📈 Weekly Recap: DeFi & NFTs Rebound

Happy weekend Defiers!

The markets finally pulled back after a sustained multi-month rally this past week, despite spot crypto ETFs continuing to dominate headlines.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, applied to launch a spot ETF investing in Ether, following its spot Bitcoin ETF application in June. However, the new filing did not come as a surprise, with sleuths uncovering the establishment of the iShares Ethereum Trust entity last week.

Ripple XRP token rallied 12% and back in a day after a filing for an iShares XRP Trust was submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. However, BlackRock confirmed the filing to be a hoax, with someone fraudulently listing BlackRock’s information in the application.

The DeFi sector celebrated several milestones marking its recovery this week, with DeFi TVL at a five-month high and volume on decentralized exchanges tagging its highest level since March.

The decentralized perpetuals exchange, dYdX, was among DeFi’s top gainers, with DYDX rallying 60% in one week amid announcing a staking mechanism distributing trading fees to tokenholders.

GameFi tokens outperformed the broader crypto markets, with the segment adding more than 23% to its market cap. Top projects including Immutable and Illuvium are now up more than 100% in four weeks.

NFT trade volume jumped to a four-month high as the Nov. 20 conclusion of Blur’s second airdrop campaign approaches.

In other news, Aave Companies announced it will rebrand to Avara alongside acquiring the Family web3 wallet. The new branding is intended to reflect its expanding suite of web3 services, including the GHO stablecoin, Lens social media graph, and Aave lending protocol. Smoothly launched a Gitcoin campaign fielding donations to bolster the rewards earned by solo and independent Ethereum stakers in a bid to bolster decentralization. Donations will accumulate alongside block rewards before being distributed to stakers every three weeks.

Infura announced 18 launch partners for its long-awaited decentralized infrastructure network. The network allows developers to connect to Ethereum and other networks, with Microsoft and Tencent among its launch partners.

PayPal penned a blog post affirming its commitment to blockchain and stablecoins. PayPal described blockchains as “new financial rails” revolutionizing payments through stablecoins.

Freshly-launched stablecoins backed by U.S. treasuries also hope to shake up the market. Both the Verified USD Foundation and Midas entered the fray with stable tokens offering treasury yields to holders.

And in this week’s podcast, Paradigm’s Brendan Malone discusses the influential VC firm’s newly launched Policy Lab.

Enjoy!

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