrend for ApeCoin and Yuga Labs ecosystems, with the APE token shedding 74% of its value over the past year, despite ApeCoin bouncing 16% over the past week. However, the selection of Arbitrum Orbit for ApeChain’s infrastructure has ganrered controversy within the ApeCoin community after narrowly passing governance with outsized support from the proposal’s author.

READ MORE: ApeCoin DAO Chooses Arbitrum to Host ApeChain

🔎 OUR REPORTERS ARE WATCHING

• Uniswap v4 set for Q3 2024 release
• Updated Ethereum clients to undergo shadow fork testing ahead of Dencun upgrade
• ETH supply dips to new post-merge low following uptick in on-chain activity

🌍 ELSEWHERE

• Gold Funds See Big Outflows Alongside Rush of Money Into Bitcoin ETFs (CoinDesk)
• Coinbase beats Q4 estimates as transaction revenue rises to $529 million (The Block)
• GoFundMe shuts down Tornado Cash legal defense crowdfunding (Cointelegraph)

🔥 TRENDING

• Are You Ready For Crypto Tax Season?
• Morpheus AI Launch Attracts $50M Within Hours
• Bonk DAO Proposes to Launch Memecoin on Major European Fintech
• Sei Upgrades Devnet With Ethereum Compatibility
• Starknet Token To Launch On Feb. 20
• Arbitrum DEX Dolomite Launches On Polygon zkEVM
• Frame Announces Funding Round and Airdrop for NFT Community
• Immutable Tops L2 Growth Charts Despite Immutable zkEVM Rollout
• Optimism Moves Towards Progressive Decentralization With Security Council Launch
• DN-404 Token Standard Launches To Improve On ERC-404