The Defiant

Samuel Haig
February 15, 2024

Together with

GM Defiers!

Next week’s long-anticipated airdrop from Starknet is attracting some controversy over token distributions. Many users expecting to receive STRK allocations based on a previously leaked document will actually miss out, while team tokens worth $2.1B based on current futures markets are set to unlock in April.

In other news, Chainlink partners with Telefonica to enable smart contract queries to telecommunications networks, Bonk DAO wants to launch its memecoin on a leading European fintech with 38M users, and Citi is exploring tokenization use cases on Avalanche.

Plus, the founder of DWF Labs has invested in the gaming NFT marketplace Prom, and Stardust is seeking to streamline onboarding for GameFi projects launching on Sui.

✍️ In today’s newsletter:

Starknet airdrop allocations attract criticism
Chainlink teams up with telecoms provider
Bonk DAO eyes token listing on Revolut
Citi expands tokenization pilots
DWF backs Prom NFT marketplace
Stardust provides tooling for Sui-based games

🎙️The Defiant Podcast & Interviews:

Creating asset-backed stablecoins with the Reserve protocol

📈 Markets in the last 24 hrs:

	Ticker	Value	24h

Ticker	Value	24h
BTC	$51,835	+ 4.23 %
ETH	$2,775	+ 5.05 %
S&P 500	$5,001	+ 0.96 %
GOLD	$1,990	- 0.13 %
Arch WEB	31.45 pts	+ 3.30 %
↳ FINANCE	1.80 pts	+ 3.63 %
↳ INFRA	1.25 pts	+ 2.88 %
↳ CONSUMER	1.80 pts	+ 3.65 %

Learn more about Arch Indices here.

🎬 WATCH

Check out our video exploring which projects could be next to announce airdrops within the Solana ecosystem. Also watch our podcast with Worldcoin co-founder, Alex Blania, to get a detailed understanding of the controversial digital identity network.

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.

AIRDROPS

Starknet Faces Backlash Over Airdrop and Team Unlocks

TLDR While Starknet confirmed its long-awaited STRK airdrop will take place on Feb. 20, web3 users are unhappy with the planned token distributions. Many users anticipating to qualify for the drop based on a recently leaked document have been left out, while 1.3B STRK (worth more than $2B based on live futures markets) allocated to team members will unlock in April.

SO WHAT Airdrops appear to have arrived as the leading launch mechanism for new tokens, with many leading networks and protocols distributing tokens to early adopters. With STRK futures markets trading for $1.64 each, Starknet’s 1.1B token drop could be the third-largest on record at around $1.1B.

Business

Chainlink Partnership To Enable Smart Contract Interactions With Telecom Networks

TLDR Chainlink, the leading web3 oracle provider, has partnered with Telefonica, a multinational telecommunications provider, to enable Polygon smart contracts to query mobile networks. Chainlink and Telefonica will introduce support for the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA) Open Gateway API for the partnership.

SO WHAT The news comes amid bullish expectations for the Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) sector. Popular DePin protocols include Helium, the recently bubbling mobile service provider. Hivemapper, a decentralized mapping protocol, and Filecoin, the decentralized cloud storage network

Markets

Bonk DAO Proposes to Launch Memecoin on Major European Fintech

TLDR Bonk DAO, the decentralized organization behind the recently-surging Solana-based memecoin, has inked a proposal to launch its token on Revolut, a popular European fintech. Bonk optimistically hopes to onboard 500,000 new users through Revolut’s Learn and Earn campaign, with Revolut boasting a user base of 38M customers.

SO WHAT Bonk has recently rocketed third-place among the memecoin market cap rankings behind Dogecoin and Shiba Inu after surging 1,744% since the start of November. The token now ranks as the 97th-largest cryptocurrency by capitalization overall.

Citi Taps Avalanche For Institutional Tokenization Trials

TLDR Citi has tapped the Avalanche Spruce testnet subnet for its latest round of tokenization pilots. Citi teamed up with institutional clients including WisdomTree and Wellington management to explore token transfers, secondary trading, and collateralized lending use cases.

SO WHAT Introducing EVM compatibility would open the door to established DeFi dApps to join the Sei ecosystem. Despite Sei's lack of EVM support on mainnet, the SEI token has enjoyed explosive growth in recent months, currently sitting among the top 50 coins by market cap after gaining more than 300% since early November.

NFTs

DWF Labs Founder Announces Personal Investment In Gaming Protocol Prom

TLDR Andrei Grachev, the founder of crypto market making firm, DWF Labs, has announced his first personal investment into a web3 project. Grachev said he backed Prom, a gaming NFT marketplace.

SO WHAT The NFT marketplace sector has undergone a significant shake-up in recent years. Upstart platforms Blur and recently OKX NFT Marketplace have dethroned OpenSea, the longstanding incumbent leader, to rank first and second by NFT trade volume respectively.

Web3 Gaming

Stardust Teams Up With Mysten Labs To Streamline Game Deployment on Su i

TLDR Stardust, a blockchain gaming infrastructure provider, has teamed up with Mysten Labs, the team behind the Sui Layer 1 network, to streamline onboarding and deployment for GameFi developers launching projects on Sui.

SO WHAT The news follows meteoric growth for Sui, with the network’s TVL growing 290% since mid-December to rank tenth among blockchains supporting smart contract execution. The combined capitalization of GameFi tokens is also up 190% since the start of November.

🔎 OUR REPORTERS ARE WATCHING

🌍 ELSEWHERE

Crypto Money Laundering Dropped 30% Last Year, Chainalysis Says (CoinDesk)
YouTuber KSI faces pump-and-dump allegations from ZachXBT and Coffeezilla (Cointelegraph)
Bitcoin mining difficulty set to hit record high today amid US miner scrutiny (CryptoSlate)