🪙Users Pile $3.5B Of Bitcoin Into Babylon

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Babylon’s third deposit window has come to a close, with users piling $3.5 billion worth of Bitcoin into the protocol over one week. Babylon is now the ninth-largest DeFi protocol with a nearly $6 billion in TVL.

New stablecoins are entering the market. Ripple’s RLUSD token began trading, coinciding with Ethena launching USDtb — a stablecoin backed by shares in BlackRock’s on-chain money market fund, BUIDL.

Crypto.com dropped its lawsuit against the SEC. The move came on the same day that the company’s CEO met with President-elect Donald Trump to discuss crypto regulations.

Also, on-chain RWAs breach $14 billion TVL, Trump’s World Liberty Financial accumulates DeFi blue-chips, EtherFi proposes buyback program, Kraken’s Ink L2 hosts one million transactions in a week, Riot acquires 667 BTC, Near announces TurboChain network, and Binance gets sued over PNUT listing.

✍️ In today’s newsletter:

Babylon’s TVL soars to $6 billion
Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin debuts
Ethena launches BUIDL-backed stablecoin
Crypto.com meets with Trump and drops SEC lawsuit
Tokenized RWAs at all-time highs
World Liberty Financial’s blue-chip buying spree
EtherFi proposes using 5% of revenue for buybacks
Kraken’s Ink network hosts 1 million transactions
Riot buys more Bitcoin
Near announces AI-focused network
Squirrel owner sues Binance over memecoin listing

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Catch up on our podcast with Johann Kerbrat, the vice president and general manager of Robinhood Crypto, to learn about how Robinhood is embracing web3.

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🚀Babylon TVL Surges By More Than $3.5B In One Week

Babylon closed Cap-3 after accepting Bitcoin deposits for one week, attracting $3.5 billion worth of BTC. The impressive inflow has propelled Babylon to rank as the ninth-largest DeFi protocol with a total value locked of almost $6 billion.

💵Ripple’s RLUSD Stablecoin to Commence Trading Today

Ripple’s highly-anticipated RLUSD stablecoin is live on the Ethereum and XRP Ledger blockchains. According to CoinGecko, the token drove an underwhelming $2.02 million worth of trade on its first day.

💰Ethena Launches New Stablecoin Backed by BlackRock’s Treasury Fund

Ethena launched USDtb, a stablecoin backed by shares in the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, on Dec. 16. USDtb already boasts a total value locked of $70.5 million.

⚖️Crypto.com Drops SEC Lawsuit As CEO Meets With Trump

Crypto.com voluntarily withdrew its lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which was filed in retaliation after the company received a Wells Notice in October. The complaint was dropped on the same day that Kris Marszalek, the CEO of the exchange, met with President-elect Donald Trump to discuss digital asset policy.

⬆️Tokenized RWA Market Surpasses $14 Billion

More than $14 billion worth of real-world assets have been tokenized on-chain. Private credit accounts for 68% of the total, followed by tokenized U.S. Treasuries with 21.5%.

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👀Trump’s World Liberty Financial Acquires Blue Chip DeFi Tokens

World Liberty Financial, the DeFi project linked to Donald Trump, purchased AAVE, ENA, LINK, and ONDO over the past week. The assets rallied as onlookers rushed to replicate the project’s portfolio, with each token gaining between 24% and 37% over the past seven days. World Liberty Financial also purchased ETH and cbBTC.

💸Ether.Fi Proposes New Reward Program for Stakers

The EtherFi community is mulling a proposal to divert 5% of revenue to buying back ETHFI from the open market. The tokens would be distributed as rewards to stakers.

🦑Kraken’s Layer 2 Ink Has Accumulated 1M Transactions Since Launch

Ink, the Layer 2 network from Kraken, has processed one million transactions in one week since its soft launch. Kraken has teased that the network’s public rollout will take place in early 2025.

⛏️Riot Platforms Acquires an Additional 667 BTC

Riot Platforms has commenced its MicroStrategy-inspired Bitcoin buying spree. The Bitcoin mining firm purchased 667 BTC after raising $594 million through a convertible note sale, bringing its holdings to 17,429 BTC worth $1.8 billion.

🤖Near’s Aurora Launches AI Memecoin Focused TurboChain

Near announced the upcoming launch of TurboChain, an EVM-compatible network focused on AI and memecoin use cases. The launch coincides with the deployment of TurboSwap, a decentralized exchange supporting TurboChain, Near, and Solana.

🐿️Peanut the Squirrel Lawsuit is a Warning for Memecoin Creators

The owner of Peanut the Squirrel, a deceased pet that made waves on social media, is taking legal action against Binance over its listing of PNUT, a memecoin using Peanut’s likeness. The drama could serve as a cautionary tale for memecoin creators looking to capitalize on the popularity of content created by third parties.

🌍 ELSEWHERE

ESMA Publishes Final Guidance on MiCA Implementation Days Before Deadline (CoinDesk)
Lido to Shut Down Staking on Polygon Amid Shifting DeFi Plays (BeInCrypto)
NFT collection CyberKongz says it has received a Wells Notice from SEC (The Block)
Crypto Investment Firm CoinFund Expands Investment Team in 2024, Plans Further Growth (Unchained)