🔒STRK Unlock Schedule Updated After Pushback

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GM Defiers!

StarkWare has bent the knee to community backlash by changing the unlock schedule for its STRK token. While 2B tokens earmarked for the project’s team and investors were originally set to unlock in April, now only 64M STRK will enter supply rather than 1.3B tokens.

In other news, Reddit’s IPO filing revealed the company holds ETH, BTC, and MATIC, EigenLayer closed a $100M Series B funding round, Ondo launched its Treasury-backed stablecoin on Aptos, and Euler Finance deployed its v2 iteration.

Plus, Pudgy Penguin and Unstoppable Domains teamed up to launch “.pudgy” domain names.

✍️ In today’s newsletter:

• STRK unlock schedule updated
• Reddit holds cryptocurrency
• A16z leads $100M EigenLayer round
• Ondo deploys USDY on Aptos
• Euler v2 introduces “modular” lending
• Pudgy Penguins partners with Unstoppable Domains

📈 Markets in the last 24 hrs:

🎬 WATCH

Check out our video examining projects at the forefront of the convergence between web3 and artificial intelligence. 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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AIRDROPS

StarkWare Revises Token Emission Schedule After Community Backlash

TLDR StarkWare has updated the release schedule for its recently-airdropped STRK token. 64M tokens allocated to the project’s team and investors will now unlock during April, down from the 1.3B as was previously scheduled.

SO WHAT The revised unlock schedule follows fervent pushback from the StarkWare community. The previous plan would have almost tripled the token’s supply, heavily diluting airdrop recipients and threatening to exert heavy selling pressure on the STRK markets.

READ MORE: StarkWare Revises Token Emission Schedule After Community Backlash

BUSINESS

Reddit Invested In Bitcoin and ETH: IPO Filing

TLDR The Form S-1 filing from Reddit, the popular social media platform boasting 70M users, reveals that the company currently holds ETH, BTC, and MATIC. Reddit did not disclose the value of its crypto holdings, but described its digital asset stash as “immaterial.”

SO WHAT Reddit dabbled in digital assets in the past, previously launching NFT collections, blockchain-based community points, and hosting a contest for Ethereum scaling solutions.

READ MORE: Reddit Invested In Bitcoin and ETH: IPO Filing

BUSINESS

EigenLayer Raises $100M Series B Led By a16z

TLDR EigenLayer, the pioneering Ethereum restaking protocol and the fourth-largest DeFi dApp, has closed a $100M Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz.

SO WHAT EigenLayer’s has exploded in recent months as the project progressively rose its deposit limits and amid the rise of liquid restaking protocols. The protocol now holds $7.7B worth of ETH, up from $1.1B when the year began.

READ MORE: EigenLayer Raises $100M Series B Led By a16z

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READ MORE: High Yield USD (hyUSD) - The Future of DeFi Savings

STABLECOINS

Ondo Brings Treasury-backed Stablecoin to Aptos

TLDR Ondo has launched USDY, its U.S. Treasury bond-backed stablecoin, on the Aptos network. The lending protocol Thala has already agreed to support USDY as a collateral asset.

SO WHAT Ondo has been actively expanding USDY onto new chains in recent months, with the token currently live on Sui, Mantle, Solana, and Ethereum as well. USDY’s multi-chain expansion follows a surge in demand for exposure to U.S. Treasury assets among web3 firms.

READ MORE: Ondo Brings Treasury-backed Stablecoin to Aptos

DEFI

Euler Finance Seeks Redemption Arc With V2 Deployment

TLDR Euler has shipped its v2 iteration, introducing a modular infrastructure allowing developers to build bespoke lending vaults.

SO WHAT The launch of Euler’s new protocol follows the project remaining in "hibernation” mode nearly an entire year after suffering a devastating exploit worth $197M in March 2023. The stolen assets were later distributed back to users following negotiations with the hacker.

READ MORE: Euler Finance Seeks Redemption Arc With V2 Deployment

NFTS

Pudgy Penguins Announces Unstoppable Domains Partnership and Walmart Expansion

TLDR Pudgy Penguins has teamed up with Unstoppable Domains to launch “.pudgy” domain names. Users can associate their wallet addresses to a .pudgy domain for use as a digital identity across web3.

SO WHAT The news comes amid an impressive run for Pudgy Penguins, with the NFT collection’s floor price rallying 66% since the start of the month. The project also announced an expansion in its partnership with Walmart, with Pudgy Penguin toys now stocked in 3,100 Walmart stores across the United States.

READ MORE: Pudgy Penguins Announces Unstoppable Domains Partnership and Walmart Expansion

🔎 OUR REPORTERS ARE WATCHING

• Ethereum Foundation and Layer 2 teams offer $900M in grants supporting ZK development
• Aave joins BNB Chain ecosystem
• Gearbox to increase leveraged restaking cap and integrate Renzo support on Feb. 2

🌍 ELSEWHERE

• Nigeria blocks access to crypto exchanges in effort to curb currency slide (Financial Times)
• Kraken seeks to dismiss SEC lawsuit citing retribution for regulatory critique (CryptoSlate)
• Court-appointed insolvency firm takes over HectorDAO after $2.7M hack (Cointelegraph)

🔥 TRENDING

• Sam Altman-Backed Worldcoin Token Soars on Sora Launch
• FIL Rockets After Filecoin Integrates With Solana
• Burn Rate Surges Amid Spike In Ethereum On-Chain Activity
• Worldcoin Surpasses 1M Daily User Milestone As WLD Rally Continues
• Optimism Airdrops $40M To Artists and Creators
• Gearbox’s Leveraged Re-Staking Trade Attracts Over 2,600 ETH in One Day
• What is Restaking?
• Our Most Read Stories This Week: WLD Soars 40%, LINK & Telefonica Deal, ETH Rally
• Starknet’s $2 Billion Airdrop Is Crypto’s Biggest Yet
• Bonk DAO Proposes to Launch Memecoin on Major European Fintech