Weekly Recap: Bitcoin Stagnates as Gold Flirts With $5,000
Happy weekend, Defiers!
It was a rough week for crypto markets as Bitcoin plunged nearly 10% before recovering slightly after President Trump reversed course on tariffs targeted at Europe.
Ethereum mainnet activity is spiking, but researchers caution that active addresses and transaction counts are being distorted by dust attacks and so-called “address-poisoning” campaigns rather than organic activity.
Trading activity on Base surged this week, pushing Coinbase’s Layer 2 blockchain past Ethereum and BNB Smart Chain (BSC) in weekly DEX volume for the first time.
Meanwhile, Pendle’s plan to move away from vote-escrow (ve) tokenomics is sparking debate within the DeFi community.
Finally, Pumpfun has unveiled Pump Fund, whose first initiative is a hackathon which will deploy $3 million across 12 projects.
Enjoy!
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Top Stories This Week
Bitcoin Hovers Around $90,000 As Dollar Drops, Gold Surges
Crypto markets dipped this week despite stocks rebounding and precious metals hitting new highs. Bitcoin is trading in a tight range around $90,000, down 6% over the past seven days.
Meanwhile, the market value of tokenized gold has topped $4 billion as the yellow metal approaches $5,000/oz.
Ethereum L1 Activity Exceeds L2s, But Researchers Point to ‘Address Poisoning’
Ethereum mainnet is seeing an unusual spike in activity, even surpassing metrics across Layer 2s.
However, researchers caution that the headline numbers around active addresses and transaction count are being distorted by dust attacks and so-called “address-poisoning” campaigns rather than organic activity on the network.
Base Overtakes Ethereum, BNB Chain in DEX Volumes for the First Time
Base’s seven-day DEX volume jumped to roughly $16.5 billion. Ethereum logged about $13.0 billion and BSC around $15.6 billion for the same period.
Pendle Sparks Debate With veTokenomics Phase-Out Plan
Pendle’s plan to move away from vote-escrow (ve) tokenomics is sparking debate within the DeFi community, with some builders calling it a needed upgrade and others warning it could hurt long-term alignment.
Pumpfun Unveils Investment Arm and $3 Million Hackathon
Solana-based memecoin launchpad Pumpfun has unveiled Pump Fund, a new investment arm it says will support startup projects built inside its ecosystem.
Trending
- Bitcoin Hovers Around $90,000 As Dollar Drops, Gold Surges
- Tokenized Gold Capitalization Tops $4 Billion as Spot Approaches $5,000
- Ethereum L1 Activity Exceeds L2s, But Researchers Point to ‘Address Poisoning’
- Kansas Lawmakers Propose State-Run Bitcoin and Digital Assets Reserve Fund
- RIVER Soars 40% After Justin Sun Backs DeFi Project
- Bitcoin Struggles to Hold $90,000 Despite Stocks and Gold Rallying
That’s it for today — have a great weekend! If you enjoyed this newsletter, tell your friends! https://thedefiant.io/subscribe
