Recap: DeFi Week of Dec. 14 🦄

Hello Defiers! Hope you’re having a great weekend. Summing up: In this past week the crypto market continued to heat up, with bitcoin smashing through $20,000 and touching a new record almost every day, while ether rallied past $650, the highest since 201...

Hello Defiers! Hope you’re having a great weekend.

Summing up: In this past week the crypto market continued to heat up, with bitcoin smashing through $20,000 and touching a new record almost every day, while ether rallied past $650, the highest since 2018. We looked at what short-sellers are doing and it looks like bears have their eyes on ETH, more than on BTC. Meanwhile, Chainlink’s LINK looked primed for a comeback. Compound Finance released plans to build an independent blockchain called Compound Chain to enable cross-chain money markets. There was yet another flash loan attack, resulting in about $8M drained from a DeFi protocol. The Graph launched its own decentralized network to provide open and global access to DeFi data. Tornado Cash proposed to decentralize its governance via the TORN token, while AAVE further decentralized its own governance, as any AAVE holder can now make proposals. This week’s podcast is with Jeff Garzik, the former Bitcoin core developer who is helping build Vesper, a yield bouncer that has the goal of professionalizing the DeFi investing experience.

💗 Huge thanks to everyone who contributed to The Defiant’s Gitcoin Grant!!

That was just one week. Subscribe to get the latest DeFi news and analysis straight to your inbox and you don’t miss a thing. Free-signups get partial content, paid subscribers get everything. Click here to pay with DAI (for $100/yr) or Get The Defiant’s $100 annual subscription for $80. Offer expires Dec. 31s. Get full access to Defiant content and community as a gift for yourself or for others.🎄

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🙌 Together with Zerion, a simple interface to access and use decentralized finance, Neutrino, an algorithmic price-stable protocol that enables the creation of stablecoins tied to real-world assets, and DeversiFi's Nectar Beehive V1, which allows traders to provide liquidity & earn Nectar ($NEC) tokens.

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Interview

"We Took Lessons From the 'Food Festival' to Level Up the DeFi Experience," Bloq's Jeff Garzik

In today’s podcast episode I talk with Jeff Garzik, the Bitcoin core developer turned DeFi builder. Jeff comes from leading Bloq, a blockchain infrastructure company focusing on enterprises. As much as decentralized finance is exciting and groundbreaking, he believes its lacking professionalism. Jeff believes DeFi needs to be easy for retail users and for institutional users, not just for crypto natives. With that goal in mind, Bloq is launching Vesper, a decentralized protocol for users to gain passive interest on their crypto. The innovation relative to other yield bouncers, is that users can pick a risk level and the protocol will invest in different strategies accordingly. It both competes with, and uses Yearn Finance. We also talked about what’s next for DeFi, and how he believes the space will trend towards “hybrid finance,” where traditional finance will progressively adopt this infrastructure to become more open and global.

Friday

Dives

Bytes

Links

Thursday

Dives

  • Regulatory Clampdown as DeFi Heats Up Means $1 Trillion in Transactions Could be at Risk: IntoTheBlock’s Lucas Outumuro explores crypto’s reliance on stablecoins, and the magnitude of the potential implications associated with the Stable Act:

Bytes

  • The Graph Launches Open Blockchain API Network: The Graph today launched its decentralized network of searchable, public data for the top decentralized finance applications.
  • Aave Holders Vote to Further Decentralized Governance: Aave’s governance will be increasingly controlled by its community after token holders approved a proposal to activate the project’s so-called “V2 governance.”
  • Zerion Enables Trading Within Portfolio Tracker: Zerion, a DeFi portfolio tracker, today launched the ability for its users to trade tokens, and LP shares — or tokens representing liquidity in DeFi protocols.
  • Polkadot DEX Polkastarter Launches Fixed-Price IDO: Polkastarter, a decentralized exchange based on the Polkadot network, launched a mechanism for crowdfunding that allows projects to list their tokens with a fixed price per token.

Tuesday

Dives

  • Short Sellers Pile in as ETH Rallies to Highest Since 2018: It’s a good day for crypto bulls today; bitcoin is rallying to record levels, smashing through the $20k milestone, while ether climbs past $615 for the first time since 2018. But while Bitcoin bears have receded to their caves, Ether bears are rearing their heads.
  • Chainlink Primes for Big Leap as Sellers Lose Steam: Chainlink took the back foot over the past few days as both buyers and sellers fought neck and neck before finally reclaiming the $13 mark.

Bytes

  • Rally Ethereum Bridge to Bring Liquidity to Social Tokens: Rally, a platform enabling the issuance of social tokens, is now connected to the Ethereum mainnet, paving the way for liquidity.
  • Harvest Finances Launched $GRAIN to Compensate Hack Victims: Harvest Finance, a yield farming platform, launched a new $GRAIN token to compensate those affected by a $24M flash loan attack.

Links

💜Community Love💜

Thanking all the amazing Defiers for the support and love this week (and always)!

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Dan Tapiero @DTAPCAPInteresting way to transfer value as long as the underlying aesthetic can be agreed upon. Growth rate of new market incredible. Logarithmic appreciation comes next. Digital asset ecosystem (DAE) eventually encompasses all the ways value is transferred.

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thedefiant.ioA Record $3.5M in Crypto Art Was Sold Over the Weekend - The DefiantProlific 3D artist Beeple sold $3.5M worth of crypto art on fiat-to-crypto marketplace Nifty Gateway, a record for NFT sales over a 72-day period. The sale is a sign digital art is becoming increasingly valuable, The Beeple Everyday: 2020 Collection featured 21 single edition auctions, three open ed…5:10 AM ∙ Dec 16, 2020125Likes20Retweets

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AM @ttmariemiaTop-notch Defi news. Support @DefiantNews on @gitcoin

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thedefiant.substack.comThe DefiantThe essential content platform about decentralized finance.2:40 PM ∙ Dec 17, 20209Likes2Retweets

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Bloq @bloqincBloq CEO/co-founder @jgarzik recently spoke with @CamiRusso of @DefiantNews, giving the most thorough preview yet of our upcoming #DeFi platform @VesperFi. Here are the highlights from the podcast episode.

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Vesper Finance @VesperFi1 / Some highlights from @CamiRusso's @DefiantNews podcast interview with @jgarzik. [A Thread] https://t.co/JuYDVAcAlb5:00 PM ∙ Dec 16, 20207Likes1Retweet

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Wong Joon Ian @joonianCrypto media and research subs: ✅ The Defiant ✅ Messari and just added: ✅ Delphi Digital4:44 PM ∙ Dec 14, 2020

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Stacking @StackingUSDGreat article by @DefiantNews (below). I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the moves @RafaelCosman and #TrueFi have been making lately. Loads of volume, interest and innovation. Kudos @TrustToken 👏 https://t.co/wborDC4HZz

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TrustToken 💸 @TrustToken"The unprecedented yield opportunities of DeFi will turn even more institutions crypto-savvy - or put them out of business." Read on for @TrustToken's take on #DeFi's institutional appeal As long time @DefiantNews fans, happy to have @RafaelCosman & @gasiorekm contributing 👇 https://t.co/LL2GUmqXrD11:25 AM ∙ Dec 20, 2020

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Cripto Spanglish ⏳ @CriptoSpanglishOtro fabuloso episodio de #DeFi 101 por @DefiantNews Top DeFi Teams Building in 2020

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youtu.beTop DeFi Teams Building in 2020NOTE: As you cruise along this series, you will notice how fast the DeFi space is; both in terms of execution and change. So if you happen to spot a discrepa...1:45 AM ∙ Dec 20, 2020

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▪️ @GTSewell@poly_annie It's quite weird that you just said that, as I just watched the @DefiantNews YT with @trevorjonesart and was literally breaking the word down in the same way. Good watch...

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youtu.beThe Beeple Bonanza unpacked with Trevor Jones$777,777.77 was the highest bid for a piece from Beeple’s entire 2020 collection. The whole catalogue went for $3.5 Million. Trevor Jones breaks down the Bee...11:10 AM ∙ Dec 19, 2020

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CRYPTO₿IRB @crypto_birb"DeFi Returns are Eating Traditional Finance". There's been real awakening, and it seems we're still just getting started. To learn why just read this great article by @RafaelCosman & @gasiorekm of @TrustToken on @DefiantNews. It's beautiful. Read full 👉thedefiant.substack.com/p/defi-returns…

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TrustToken 💸 @TrustToken"The unprecedented yield opportunities of DeFi will turn even more institutions crypto-savvy - or put them out of business." Read on for @TrustToken's take on #DeFi's institutional appeal As long time @DefiantNews fans, happy to have @RafaelCosman & @gasiorekm contributing 👇 https://t.co/LL2GUmqXrD7:52 AM ∙ Dec 19, 202041Likes9Retweets

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Herro @HerroCryptoBitcoin was like the wild west for institutions & they are now falling over themselves to invest. I believe that @RafaelCosman of @TrustToken is right in thinking the same will likely happen with #DeFi @DefiantNews. While DeFi has its flaws, it will only get better. ADAPT🦄

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TrustToken 💸 @TrustToken"The unprecedented yield opportunities of DeFi will turn even more institutions crypto-savvy - or put them out of business." Read on for @TrustToken's take on #DeFi's institutional appeal As long time @DefiantNews fans, happy to have @RafaelCosman & @gasiorekm contributing 👇 https://t.co/LL2GUmqXrD10:49 PM ∙ Dec 18, 20204Likes1Retweet

Airmuze @Naty_AirmuzeEncontrar informacion valiosa es tan importante como tener dinero para invertir. Ayuda a tomar mejores deciones. Filtrar info lleva tiempo (curaduria). @DefiantNews es un ejemplo y esta lista de reproduccion agrupa conceptos basicos necesarios para empezar

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youtube.comDeFi 101Share your videos with friends, family, and the world5:34 PM ∙ Dec 18, 20201Like1Retweet

The Defiant is a daily newsletter focusing on decentralized finance, a new financial system that’s being built on top of open blockchains. The space is evolving at breakneck speed and revolutionizing tech and money. Sign up to learn more and keep up on the latest, most interesting developments. Get The Defiant’s $100 annual subscription for $80. Offer expires Dec. 31s.

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About the founder and editor: Camila Russo is the author of The Infinite Machine, the first book on the history of Ethereum, and was previously a Bloomberg News markets reporter based in New York, Madrid and Buenos Aires. She has extensively covered crypto and finance, and now is diving into DeFi, the intersection of the two.

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