Introduction
The Ethereum Foundation introduces Ethereum Execution Layer Specification (EELS), enabling better prototyping and proposals for the chain. MakerDAO co-founder puts forth a proposal to fork the Solana codebase for Maker’s “Endgame.” Finally, Cosmos chain, Akash Network, successfully undergoes a huge upgrade, going live with Akash Mainnet 6.
DeFi Highlights
Big week for DeFi! Let’s dive deeper into what went down in DeFi this past week.
Market Overview
Total value locked (TVL) across all chains stayed largely flat after a full retracement of the move up in the markets resulting from the SEC’s decision regarding the Grayscale lawsuit. Nevertheless, chains such as Coinbase L2, Base, and Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible Cosmos chain, Evmos, show strength, with TVL growing 114% and 70.3% respectively in the past week.
Alpha Central
- Stephen covers some lucrative blue-chip asset farming strategies on lending protocols, SummerFi (formerly Oasis) and Ajna.
- Binance drops their latest research piece on stablecoins, diving into the current stablecoin landscape, emerging stablecoins in each sector and where the sector might be headed in the future.
Ethereum: Ethereum Introduces EELS
The Ethereum Foundation introduces Ethereum Execution Layer Specification (EELS). EELS enables developers to prototype new Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) easily and test them, using an execution environment built in Python.
Interoperability layer, Hyperlane, announces Hyperlane V3, allowing fully customized message routing via Hooks and more seamless API integrations with protocols. Hyperlane V3 will be a breaking change; protocols building on Hyperlane V2 should be wary of this.
InstaDapp-backed wallet, Avocado, releases Avocado Multisig, enabling the experience of Externally-Owned Accounts (EOA) with multisig-level security. Avocado uses account abstraction to greatly improve the user experience when using their wallet.
LSDFi stablecoin protocol, Prisma Finance, launches on the Ethereum mainnet, opening the protocol to users. The protocol opened with 0% interest rates on loans, with wstETH, cbETH, rETH, and sfrxETH as collateral. The guarded launch has since hit its debt cap, and new loans cannot be taken at the moment.
Cross-chain bridging protocol, Altitude DeFi, is now live on Ethereum, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Optimism, Avalanche, Polygon, and Fantom, enabling the seamless transfer of blue-chip assets across these chains.
DeFi aggregator protocol, Vesper Finance, introduces esVSP, a locked token model for the protocol to introduce additional utility to the token as well as improved liquidity for locked VSP tokens.
L2s: StarkNet Restores Users’ Funds
Zk-rollup, StarkNet, restores access for users who failed to upgrade their wallets in StarkNet’s 0.12.1 upgrade, which had caused more than $550K in funds to be lost. The move comes after backlash from users, who also questioned the decentralization of the chain.
Boba Network L2, BobaAvax, will be winding down and ceasing operations as of 31st October. All users are to withdraw all funds from the chain to avoid losing their funds.
Polygon Labs releases the Polygon Chain Development Kit (CDK), the evolution to Polygon Supernets. Polygon’s CDK allows builders to easily deploy a zero-knowledge powered L2 chain that is connected to the entire existing Polygon ecosystem.
Velodrome fork, Aerodrome, goes live on Base, airdropping 40% of their supply as veAERO to veVELO holders. Within minutes, Aerodrome quickly became the top decentralized exchange (DEX) by TVL on Base with more than $190 million on the platform.
LSDFi protocol, Lybra Finance, launches V2 successfully, bringing to the platform a slew of new features, including increased collateral support, flash loans, their omnichain stablecoin, peUSD, and more. Users will need to migrate their LBR from V1 to V2 by the end of September.
Synthetix-based frontend, Kwenta, moves their Conditional Orders such as Stop-Market and Limit Orders, out of beta, with a protocol upgrade. The upgrade reduces execution delays by as much as 50%, bringing the trading experience one step closer to that of centralized exchanges.
Solana: Maker Proposes Solana Fork
MakerDAO co-founder and CEO Rune Christensen proposes Solana’s codebase for their native blockchain “NewChain,” citing several advantages that Solana offers over other competitors, namely Ethereum. MKR and DAI would still be on the Ethereum blockchain.
Leveraged trading platform, Zeta Markets, launches Zeta V2, bringing to the protocol a brand new UI as well as a revamped backend, enabling new features such as cross margin on the protocol.
Cosmos: Akash Mainnet 6 Upgrade
Decentralized cloud network, Akash Network, completes the Akash Mainnet 6 upgrade, launching capabilities for their Supercloud to offer GPUs, starting with NVIDIA GPUs. The network expects to host other GPUs in the future, such as those from AMD and other competitors.
Top ETH liquid staking protocol, Lido Finance, is looking to deploy on the Cosmos to bring wstETH to the ecosystem. This is a collaborative move with Cosmos chain, Neutron, and bridging protocol, Axelar.
Another Week, Another Airdrop
Blue-chip bridge, Altitude DeFi, will be opening up claims to their ATLD airdrop to eligible wallets on September 8 on Arbitrum. Users will be able to claim 10% of their total airdrop when it opens, with the remaining 90% open for claims over the nine months after.
StarkNet wallet, Braavos, leaks an article on the StarkNet token, STRK, which has since been deleted.
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