Last Week in DeFi - Liquity V2 Live on Ethereum Mainnet, Plume Airdrop Claims Live, Trump Signs Crypto Executive Order and more...
Recap: Week of Jan 20th
Launches π
Circle has launched Circle Paymaster, allowing users to pay gas fees with USDC on Arbitrum and Base. This eliminates the need to manage multiple tokens across blockchains, streamlining payments, transfers, and gas fee transactions using USDC. More details are available on Circle's blog.
Liquity V2 now live on Ethereum Mainnet with a new borrowing model with customizable interest rates, high LTVs using ETH and LSTs, and predictable costs. BOLD, the Ethereum-native stablecoin, offers benefits such as full redeemability for ETH and LSTs, protocol incentivized liquidity (PIL), and immutable smart contracts.
Additionally, 25% of Liquity V2's revenue supports ecosystem incentives directed by LQTY stakers, who also earn V1 fees with increased voting power over time. Liquity AG has also secured licensing agreements with 15+ forks, rewarding BOLD Stability Pool depositors and LPs through fork token supplies.
f(x) Protocol has expanded to Base and launched bFXN, a new governance token capturing all revenue generated on the network. Key features include higher leverage, lower fees, and faster execution, with no VC or team allocations. Tokenomics allocate 50% to the protocol (locked), 39% for farming rewards over 100 years, 5% for IDO, 5% to the treasury, and 1% for seed liquidity.
LayerZero V2 is now live on Aptos, allowing applications and tokens from over 100 supported chains to connect to the Aptos blockchain. Aptos is designed as a secure and scalable Layer 1 with high throughput and low latency for developers and users.
Moonwell has introduced physical Moonwell Cards, enabling users to use their onchain assets for shopping, dining, and travel at over 44 million merchants worldwide. The cards are now available for order, providing a convenient way to access digital assets in everyday transactions.
Lido has expanded Aave v3.2 Liquid eModes to Base and Arbitrum, allowing users to leverage LRTs as collateral for borrowing wstETH. This update introduces new DeFi use cases, including auto-compounded staking, restaking rewards, and points farming, with reduced gas costs and faster confirmations. The ezETH-wstETH pair is now live, optimized for rewards maximization and unique third-party incentives. Access through Aave or automated platforms enables streamlined management with recursive borrowing and continuous monitoring. Future updates will include more L2 networks, collateral options, and institutional-focused incentives.
StakeWise introduces StakeWise Boost, enabling users to earn up to 10% ETH rewards with a single click. The feature leverages osETH to borrow ETH on Aave and restake it up to 14x, maximizing rewards while simplifying what was once a complex DeFi strategy. With built-in safety features, such as optimal borrowing calculations and protection against osETH depegs, Boost ensures security even for beginners.
Phase 1 caps borrowing at 15,000 ETH, with deposits ranging between 1,100-2,500 ETH, so early access is encouraged. While returns are volatile, users can adjust their positions if APY decreases.
Tren Finance Mainnet Goes Live on Arbitrum. Users have options to deposit assets as collateral to borrow $XY, stake $XY in the Insurance Pool for protocol security, and optimize with automated strategy Hooks.
Bedrock introduces the Swap & Deposit feature for the $uniBTC Berachain Vault, powered by Enso. This one-click solution supports DAI, ETH, USDT, and USDC, simplifying direct deposits into the vault. The uniBTC Vault enables users to earn cross-chain rewards on Ethereum with partners like CIAN Protocol, Pendle, and Corn, as well as on Berachain with Kodiak, Dolomite, and Goldilocks.
M^0 has launched its new website, showcasing $Mβa secure, programmable, and interoperable digital dollar designed for developers and businesses. Powered by M^0, $M supports digital dollar infrastructure with integrations, extensions, and minting capabilities. The nRWA vault is enhanced with treasury-backed stability, robust governance, and compliance via an SPV, alongside independent asset integrity reviews by Validators.
Updates π°
President Trump has signed an executive order to strengthen U.S. leadership in digital financial technology. The order supports blockchain access, promotes dollar-backed stablecoins, prohibits Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), and revokes prior regulations, including Executive Order 14067.
It establishes a Presidential Working Group tasked with developing a federal regulatory framework for digital assets, proposing oversight measures, and evaluating the creation of a national digital asset stockpile derived from lawfully seized cryptocurrencies.
Abstract has unveiled its Infrastructure Partners Map for January 2025, showcasing collaborations with leading providers across various categories, including zkSync as its rollup layer.
Twine has launched multisettlement functionality on its testnet, enabling swaps like ETH to MOVE on a DEX deployed on Twine and withdrawals back to the Movement Network.
Movement Labs claims that Twine enhances speed, security, scaling, and modularity, further boosting liquidity and efficiency for users.
Solv Protocol has integrated SolvBTC with Beets Finance, Silo Finance, and Avalon Finance on Sonic Labs. This integration enables users to bridge BTC from Ethereum using Chainlink, unlocking cross-chain liquidity and fast DeFi functionality on Sonic.
Fluid has introduced "Multiply," a feature allowing users to leverage positions with a single click. It provides maximum APY visibility and key statistics to enhance user experience. This update addresses feedback on looping positions and aims to streamline the process for optimal returns.
Midas has launched the mBASIS market on Ionic Money, hosted on Base. Users can now collateralize or borrow mBASIS to optimize yield opportunities and enhance exposure.
Kaito AI has launched the Yapper Leaderboard Launchpad, focusing on pre-TGE projects to address information asymmetry and foster market consensus. Starting with 21 projects, three are selected weekly for voting, with the highest-voted project moving to the "To Launch" section and their leaderboard debuting seven days later.
Votes, weighted equally between Yappers and Kaito Holders, lock for seven days upon submission. Voting begins on Friday, January 24th.
Spectra is now live on SonicLabs, featuring a 2x dApp Multiplier. Users can access fixed rates, leverage points and yield, and interact with pools, including scUSD from Rings Protocol and stS from Beets Finance.
Aerodromeβs Public Goods Fund has locked 2.7 million $AERO as $veAERO, now representing approximately 17% of the $veAERO voting supply. The fund supports liquidity and high-impact pools to promote growth in the Base ecosystem.
Along with the Flight School Program and community Relay deposits, around 27% of protocol fees and incentives are compounding into $veAERO to bolster public goods initiatives.
Usual has partnered with Arrakis Finance to launch a new USUAL/wETH vault on Arrakis Pro, a non-custodial onchain market-making protocol. This collaboration provides enhanced liquidity management for the USUAL token.
YieldNest has launched Nest AI, an autonomous DeFAI agent that optimizes DeFi strategies, reallocates assets, and maximizes yield without human input. Features include decision-making transparency, messaging platform integration, and AI-generated visuals. The $NEST token powers Nest AI, offering potential exclusive benefits for holders.
Nexus has partnered with Halliday, a platform streamlining Web3 payments. Hallidayβs end-to-end solution enables users to acquire and manage onchain assets with a single click, enhancing the ease of Web3 transactions.
Hyperliquid Introduces Pre-Launch $ANIME Trading Users can now long or short $ANIME with up to 3x leverage.
Timeswapβs $TIME token is officially live on Hyperliquid, with trading available through their platform.
Sui Network has announced a partnership with SuperVerse, aiming to bridge one of the largest Web3 communities with Suiβs expanding gaming ecosystem.
Layer3 introduces Superposition on its Launchpad, spotlighting innovative projects in the DeFi space.
Arcadia Finance expands its modular DeFi capabilities with Asset Managers, allowing on-chain contracts or Ethereum addresses to optimize performance and manage risk. The Auto-Compounder handles reward compounding fully on-chain, while Arcadia Rebalancers utilize predictive modeling and AI for sophisticated automation.
Users can toggle rebalancing or select strategies for pairs like WETH/USDC, TBTC/WETH, CBBTC/WETH, and EURC/USDC.
OpenEden's $TBILL fund now includes State Street USD Liquidity LVNAV Fund in its reserves, aiming to strengthen liquidity and portfolio diversification with institutional-grade money market assets. Managed by a Singapore-licensed fund manager, $TBILL adheres to strict regulatory standards.
The Ethereum Foundation has set up a new 3-of-5 multisig wallet using Safe, with an initial transaction initiated to transfer 50,000 ETH, pending signing. The wallet, located at 0x9fC3dc011b461664c835F2527fffb1169b3C213e, will be used for participation in the DeFi ecosystem, with a testing transaction already executed on Aave. The Foundation plans to transfer more funds to this wallet over time. Stay tuned for updates on their DeFi activities.
World Liberty Financial discloses strategic asset acquisitions, purchasing $47M in ETH, $47M in wBTC, $4.7M in Aave, LINK, TRX, and ENA.
Aerodrome has introduced $TRUMP trading and liquidity provision on Base, leveraging Ambient Global and Stargate Finance for bridging. Paired with $USDC, the pool is already receiving $AERO incentives to boost participation.
WalletConnect is now featured on Layer3, offering users the opportunity to explore its dynamic on-chain UX ecosystem.
Sandglass is now live on Eclipse Foundation with tETH as its first tradable asset, backed by multiple yield-bearing ETH derivatives like eETH, ezETH, and rswETH.
Users can trade tETH for YT to gain 68x more points and benefit from yield increases or trade for PT to secure fixed yield. Idle tETH holders can also provide liquidity to earn trading fees. NucleusEarn serves as the default yield provider for tETH across networks.
Lido DAO has integrated Treehouse Financeβs tETH, a liquid staking token based on stETH, offering users enhanced staking rewards and third-party integrations. tETH adjusts staking rewards via rebalancing, aligns rates with Ethereum's Network Staking Rewards, and remains DeFi-compatible. This collaboration supports Decentralized Offered Rates (DOR), using stETH liquidity to establish reference rates and enable advanced DeFi mechanisms like Forward Rate Agreements.
World Liberty Financial has sold 20% of its token supply amid high demand and will reopen the sale with an additional 5% supply. Updates will follow as the team prepares to relaunch the token sale.
Trumpβs World Liberty Financial reportedly purchased 14,403 $ETH, valued at approximately $48 million.
Wormhole, in partnership with Mayan Finance, enables seamless cross-chain swaps directly into $TRUMP on Solana. Users can now access $TRUMP from any chain using the platform powered by Wormhole's multichain technology.
Kamino Lend celebrates a major milestone, surpassing $4 billion in assets supplied.
Balancer proposes to launch v3 on Arbitrum, enhancing DeFi with custom pools for AMM innovation, 100% Boosted Pools for optimized passive yields, and a Hooks Framework for dynamic strategies. Voting is live on Snapshot, marking a step towards scaling DeFi on Ethereum's premier Layer 2.
Issues π¨
Phantom is addressing a surge of over 8 million requests per minute, which may cause temporary transaction difficulties. The team is working to stabilize the platform
Jupiter Exchange is experiencing heavy system load amid increased demand and is actively working to restore services. Users facing serious issues are encouraged to file support tickets via Discord. To assist trading, priority fees and dynamic slippage have been increased in Auto mode, while Manual mode allows lower fees/slippage but may struggle to complete trades. On Solana, failed trades may still incur gas fees.
Upcoming β³
mETH Protocol, incubated by Mantle, with its latest upgrade, the protocol plans to scale integrations across ecosystems, broaden distribution networks, and drive both institutional and user adoption in 2025.
Unichain has announced that builders on its platform will be eligible for upcoming Superchain rewards, offering incentives to support development and innovation within its ecosystem.
Frax Finance is conducting a community temperature check to approve a $5M initial investment in World Liberty Financial (WLFI), with an additional $10M contingent on the partnership's success. This investment aims to align FRAX with the administration's vision of establishing the United States as a global cryptocurrency leader while onboarding Americans to DeFi.
Nodepay is entering a new era, scaling its AI-driven ecosystem to millions of users with enhanced rewards, new products, and innovations like the Desktop Node Launch and Node Search. Nodepay empowers users to earn Nodecoin by contributing bandwidth and data for AI training. Season 3 invites participants to stake tokens, validate the network, and drive the future of AI.
Aria Protocol is bringing real-world assets (RWAs) on-chain, launching on StakeStone with deposits capped at $7M.
Uniswap Labs is set to roll out v4 deployments this week, enabling builders to test hooks and integrations on-chain. A full launch is anticipated next week.
Abstract announces the integration of Circle's Bridged $USDC Standard into Abstract on Mainnet launch. The upgrade enhances composability, improves user security, and eliminates liquidity fragmentation for USDC on the platform.
Origin Protocol introduces Origin Sonic ($OS), a yield-bearing LST designed for the Sonic L1, offering boosted yield, deep liquidity, and ecosystem integration. Launching soon, $OS features a 4x Sonic points multiplier and will support Yield Forwarding, directing yield to approved smart contracts. Protocol revenue flows back to the $OGN DAO, with analytics available to track value accrual.
Jito's TipRouter Node Consensus Network (NCN) launches on January 30, 2025, aiming to decentralize and automate MEV distribution on Solana. Vaults for ezJTO, fragJTO, and kyJTO open tomorrow, enabling staking opportunities. TipRouter allocates tips from blockspace auctions via the Jito-Solana client.
Liquity V2 Launching Jan 23. Prepare your ETH, wstETH, and rETH for borrowing with user-set rates, minting $BOLD stablecoin with real yield, staking $LQTY for liquidity incentives, and earning rewards from 15+ protocol forks.
Symbiotic teases upcoming mainnet launch
Orbit has announced an upcoming major UI update, aiming to simplify access to earning strategies on its platform. The redesign will showcase all available strategies with detailed insights, analytics, and a streamlined execution process, empowering usersβwhether seasoned traders or beginnersβto make informed decisions quickly. The update emphasizes transparency and ease, supporting high-yield opportunities, DeFi strategies, and AI-driven trading.
Pell Network's $PELL launch on xLaunchpad is approaching, with the KYC deadline fast approaching! Users whoβve deposited over 50 USDT (or ~0.0005 BTC) can purchase up to 6 lottery tickets for the Pell Network IDO. To qualify, log in to your Pell account, bind your MultiversX wallet, and complete all requirements before January 25th.
Zeta Markets has announced Zeta X, which will utilize @bulletxyz_ to enhance trading on Solana. By offloading computations from Layer 1 and using ZK proofs for verification, the platform ensures a seamless and congestion-free trading experience. This integration aims to combine professional-grade performance with DeFiβs inherent security and transparency. Testnet coming soon.
Airdrops πͺ
Claims for Azuki's $ANIME airdrop will go live at 1 PM UTC. Eligibility includes members of the Azuki community, Hyperliquid stakers, Arbitrum community, Web3 anime enthusiasts, and Kaito yappers.
Jupiter has launched claims for Jupuary 2025, now live for eligible participants.
Avalon Labs has partnered with Binance Wallet for a $300,000 campaign ahead of Avalonβs TGE. Participants can swap a minimum of 10 USDT to USDa via Binance Wallet and complete social media tasks to earn rewards from the total pool. Full details are available on Binance's campaign page.
Quai Network has launched Wave 2 for $QUAI claims, allowing participants in testnets or the previous social media rewards program to claim their rewards at claims.qu.ai. Galxe rewards will be added to the portal soon, with additional details available on their blog.
Timeswap has announced an ecosystem airdrop, allocating 0.5% of the TIME supply to Hypurr and Nansen stakers as of January 15, 2025, with distribution scheduled post-TGE.
Network3 announced an airdrop of $N3 tokens to all physical miner participants, scheduled for January 23 at 4 AM UTC. Eligibility is based on prior purchases and holdings of $N3C and $N3E, which also determine allocation ratios. The $N3C-to-$N3 conversion will open by January 26, with more updates to follow.
Claims for Season 1 of Plume's airdrop are now live, with trading commencing today, January 21, 2025, at 09:00 AM UTC.
The Jupiter airdrop claim begins tomorrow at 3:30 PM UTC, with a three-month deadline. Users must create a Jupuary account and claim individually for each wallet. Stay tuned for updates.
Elixir announces an exclusive opportunity for its private Telegram members, with limited mints from Steady Teddys in the Bera ecosystem up for grabs.
RedStone Oracles has unveiled campaign activities featuring Double RSG Week, Daily WBC competitions, Gminers Challenge, and more, offering participants enhanced rewards for creative and community contributions.
Story Protocol has launched a new quest for the Story IP x AI Carnival on Binance Wallet, featuring an 88,888 $IP prize pool.
WalletConnect has launched its first-ever community initiative, WalletConnect Quests, offering a 250K WCT prize pool. Participants can complete weekly challenges to earn rewards. Start your journey and explore WalletConnect through the Layer3 campaign.
Linea has partnered with Nansen.ai to enhance sybil detection for LXP holders, identifying 476k addresses with strong sybil signals now added to the blocklist, excluding them from LXP airdrop allocations.
Bedrock has reached the halfway point of the Berachain Epic, launching Week 4 in collaboration with Dolomite. Participants can complete tasks to earn a share of 150,000 Bedrock Diamonds and an exclusive OAT badge. Rewards include 100,000 Diamonds for task completers and a 50,000 bonus pool for OAT and ROCKBERA NFT holders. Donβt miss out!
Bucket Protocol is running a $10,000 $BUT giveaway campaign on Sui Wallet. Participants can deposit $BUCK to qualify for rewards. The campaign ends on January 21 at 17:00 UTC, offering users a chance to win by engaging with the Bucket ecosystem.
Orbiter Finance has announced the final 2-hour countdown for the NFT snapshot determining $OBT airdrop eligibility. Holders of Ace Pilot and Expert Pilot NFTs can check their $OBT allocations instantly via the Telegram allocation checker, requiring no transaction signing. Ensure youβve secured your NFT eligibility before the deadline.
The $ANLOG claims portal is now live. Following the January 15 snapshot, ATP points have been finalized, and Batch 1 claims began on January 19, with Batch 2 opening January 21.
Eligible users should connect their Substrate wallets and check eligibility via the portal. Rewards are distributed based on square root calculations, with PoH users receiving additional tokens, and unclaimed rewards reverting to the Analog Ecosystem Fund after six months. For security, only access the portal via official Analog domains
Farms π§π»βπΎ
Pendle has introduced SolvBTC.Bera as part of its Bera Launch Series, providing BTCfi users with liquid-staked BTC that combines rewards like Babylon points, Solv XP, and Boyco incentives on BeraChain.
Bedrock has launched the uniBTC/brBTC pool on ThenaFi, offering up to 30% APR for Bitcoin holders looking to put their assets to work.
Moonwell has integrated the LBTC/cbBTC Isolated Market from Morpho Labs into its platform, enhancing Bitcoin's utility on Base through LBTC's liquid staking solution by Lombard Finance. This market is expected to increase cbBTC borrowing demand, driving higher returns for Moonwell Frontier cbBTC Vault depositor
Spectra has launched RLP from Resolv Labs, introducing fixed rates, yield, and points leverage for RLP. Users can access a predictable fixed rate denominated in USDC at maturity or leverage yield and point exposure through Yield Tokens (YT-RLP), offering 45 points/day until February 23, 2025, and 30 points/day afterward.
RLP holders can also join the pool to earn swap fees, fixed rates, native yield, Spectra emissions, and additional points rewards.
Pendle has reintroduced syrupUSDC (24 Apr 2025) with enhanced rewards, offering a 5x boost on Syrup Drips in the new pool. Syrup allows users to access Maple's overcollateralized institutional lending with a 20-27% target APY, currently at 20.4%. Those with syrupUSDC (30 Jan 2025) positions can easily migrate via the Pendle dashboard. Note that depositing directly on Pendle provides an instant 5x Drips boost, with LP incentives starting Thursday at 00:00 UTC.
Kamino has introduced $JTO restaking with a 5,000 $JTO launch campaign in collaboration with Jito. Two new $JTO vaults, ezJTO-JTO and kyJTO-JTO, will each receive 2,500 $JTO incentives over the next month. Restaking supports the first Node Consensus Network powered by Jito's TipRouter, which distributes MEV rewards and promotes Solana's ecosystem growth.
Users can stake $JTO through Renzo or Kyros vaults.
Derive has launched staking rewards for DRV, allowing participants to earn weekly rewards starting at 250,000 stDRV. Stakers can also engage in governance on the platform.
Liquity has allocated 75,000 $LUSD to incentivize Curve pools for BOLD/USDC and BOLD/LUSD during the first two weeks. Additional rewards, including PIL and over 15 friendly fork incentives, will also be available. Incentives begin tomorrow.
Solv Protocol announces the launch of the SolvBTC.BBN-SolvBTC market on Silo Finance, offering users the chance to earn triple-layered points through Babylon Labs, Sonic Labs (including activity multipliers), and Solv Points by looping on the platform.
Kamino Finance introduces a $150,000 monthly USDC reward program for users borrowing USDC against cbBTC. Rewards are distributed based on borrow amounts, providing more earnings for higher borrowing. This initiative offers users a unique way to earn USDC while leveraging their cbBTC.
Superform Labs' SuperUSDC is now live on Royco Protocol, offering optimized returns from Morpho USDC lending markets. Users can lock USDC for 10 weeks to earn approximately 12% APY along with a 25x CRED boost. Explore the earning opportunity at Royco Terminal.
Mountain Protocol launches USDM and wUSDM on zkSync Era, introducing a yield-bearing stablecoin ecosystem. USDM, pegged to $1, offers a 4.7% APY simply by holding, while wUSDM enables DeFi integrations by reflecting accumulated rewards in its price.
Users can trade both tokens on SyncSwap, leveraging $5M in liquidity and earning over 25% APR in incentivized pools. Backed by short-term US treasuries and regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, USDM combines yield generation with robust transparency.
Avantis introduces multi-collateral USDC borrowing powered by Morpho on Base, enabling users to leverage BTC or ETH to borrow USDC for trading and increasing vault deposits. Users can repay seamlessly post-trade while earning boosted Avantis XP and yields, with APYs for locked deposits potentially exceeding Morpho's borrowing costs. Supported markets include cbETH, wstETH, cbBTC, and ETH.
ZKsync Ignite kicks off Period 2 with a boosted budget of 9.5M ZK tokens, a 58.3% increase from Period 1. Key updates include expanded budgets for DEXs (+102.5%), lending (+22.3%), and perpetuals (+32%), alongside 74 incentivized pools (+37%). Top opportunities offer up to 175% APR on pairs like ZK/WETH and USDC/WETH.
WOOFi's @zksync Earn vaults now offer enhanced $ZK incentives, providing over 30% yield on single-sided $ETH deposits.
Wigo Ecosystem boosted the WIGO/FTM pool to a 60% APR, to support the community and protect WIGO/FTM liquidity.
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