CFTC Sees ‘Significant Risks’ From Digital Assets 

Rocket Pool Launches rETH On zkSync Era

It’s peak Merge anticipation time, with the historic upgrade to 

 expected to commence the evening of Sept. 14, Eastern Time. This week, the network cleared its final hurdle with the rollout of 

 on the implications of the hard fork going live.

has been swinging wildly as investors move in and out of the token. Check out yyctrader’s 

 on how the ETH/BTC ratio hit a nine-month high this week. And Robin Schmidt and his crew produced a 

, one of the stalwarts of DeFi. Sam reports how a surprising proposal from 

 has shaken up the Maker community and may derail 

 on how technologists and founders are scrambling to rethink DeFi protocol frontend design to protect privacy from government intervention in the wake of the 

 on the debate roiling the NFT market — royalties. Aleksandar Gilbert delved into the push by NFT marketplaces like 

 to attract more sales volume by letting collectors waive royalty fees. That revenue stream, of course, is the lifeblood for creative artists, and many feel the move betrays the spirit of web3.

As ever, give a listen to Camila Russo’s latest podcast: this week she has a scintillating 

about his new web3 social network project.

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Stani Kulechov on Building a Social Network for Web3 so Users are Not the Product

This week on the Defiant Podcast we speak to 

, founder & CEO of Aave, one of the first lending protocols in the DeFi space. He has been around since the inception of DeFi, now Aave Labs is the leading force in this completely new side to the web3 universe; social media.

Lens aims to reimagine how social networks are built, providing an open protocol for applications to flourish, and giving users the freedom to own their information and take that data with them when they move from one app to the next. Creators and influencers would monetize their content by reaching their audiences directly, and applications would gain revenue from these transactions, rather than relying on ads.

We discuss the benefits and the risks of this model. While it provides more choice and should incentivize platforms to provide a better service, is there potential for some users to be priced out of that content behind token-gated paywalls? The norm in web2 is free-to-view content. Are added incentives of decentralization and data control enough of a carrot to justify the added cost? Stani also dives into user stats in the first two months since Lens launched, and discusses what’s next for the protocol.

The Defiant Weekly: Why Solana NFTs Are Taking Over

Tuesday Tutorial: Trading The Ethereum Merge – NFA

The Defiant Weekly: AVAX Conspiracy Explained!

Quick Take: MAJOR CARDANO UPDATE + SAYLOR BUSTED?!

Artists Say NFT Markets Betray Web3 by Nixing Royalty Payments

X2Y2’s Move to Make Royalties Optional Triggers Outcry and Soul-searching in NFT Land

 delves headlong into the debate roiling the NFT community…

On a hot and humid Tuesday night, collectors flocked to a sweltering art gallery in Lower Manhattan. It was their one opportunity to snag a physical copy from Justin Aversano’s “

,” a series of 364 mixed-media pieces the grieving artist created in 2014 after the death of his mother.

With Privacy Under Threat DeFi Community Scrambles to Rethink Frontend Design

Tornado Cash Sanction Prompts User Bans and Backlash

 dives into the privacy rabbit hole to learn how technologists are laboring to protect one of crypto’s most important values.

 Crypto was supposed to be unstoppable. But when the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) 

 the privacy-preserving protocol Tornado Cash on Aug. 8, the conception of crypto as an uncensorable financial network came into doubt.

Coinbase Surprises MakerDAO with Pitch to Load Up on USDC

Proposal Could Change Christensen’s Bid to Lessen Reliance on Centralized Revenue

 writes the latest installment in MakerDAO’s push to change its model.

Coinbase has thrown a wrench into MakerDAO’s plans to lessen its reliance on USD Coin collateral, and it may force the DeFi stalwart to change major elements of its strategic growth plan.

Curve Releases Interface Code For Stablecoin

crvUSD Is Likely To Launch After Ethereum’s Merge

 reports on Curve’s rather audacious move to bring out a new stablecoin at a time of great scrutiny.

Curve Finance was the epicenter of the stablecoin wars in 2021. Now it’s getting ready to launch its own stablecoin even as the cryptocurrencies have come under intense scrutiny in the wake of Terra’s failure in May and a looming regulatory crackdown.

Crypto was supposed to be unstoppable. But when the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) 

U.S. Doubles Down on Crypto Regulations As Industry Pushes Back

U.S. policymakers hinted at tightening regulation of digital assets in a flurry of statements and reports Thursday morning.

Aave, the largest DeFi lending protocol with over $6B in total value locked (TVL), has 

 to give its developers $15M in retroactive pay for their work building Aave V3, the latest iteration of the money market.

Layer 1 Blockchain Sui Raises $300M At $2B Valuation

Mysten Labs, the developer of the Sui layer-1 blockchain, has

 $300 million in a Series B funding round that values the company in excess of $2B.

Rated Labs Raises $2.5M To Solve Validator Reputation Dilemma

, a Web3 infrastructure project, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding from 1confirmation, Semantic, Placeholder and other prominent investors.

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Binance Enters Zero-Knowledge Race With zkBNB 

Binance’s recently rebranded BNB Chain is the latest smart contract network to throw its hat in the ring to deliver smart contracts powered by zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs.

USD Coin (USDC) is a stablecoin vying for market supremacy with Tether, the No. 1 such offering in terms of market capitalization.

ETH/BTC Ratio Soars To Nine-Month High Ahead Of The Merge

Ether is up 6% in the past 24 hours as traders remain optimistic ahead of Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake consensus, now just a week away.

Ethereum Repels Rival Layer 1s as Merge Looms

Ethereum remains the dominant Layer 1 smart contract network by a wide margin during the 2022 bear market, raking in 90% of L1 protocol revenue since mid-March.

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Arbitrum Transactions Quadruple After Upgrade

Activity on Arbitrum, Ethereum’s leading L2, quadrupled after its Nitro upgrade, with daily transactions hitting all-time highs during consecutive days this week.

As Ethereum cultivated its ecosystem of decentralized applications (dApps) in recent years, Solana popped up on the blockchain scene and became one of its top challengers.

Bellatrix Euphoria Short-Lived as Markets Slide

For a second there, Layer 1s were pumping like it was 2021. Smart contract platforms, also known as 

, started the week with a bang as Ethereum’s ETH, Solana’s SOL, Avalanche’s AVAX and others were all up more than 3% as of midday New York time.

SushiSwap is Uniswap’s jealous twin. After Uniswap pioneered decentralized exchanges (DEXs), it triggered a DEX race. SushiSwap was one of those race contestants.

Binance to Delist Three Stablecoins and Fold Balances into BUSD

Binance, the top centralized exchange by trade volume, announced it will delist three popular stablecoins and convert users’ balances into its own BUSD stablecoin.

Web3 Workers Outside The U.S. Prefer Payment In Crypto, Study Shows

Most crypto employees outside the United States are paid in stablecoins, according to a recent 

 of one major venture capital firm’s portfolio companies.

LG Launches NFT Marketplace For Smart TV Owners In The U.S.

Despite the NFT markets being in the doldrums, LG, the consumer electronics giant, is launching an NFT marketplace for its premium smart TVs.

SudoAMM, an automated market maker for NFT trading, will be launching a token. Sudoswap 

 its plans to distribute a governance token for sudoAMM in a Sept. 1 post. SUDO will launch with an initial supply of 60M tokens.

Terra Launches Second LUNA Airdrop to Repay Holders

LUNA is back from the dead. Sort of.Claims are now live for Terra’s second airdrop for its new LUNA token four months after the DeFi ecosystem failed and 

 more than $60B in market capitalization.

Let the countdown begin…

It’s peak Merge anticipation time, with the historic upgrade to Ethereum expected to commence the evening of Sept. 14, Eastern Time. This week, the network cleared its final hurdle with the rollout of Bellatrix. Sam Haig reported ...

🦄 Recap: DeFi Week of Sept. 4