🪂 Weekly Recap: Hamster Kombat Airdrop Falls Flat

Happy weekend Defiers!

Crypto markets continued to rally following the Federal Reserve’s decision to reduce interest rates by 50 basis points last week. The native tokens of Layer 1 networks outperformed the broader digital asset ecosystem, with SUI and SEI up more than 100% from August’s local lows.

Hamster Kombat’s highly-anticipated airdrop occupied headlines this week. However, users were unhappy after the project announced that 57% of its more than 300 million players were excluded from the drop. With the price of HMTSR tanking 43% within 24 hours of the token’s distributions, many users also complained that they received little more than “dust” despite grinding activity on the tap-to-earn game for months on end.

Kamala Harris finally made her first public comments on the subject of crypto. During a fundraising event in New York, Harris pledged to “encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets” if elected.

Base is thriving despite on-chain activity across rival Layer 2s pulling back, with the network hosting record highs for weekly on-chain transactions, active users, and trade count on decentralized exchanges.

By contrast, the Solana ecosystem downtrend continues as the network’s PumpFun-fueled memecoin mania subsides. The trend comes as SOL is losing ground against BTC.

Ethena launched a new stablecoin backed by shares in BlackRock’s tokenized U.S. treasuries fund, BUIDL. EtherFi also shipped a liquid restaking token for EigenLayer deposits in the form of Ethena’s USDe token.

Several DeFi protocols suffered exploits over the past weeks, with Truflation losing $5 million to an attack, OnyxDAO hacked for $3.8 million, and Bedrock’s uniBTC getting hit for $2 million. Meanwhile Banana Gun announced a $3 million allocation from its treasury to repay victims of a hack.

PayPal continues to deepen its support for web3, with the global payments giant enabling U.S. merchants to trade and transfer cryptocurrency using their PayPal business accounts.

The SEC alleged that the Justin Sun-linked TUSD stablecoin is 99% backed by shares in a speculative fund.

Plus, Ethereum researchers warn nodes are vulnerable to deanonymization, Microstrategy shares outperformed the entire S&P 500 over four years, EIGEN tokens will unlock on Sept. 30, and Ordinals bounce back.

Also, don’t forget to check out our podcast with Paul Frambot, the co-founder and CEO of Morpho Labs, to learn about the protocol’s journey to a 10-figure TVL.

Enjoy!

MEDIA PARTNERSHIP

Vitalik: An Ethereum Story is NOW STREAMING!

The Defiant sat down with Zach Ingrasci and Carrie Weprin, the director and producer behind the documentary film Vitalik: An Ethereum Story. This film, a testament to the power of community and the transformative potential of blockchain technology, offers a captivating glimpse into the Ethereum ecosystem — focusing on the enigmatic leader Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum. The film's release is particularly poignant as it coincides with the 10-year anniversary of the Ethereum whitepaper, which Vitalik famously penned in Toronto, the very city where the film recently premiered to two sold-out screenings

DEFI ALPHA

DeFi Alpha: Earn 34% on ETH with Tokemak Autopilot

Our resident DeFi degens walk you through how to earn double-digit yields using Tokemak’s new Autopilot pools, which automate liquidity provision across multiple decentralized exchanges.

Plus, catch up on the latest technical analysis examining Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana!

PODCAST & INTERVIEWS

Redefining DeFi Lending: How Morpho Gives Users Control and Customization | Paul Frambot, Co-Founder

In this week’s podcast, Cami Russo was joined by Paul Frambot, the co-founder and CEO of Morpho Labs.

Paul discusses Morpho’s customizable lending and borrowing pools, the protocol’s journey to more than $1 billion in deposits, the benefits of building a web3 protocol in Europe, and Morpho's vision to make financial infrastructure a public good. He also dives into Morpho's upcoming token launch and its long-term strategy to compete with other major DeFi protocols.

Building Transparency in Crypto: Eric Turner on Leading Messari and Mainnet 2024

Cami Russo sat down with Eric Turner, the freshly appointed CEO of Messari, a popular web3 data platform.

Eric discusses his journey from finance to crypto and his vision for Messari's future. He also touches on Messari's flagship event, Mainnet, and upcoming product announcements from the firm.

Binance CEO Richard Teng Believes The Bull Market Is Here

The Defiant spoke to Richard Teng, the CEO of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, to get his bull thesis for the crypto markets.

Teng believes digital assets will outperform 2024 next year based on historic market trends and Bitcoin’s halving cycles. Teng also discusses Binance’s recent user growth, the institutional adoption of crypto, and the increasing regulatory clarity driving the industry forward.

Vitalik: An Ethereum Story | Interviewing The Buterins

The Defiant attended the premiere of Vitalik: An Ethereum Story, a crypto-funded documentary offering an intimate look into Ethereum’s chief scientist and his journey building the network. We interview other attendees at the event, including Buterin’s family.

Friday

Bedrock Vulnerability Allows Hacker To Drain $2M From UniBTC Liquidity Pools A vulnerability allowed the hacker to mint uniBTC against ETH.
VUSD Stablecoin Depegs After $3.8 Million Exploit of OnyxDAO The token dropped as much as 90% before partially recovering.
Aave’s WBTC Holdings Surge To Record High Despite Restructure Drama Aave also onboarded two new BTC-backed tokens over the past week.
Unmet Expectations Spark Hamster Kombat Airdrop Outrage Players express frustration over meager rewards despite months of in-game participation.
Moonshot Memecoin Trading App Gains Traction The retail-friendly memecoin app has partnered with MoonPay and is available on Apple and Google app stores.
Bitcoin and Ethereum Lose Market Share in MENA Region: Chainalysis Stablecoins and altcoins are gaining traction in countries like Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Shiba Inu Leads Memecoin Rally Gaining $6 Billion in Market Cap in a Week PEPE, FLOKI, BONK and MOG all rally over 10% in 24 hours.
Binance Founder CZ Set for Prison Release Zhao will be released two days ahead of schedule after 119 days behind bars.
Memecoins Steal Spotlight as Bitcoin Rallies Above $66,000 Bitcoin ETFs have pulled in more than $600 million this week.

Thursday

Base Accounts for Majority of Ethereum Ecosystem Activity Weekly active wallets, weekly transactions, and DEX traders on Coinbase’s Layer 2 are at all-time highs.
Truflation Offers $500,000 Bounty After Suffering $5 Million Hack The bounty is being posted as a reward for a return of the stolen funds or information identifying the hacker that leads to prosecution.
Crypto Markets Climb on Strong U.S. Economic Data Worldcoin and StarkNet were the day’s top gainers, both rallying more than 14%.
Crypto Smartphone Wars: XForge Aims to Compete With Solana Seeker XProtocol is launching an Android device it claims is the first DePIN phone.
Ethena Launches Stablecoin Backed by BlackRock’s BUIDL Fund USTb is fully backed by BlackRock’s tokenized Treasury fund BUIDL.
PayPal Rolls Out Crypto Trading and Transfers For U.S. Merchants The market cap of PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin on Solana crashed by half over the past month.
ApeCoin Shakeup: Secretary Steps Down Citing Inactive Stewards The former secretary expressed concerns about the DAO’s wasteful compensation, poor communication, and lack of accountability.
Avalanche Announces $40M Grant Program Ahead Of Avalanche9000 Upgrade Avalanche is preparing to overhaul its subnet architecture.
QED Protocol and Nexus Team Up On Dogecoin zkVM The teams hope their zkEVM will give rise to Dogecoin-based DeFi and NFT applications.
Hamster Kombat’s Highly Anticipated Airdrop Goes Live The price of HMSTR is quickly falling.

Wednesday

Sui and Sei Lead Altcoin Market Higher The price of SUI and SEI has doubled from their August lows, sparking renewed interest in their DeFi ecosystems.
Banana Gun Pledges to Pay Back Victims of $3 Million Exploit The Telegram trading bot will pay refunds from its treasury assets.
Ethereum Dips 3% as SEC Pushes ETF Options Decision to November Polymarket traders are betting against a new Ethereum all-time high in 2024.
ZkSync's ZK Pumps 10% on Coinbase Listing ZK posted double-digit gains in less than 24 hours.
EtherFi Launches USDe LRT and Season 4 Points Campaign EtherFi users will earn a wrapped token accruing rewards from EigenLayer’s AVS ecosystem.
Babylon Teams Up With Asphere On Bitcoin L2 Infrastructure L2s deploying on top of the solution will leverage Babylon’s Bitcoin staking layer for security.
SEC Alleges TUSD Hasn't Been Backed By USD Since 2022 The SEC alleged that 99% of the assets backing TrueUSD are invested in a speculative fund.
Ordinals Defy The NFT Market And Enjoy Best Day in Months Ordinals are bouncing back after months of being overshadowed by Runes.

Tuesday

‘Kudos To You For Answering a Different Question,’ Says U.S. Senator Grilling Gary Gensler The SEC’s hostility towards crypto is attracting criticism from regulators.
Solana Dominance Drops as PumpFun Mania Wanes PumpFun adoption is experiencing a downtrend.
Arbitrum DAO Set to Allocate $145 Million to Partnerships The governance vote is slated to close in 48 hours, with 99% of voters currently supporting the proposal.
Binance Users Added the Most ETH Out of All Ethereum Stakers in September The largest exchange in the world hosted the largest monthly ETH staking inflow this month.
Telegram Will Share User Data with Authorities For Criminal Investigations Telegram’s new privacy policy marks a significant departure from its previous stance on data sharing.
EIGEN Tokens Will Become Transferable On Sept. 30 The removal of EIGEN transfer restrictions will allow holders to sell their tokens for the first time.
Crypto Markets Consolidate as Spot ETFs Underperform Spot Ethereum ETFs recorded the largest daily outflow since July on Monday.
Anemoy Taps Chronicle For RWA Oracle On Centrifuge Asset issuers can now leverage Chronicle for both on-chain and off-chain data on Centrifuge.
Polymarket Reportedly Eying $50M Fundraise and Token Launch The news comes as Polymarket is enjoying a surge in activity driven by its 2024 U.S. presidential election prediction markets.