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Gearbox Protocol’s move to introduce leveraged restaking has kicked off with a bang, with the platform filling its initial cap of around $7.5M worth of Ether in its first day. The new product offers leveraged exposure to restaking yields and EigenLayer points.

The price of ETH briefly traded above $3,000 for the first time since April 2022, while Bitcoin tagged a 26-month high of $52,900. The price milestone coincides with a surge in on-chain activity, with high gas fees burning more than 21,000 ETH over the past two weeks.

Plus, Wormhole teams up with AMD to realize its zero-knowledge roadmap, Optimism to distribute $40M in OP to NFT creators, and Uniswap launches v2 across six more chains.

✍️ In today’s newsletter:

Gearbox pioneers leveraged restaking
ETH post multi-year high above $3,000
Ether burn-rate surges amid high gas fees
Wormhole taps AMD for zero-knowledge overhaul
Optimism to airdrop $40M to NFT community
Uniswap expands v2 onto new chains

📈 Markets in the last 24 hrs:

	Ticker	Value	24h

Ticker	Value	24h
Bitcoin	$52,2871.01	%
Ethereum	$2,999 1.89	%
Gold	1st Future$2,028 0.59	%
S&P 500	$4,976	-0.60 %
Web	3 Token2.34	-1.92 %
Learn more about Arch Indices ,[object Object]		%

🎬 WATCH

Check out our video exploring which projects could be next to announce airdrops within the Solana ecosystem. Also watch our podcast with Brendan Farmer, the co-founder of Polygon, to learn about the project’s vision and roadmap for scaling Ethereum.

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DEFI

Gearbox’s Leveraged Re-Staking Trade Attracts Over 2,600 ETH in One Day

TLDR Gearbox’s new leveraged restaking pool filled its cap within a day of launching, with users piling more than 2,600 weETH into the protocol. Gearbox hinted it may soon roll out support for additional liquid restaking tokens, starting with Renzo’s rzETH token.

SO WHAT Gearbox’s leveraged restaking is the latest innovation building on top of Ethereum staking, following the meteoric growth of liquid restaking in recent months. More than $3.7B is currently locked in LRT protocols, up from $2.81M at the start of 2024.

MARKETS

ETH Pushes Past $3,000 For The First Time Since April 2022

TLDR Leading cryptocurrencies rallied into new local highs, with ETH trading above $3,000 and BTC tagging $52,900. However, the digital asset markets have since pulled back, with ETH last changing hands for $2,980 and BTC trading for $50,960.

SO WHAT The multi-year price highs capped off an impressive start to 2024 for the crypto markets, with Ethereum and Bitcoin remaining up 25% and 20% since Jan. 1 respectively.

ETHEREUM

Burn Rate Surges Amid Spike In Ethereum On-Chain Activity

TLDR More than 21,000 ETH were burned over the past two weeks amid persistently high gas fees. Competition for block space has become fierce amid increases in DEX trading, NFT sales, Layer 2 activity, and the launch of ERC-404s.

SO WHAT Ether’s supply is sitting at new post-merge lows, with the number of circulating ETH dropping by more than 362,600 since Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade was activated in September 2022.

Wormhole Inks Partnership With AMD Amid Zero-Knowledge Embrace

TLDR Wormhole, a leading cross-chain interoperability protocol, unveiled a partnership with AMD, the major semiconductor and computer processor manufacturer. AMD will provide advanced hardware and help develop light clients as part of Wormhole’s zero-knowledge overhaul.

SO WHAT Wormhole unveiled its zero-knowledge roadmap on Feb. 1, prioritizing the adoption of ZK technologies as a means to reduce its reliance on centralized node operators.

AIRDROPS

Optimism Airdrops $40M To Artists and Creators

TLDR Optimism is airdropping $40M worth of OP tokens to 22,998 wallets associated with NFT creators. The tokens are earmarked for NFT creators on both Optimism chains and the Ethereum mainnet.

SO WHAT The drop will comprise Optimism’s fourth airdrop so far, with the project endeavoring to give back to users who have contributed to growth of the OP Mainnet and burgeoning Optimism Superchain.

DEFI

Uniswap Launches v2 Across Six New Chains

TLDR Uniswap has deployed its v2 iteration across Arbitrum, Optimism, base, Polygon, BNB Chain, and Avalanche. Each network now supports both the v2 and v3 iterations of Uniswap, with the protocol set to route transactions via whichever deployment offers the most efficient settlement for users.

SO WHAT Uniswap noted the increased complexity of its v3 iteration, often resulting in v2 providing cheaper transaction execution for users. The team also highlighted the prevalence of Uniswap v2 forks with questionable security across various networks, with users losing $55M to bugs, hacks, and rug-pulls targeting v2 forks on BNB China, Base, and Arbitrum in the past year.

🔎 OUR REPORTERS ARE WATCHING

🌍 ELSEWHERE

Pro-crypto super PAC Fairshake received $4.9 million from Gemini cofounders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (The Block)
Bitcoin exchange balance dips to lowest since 2018 as market shifts to HODLing (CryptoSlate)
Hong Kong Doubles Down on Stablecoin, OTC Rules Promise (CoinDesk)