💥Weekly Recap: Markets Dive as Middle East Conflict Escalates

Happy weekend Defiers!

It was a rough week for crypto investors as flaring tensions between Iran, Israel, and Lebanon dragged global markets lower. Ether dropped for six straight days before rebounding on Friday.

Ripple bulls cheered Bitwise’s filing for a spot XRP ETF, but the rally was derailed after the SEC appealed the final ruling in its long-running lawsuit against the project.

EigenLayer’s native token finally started trading this week at a $7 billion valuation, but the hyped restaking project is facing backlash over early staking access for VCs.

A new HBO documentary claims to unmask Satoshi Nakamoto, spurring a flurry of betting action on Polymarket.

On the institutional front, Visa launched a tokenization platform for banks to create fiat-backed tokens, and global payment network Swift plans to trial digital payments next year.

Meanwhile in DeFi, Grayscale launched an AAVE Trust, Puffer is prepping for its airdrop, Ethena governance greenlit a native DEX integration, and Aerodrome caught flak from Andre Cronje.

Also, don’t forget to check out our podcast with Jack Booth, the co-founder of TON Society.

Enjoy!

PODCAST & INTERVIEWS

Building The Web3 Super App: Jack Booth on TON's Path to Global Crypto Adoption

In this week’s podcast, Cami Russo was joined by Jack Booth, the co-founder of TON Society, a grassroots initiative driving community engagement in the Ton blockchain ecosystem, closely integrated with the Telegram messaging app.

Booth explained how TON is evolving as a Web3 super app, bringing decentralized applications and financial tools to a global audience. He discussed the ecosystem’s unique structure, built on Telegram’s open mini-apps platform, enabling users to seamlessly access crypto services. Booth also emphasized TON's vision of onboarding millions of new users into crypto by creating simple, user-friendly applications and fostering mass adoption outside the U.S.

What is Alephium? Unpacking UTXO Sharding, Proof of Less Work, and DeFi Security

At Token2049, we spoke to Maud Bannwart, the Chief Operating Officer of Alephium, who highlighted the company's unique approach to blockchain scalability, using sharding on a UTXO model to improve user experience and efficiency.

She explained Alephium's innovations, including proof of less work and its commitment to security, while emphasizing the importance of community involvement in the platform's development. Maud also shared insights into Alephium's growing DeFi ecosystem and the platform's future vision of driving innovation in decentralized applications.

Friday

Visa Launches Tokenization Platform for Institutions VTAP enables banks to issue fiat-backed tokens.
Grayscale Launches Aave Trust The new fund provides exposure to AAVE tokens and holds $150,000 in assets under management.
Swift to Begin Digital Payments Trial in 2025 Banks across North America, Europe, and Asia will kick off the experiment.
ENA Governance Votes 99% In Favor of Ethena Integrating With Ethereal sENA and rsENA holders can now earn rewards.
Bitcoin and Ethereum Rally on Positive U.S. Jobs Report September’s jobs report offers a bullish signal for crypto investors, driving market gains.
Who Is Satoshi? HBO Documentary Claims To Know And Sparks Polymarket Bets The top candidate is Len Sassaman followed by Hal Finney, Nick Szabo, and Adam Back.
Liquid Restaking Protocol Puffer Finance Preps for Airdrop Puffer has amassed $1.28 billion in TVL since launching early this year.
Binance's Market Share Falls to Four-Year Low In September, total trading volume on centralized exchanges dropped by 17%.
Memecoin-Linked NFTs Rally on “Cult” Thesis PFP NFTs officially endorsed by popular memecoin communities are catching strong bids.
Aerodrome Faces Criticism Over Code License Amid Rapid Growth The DEX is one of the largest in all of DeFi, but Andre Cronje of Sonic Labs took a shot at Aerodrome’s origins.

Thursday

Ripple Vows to Fight Back after SEC Challenges XRP Ruling Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has pledged to continue fighting the case.
Ethereum Sells Off for Sixth Straight Day Crypto markets continue to bleed, with BTC and ETH down 8% and 12%, respectively, in the last seven days.
Lamborghini to Launch Genesis Capsule NFT The luxury car brand is collaborating with Animoca Brands to take its first step into “digital vehicle culture” with its Genesis Revuelto launch.
EigenLayer Faces Backlash Over Early VC Staking Access Early investors were allowed to stake tokens received at a discount before the public.
Snowden Calls Solana Centralized and Gets Challenged to Debate The challenger, Mert Mumtaz of Helius Labs, said the privacy advocate has no idea what he’s talking about.
Sky’s New Stablecoin USDS Jumped to $1 Billion Supply in Two Weeks Ethena bought $400M of the stablecoin issued by the protocol formerly called MakerDAO to diversify collateral for its own stablecoin.
Aptos Rallies 7% on Franklin Templeton Expansion and HashPalette Acquisition Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX is coming to Aptos and Japanese blockchain HashPalette is acquired by Aptos Labs.

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

Wednesday

Bitwise Files for Spot Ripple (XRP) ETF The move comes after Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs approved in the U.S. have already attracted billions in inflows.
Roll Labs Launches ‘Form’ SocialFi Platform “We’re building the financial internet with crypto’s first principles,” says co-founder and core contributor Bradley Miles.
DeFi Leaders Push for Meeting with Harris-Walz to Shape Web3 Policies This isn’t the first time DeFi leaders have sought to engage with the Biden-Harris administration.
Celo Users Surge on Rising Stablecoin Adoption Celo’s monthly active addresses have jumped to one million, fueled by a rise in stablecoin usage and network growth.
Pike Finance Blames Botched Launch on Tokenomics The twice-exploited universal liquidity protocol quietly launched its token with minimal comms and low liquidity.
Sotheby’s Projects $3 Million Sale for Autoglyph NFT Set The fine art brokerage will be hosting a three-day auction for seven different Autoglyphs from Daniel Maegaard.
Sui Launches Native Bridge to Ethereum Sui has climbed into the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Will War Stop Uptober? Experts Weigh In October has historically been Bitcoin's third-best month, but tensions in the Middle East are stalling its potential.
Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs Suffer Outflows as Crypto Markets Slump Market sentiment sours as ETFs shed millions and liquidation volumes surge.
Federal Appeals Court Approves Election Betting Polymarket and FantasyTop are both leaning into the demand.

Tuesday

EIGEN Token Debuts at $7 Billion Valuation EigenLayer’s highly anticipated native token is now transferable.
Ohio Senator Proposes Crypto Tax Payment Bill The bill aims to boost crypto adoption in Ohio by allowing residents and businesses to pay taxes using digital assets.
Ethereum Attracts Inflows after Five-Week Losing Streak Institutions added $87 million worth of ETH last week.
Crypto Markets Plunge as Middle East Tensions Flare October has a history of being a particularly bullish month for Bitcoin.
Vitalik Supports Hezbollah Betting Markets as Middle East Braces for War The Ethereum co-founder replied to an X post decrying a Hezbollah betting section on Polymarket.
Solana DEX Volumes Flip Ethereum Again For just the third time, the cumulative DEX volume on Solana is higher than that of Ethereum.

Monday

Synthetix Governance Overhaul Garners Near-Unanimous Support The new proposal, dubbed “SR-2”, aims to bring more control and efficiency to the protocol.
FTX Creditors Expect Only 10% to 25% of Crypto Holdings to Be Recovered Creditors argue that cash payouts don't fairly compensate for their losses.
Donald Trump Vows to Use Crypto to Make America Great Again The presidential candidate says he wants to make America the “crypto capital of the world” as the World Liberty Financial KYC whitelist opens.
DeSci Projects AminoChain and GenoBank Fight Over IP Rights GenoBank alleges AminoChain is infringing on its BioNFT patent.
Christie’s to Auction First Bitcoin Ordinal The 1/1 piece is dubbed ‘Ascend’ by artists Ryan Koopmans and Alice Wexell.
Crypto Markets Erase Last Week’s Gains Digital asset markets dived on Middle East war fears.
Ethena Network Proposal Introduces Native DEX If passed, the ‘Ethereal’ decentralized exchange would be directly integrated into Ethena reserve management, with a 15% governance token allocation to ENA holders.
Messari Mainnet Returns as New York’s Largest Annual Crypto Event The conference took place between Sept 30 and Oct 2 at Pier 36 in New York.