📉NFTs Tumble Amid Crypt Market Rally

GM Defiers!

NFTs have been left out of the latest leg of the crypto bull market, with many of the top collections by trade volume posting double-digit weekly losses. The volatility pushed the number of liquidations on Blend to new all-time highs.

In other news, DeFi stablecoin funding rates are spiking as traders seek out leverage, Wormhole unveiled tokenomics and airdrop eligibility criteria, Astar’s zkEVM is live on mainnet, and Farcaster’s user base is down 60% in one month.

Plus, two SEC commissioners have taken exception with the agency’s settlement with ShapeShift.

✍️ In today’s newsletter:

• NFTs tumble as cryptocurrencies rise
• Leverage spikes DeFi stablecoin rates
• Wormhole’s tokenomics and airdrop plan
• Astar zkEVM’s mainnet launch
• Active Farcaster users plummet
• SEC commissioners decry ShapeShift settlement

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• Trading via lending protocols - the how and the why
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📈 Markets in the last 24 hrs:

🎬 WATCH

Check out our guide to farming airdrops on Blast. Also watch our podcast with Guy Young, the founder Ethena Labs, to learn about its controversial high-yield stablecoin USDe.

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⬇️ Floor Prices Of Top NFT Collections Crash As Cryptocurrencies Rally

Five of the six most-traded NFTs on Blur are down between 20% and 37% in seven days when measuring against ETH, with many collectors looking to offload their nonfungibles in favor of hodling Ether amid the ongoing bull market. Blend, the NFT lending protocol from Blur, hosted record liquidations amid the market turmoil.

💰 DeFi Traders Increase Leverage As Markets Rally

DeFi degens are rapidly borrowing stablecoins for trading as digital asset prices climb, with outstanding stablecoin loans growing 20% to $8 billion in 2024 and borrow rates jumping to high teens. For comparison, lending rates remained below 5% throughout much of the bear market.

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SynFutures is seeing massive gains following its recent V3 launch. The trending DeFi project has attracted over 250,000 registrations, reaching $90 million in 24-hour trading volume just days after deploying on Blast mainnet.

The traction is attributed to SynFutures releasing an innovative new AMM model, oAMM, which combines a concentrated liquidity AMM with an onchain order book for higher capital efficiency. SynFutures also launched its new points program, Oyster Odyssey (OO), following confirmation of its plan to launch a token. In addition to earning points on OO, users can gain Blast and Blast Gold points for interacting with SynFutures V3, tripling the airdrop rewards potential and potentially driving increased speculation and growth.

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READ MORE: SynFutures Launches Orderbook AMM and Points Program Ahead of Token Launch

🕳️ Wormhole Releases Airdrop Eligibility Tool

Wormhole, a leading cross-chain interoperability protocol will distribute roughly 6% of its 10 billion W tokens to early adopters in its highly anticipated airdrop. The drop will take place on the Ethereum, Solana, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base networks.

🌉 Astar Launches zkEVM Mainnet Boasting Ethereum Interoperability Via Polygon AggLayer

Astar Network, a leading Polkadot parachain, has deployed its zkEVM Ethereum Layer 2 on mainnet. The network leverages Polygon’s AggLayer to achieve interoperability across the Ethereum, Polygon, and Astar ecosystems.

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🎢 Farcaster Loses 60% of Users In One Month As Interest In SocialFi Wanes

The number of daily active users on Farcaster, the recently bubbling SocialFi platform, has plummeted from 40,000 in February to 16,000. Protocol revenue has also tumbled to just $288 from a high of $49,735 on Feb. 5.

😡 SEC Commissioners Criticize Regulator Over ShapeShift Securities Case

SEC Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda are again speaking out against their agency’s handling of crypto, this time decrying the SEC’s settlement ShapeShift, a former centralized exchange. The commissioners highlight that the SEC fails to identify which assets supported by the platform constituted investment contracts, nor explain how ShapeShift’s operations brought harm to consumers.

🌍 ELSEWHERE

• Pantera Raising Funds to Buy Solana Holding From FTX Estate (Bloomberg)
• HKMA launches wholesale CBDC pilot aimed at creating digital financial ecosystem (South China Morning Post)
• Hut 8 Shuts Down Alberta Bitcoin Mine Amid Energy Crisis (FX Empire)

🔥 TRENDING

• Arbitrum Nova Dominates L2 Throughput Amid DePIN and GameFi Surge
• Memecoins Go Parabolic As Bitcoin Crosses $66,000
• Bitcoin Hovers Below All-Time High Amid Spot ETF Frenzy
• Wormhole Releases Airdrop Eligibility Tool
• DeFi Traders Increase Leverage As Markets Rally
• Active Users On Ethereum Layer 2s Surges To New Highs
• Ethereum Posts New 2024 High As Bitcoin Rebounds From Violent Pullback
• Rare Alien CryptoPunk Sells for $16 Million
• Our Most Read Stories This Week: BTC Breaks 60k, UNI Fee Switch, Airdrops Come to Bitcoin, Aptos Interview
• Metis Integrates Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol Amid Restaking Push