Last Week in Defi - World Liberty Financial Whitelist Open, Banks to Test Crypto Trades on SWIFT in 2025, Pike Finance Allegedly Rugged, More Info about $ME TGE

Recap: Week of Sept 30th

Launches 🚀

• Covalent's EWM Light Client Testnet is live, offering rewards for securing Ethereum’s historical data. Participants can earn 20-25% APY and gain early access to the mainnet. For more information regarding the EWM Light Client, visit here. 

  • Today in DeFi is supported in part by Covalent

• VOOI, a cross-chain perpetual DEX aggregator backed by Binance Labs, Consensys, and ZK Accelerator, has expanded its reach into the Telegram ecosystem. While the VOOI Mini App remains in the testing phase, users can engage in paper trading with live market data and earn rewards for daily activities.

• EigenLayer and LayerZero have introduced a new framework for Crypto Economic Decentralized Verifier Networks (DVNs), combining EigenLayer’s restaking and slashing mechanisms with LayerZero’s secure messaging technology. This innovation allows developers to launch their own crypto-economic DVNs using any token, offering customizable security solutions with quantifiable economic incentives for safeguarding the network.

• Musubi is enabling users to seamlessly swap assets across Ethereum using fingerprint authentication, all without leaving their Kinto-insured wallets. This approach promotes deeper integration within the ecosystem, avoiding liquidity fragmentation.

• Rujira, a product born from the merger of KUJIRA and ThorChain, has officially launched its landing page and documentation. Rujira aims to unify fragmented DeFi tools, offering users a streamlined experience with native cross-chain capabilities, eliminating the need for third-party bridges or wrapped assets.

• World Liberty Financial (WLFI) has opened its whitelists for new users, backed by Donald J. Trump. The whitelists are currently available to accredited investors in the U.S. and all non-U.S. persons.

• Sui has launched Sui Bridge on Mainnet, enabling interoperability within the Sui ecosystem. The bridge is designed to facilitate the transfer of assets and data across various Web3 ecosystems.

• Automata Network has launched on Optimism's OP Stack as a machine attestation layer focused on hardware trust through on-chain machine attestations, including Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs). The network has made progress with Multi-Prover AVS on EigenLayer and has enhanced Worldcoin's Secure Multi-Party Computation (SMPC) using TEE-capable GPUs.

• GnosisDAO has introduced a new brand identity and website at gnosis.io. The new branding aligns with the Gnosis 3.0 roadmap, focusing on full stack decentralization. The website consolidates communications for Gnosis' ecosystem, which includes Gnosis Studios for incubating applications and Gnosis Labs for exploring ideas.

• Cryptify, an AI-driven platform, has stealth-launched its $CRAI token. The platform aims to develop an AI dashboard specialized in influencer marketing for both Web2 and Web3, allowing users to measure influence.

• Puffer Finance has launched UniFi AVS, which is designed to enhance Ethereum's scalability and user experience. UniFi AVS utilizes preconfirmations through EigenLayer to facilitate transactions on Ethereum, reducing confirmation times while maintaining security.

• Renzo launches ezEIGEN, the first EIGEN liquid restaking token that helps users to auto compound reward weekly and optimize for the best risk adjusted restaking strategy curated by Renzo.

• Shape, the permissionless chain for all creators, is live now. You can mint STACK to explore and collect art works on Shape to earn Medals and climb ranks. Shape tracks your onchain achievements, preserved in a dynamic NFT.

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Updates 📰

• SWIFT, the world’s largest financial institution payment network, has announced that beginning next year, institutions globally will begin trialing live digital asset and currency transactions on its network.

• Lombard has launched a limited-time flash event, offering 2x Lux rewards on all new BTC staked before Babylon’s Cap-2 event next Wednesday. The Luminary Program aims to incentivize early, loyal, and influential participants, while also encouraging new entrants. Additionally, LBTC staked through DeFi partners is eligible for the same 2x Lux rewards.

• KelpDAO's agETH can now be bridged from other networks to Linea through Axelar. Participants can earn 50 AXL rewards for each agETH bridged to Linea, LXP-L, alongside the usual rewards for minting agETH.

• Ethervista has launched its Vista staking, allowing users to stake Vista tokens and earn a third of trading fees, along with boosted fees from the platform. Fees are paid in ETH to minimize selling pressure on Vista and stabilize its price. Ethervista’s automated buy-back and burn mechanisms will continue to operate.

• Jitos will have Helius as one of the initial node operators on the Jito (Re)staking protocol. As the largest Solana-native validator on the network, Helius will play a crucial role in validating transactions and securing Node Consensus Networks (NCNs) of Jito’s (Re)staking's operations.

• Aevo launches 25,000 EIGEN Trading Competition. Users can trade any perpetual futures, or pre-launch to qualify for the competition. Top traders with the best PnL or trading volume will be eligible for the reward.

• DIA futures are now live on Binance, launching the DIA/USDT perpetual contract with up to 75x leverage.

• Bedrock has resumed uniBTC staking on Babylon after addressing a smart contract vulnerability. The team has implemented security measures, including 24/7 monitoring, a Bedrock Security Fund, and a bug bounty program. Additionally, they have integrated Chainlink's Proof of Reserve and plan to burn over-minted uniBTC to maintain its 1:1 peg.

• Ethena's governance has proposed the launch of "Ethereal," a DEX for spot and perpetual futures, as part of Ethena's reserve management. The plan includes a 15% governance token allocation to ENA holders. Ethereal is intended to manage USDe backing on-chain to promote demand and decentralization.

• Resolv’s USR, a delta-neutral synthetic stablecoin, is now integrated with Hyperliquid. This makes USR the very first delta-neutral stablecoin integrated with both centralized and decentralized exchanges. The integration enables Resolv to leverage Hyperliquid’s perps markets and benefit from the dynamic funding rates.

• Talent Passport, the resume for web3, introduces Base and Ethereum User Credentials. These credentials track your onchain activities. Connect your wallet to Talent Passport and earn points from your previous interactions with the chains. TALENT token is launching in Oct.

• Gamma introduces the long/short LP strategy, which takes a directional view on where price action is going. Backtesting results for the past year of data yielded a strategy that delivered +117% returns, outperforming both Narrow strategy and Hold 50/50. Using MACD indicators, the strategy determines whether to go long or short. If long, liquidity is placed in a wider range above the current price. And if short, liquidity is placed in a wider range below the current price.

• Cudis, the AI-empowered Wearable DePIN product built on Solana, has now been integrated into the Solana Mobile.

• LayerZero is now live on BitLayers, a L2 aimed to scale Bitcoin through ZK proofs and BitVM, which allows for Ethereum-style smart contracts on Bitcoin. Developers on Bitlayer can now connect to 90 other chains across EVM and non-EVM environments through LayerZero.

• Zappier now supports ZKsync. Zappier wants to make every transaction human-readable. With Zappier, you can track your on-chain portfolios across many DeFi protocols with detailed views of token prices, balances, and values.

• DePerp now supports MOTHER, the Solana memecoin of Iggy Azalea, Perp markets on Base with 10x Leverage.

• Aevo has finished the September AEVO buyback plan. 1M AEVO was purchased on the 26th of September at an average price of $0.42. Buybacks was done onchain, and 1M AEVO was transferred to the treasury multisig. Aevo promises to buyback at least 1M AEVO every month until Dec 2024. Almost all of the total supply of AEVO has been fully vested now.

• Hyperdrive by DELV, formerly Element, is now live on Base. Hyperdrive is a fixed income protocol similar to Pendle and Spectra that helps users to lock in fixed rate or leverage up with variable rate.

• Ondo’s USDY is now live on Dolomite on Arbitrum. USDY is tokenized RWA token backed by US short-term treasury bills.

• Spark now fully supports farming on Sky, previously MakerDAO. The new “Farms” feature enables users to earn SKY token rewards, powered by the decentralized Sky Protocol.

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Issues 🚨

• Pike Finance is facing allegations of a potential rug. After raising $6.5 million during a token presale in March 2024, the company announced its TGE on September 30, 2024. However, reports suggest that only $10,000 in liquidity was added to the pool, resulting in a near-zero value for the tokens held by presale investors. The company's plans for the remaining funds raised during the presale remain unclear at this time.

• Gemini, a crypto exchange, is going to close all clients’ accounts in Canada. The decision comes with the regulations introduced months ago that imposes tighter restrictions for crypto exchanges or other trading platforms.

• There is widespread speculation that FTX will begin distributing $16 billion in repayments to its creditors on September 30. Markets anticipate that a significant portion of these funds may be reinvested into the cryptocurrency markets. However, according to the reorganization plan (p.3), the final decision regarding repayments will not be made until Oct 7 confirmation hearing.

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Upcoming ⏳

• Talus, a Layer 1 blockchain for AI agents backed by Polychain, has introduced Nexus, an on-chain framework for building and managing autonomous AI agents. Nexus enables developers to create Talus Agents that operate directly on the blockchain, providing censorship resistance, transparency, and composability.

• Clearpool will soon to launch ozUSD as a part of its upcoming Ozean ecosystem. Users can lock USDX, converting it into ozUSD, which then auto-rebases in their wallet, distributing the low-risk rate directly back to holders.

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Airdrops 🪂

• Linea is preparing to distribute the LXP tokens collected during Culture Szn. To be eligible for the drop, users must ensure they have passed the Proof of Humanity verification through Verax.

• Calderas' "I Was Early" NFT is now available for claim to those who completed the first 11 Layer3 quests by October 4. The minting window will close by the end of today.

• Owlto Finance, in collaboration with Scroll, has launched the Scroll Quest event. Users who bridge to Scroll via Owlto can earn 3 Owlto Badges on Scroll Canvas, along with an additional 3,300 Owlto Points for future airdrop eligibility.

• Plena, the crypto super app that aggregates dApps and enables trading of over 100,000 tokens at optimal rates, announced special benefits for LunarKey NFT holders. These include guaranteed PLENA airdrops, enhanced staking rewards, and exclusive opportunities to invest in PLENA’s public sale.

• deBridge's DBR public sale can now be checked through Jupiter's LFG Checker. Users can connect their EVM or Solana wallets within 24 hours to verify their eligibility for participation in DBR's launch on the LFG platform. Priority access is granted to eligible deBridge and Jupiter community members, allowing them to be the first to bid on DBR before public trading begins.

• Puffer TGE is is approaching, with a snapshot scheduled for October 5. The airdrop allocation will be based on users’ active commitment to the Puffer ecosystem, reflecting factors such as genuine engagement, contributions to long-term value, and consistent participation. Market expectations are high for this airdrop, as Puffer recently acquired EIGEN tokens from the market to ensure all users receive their full allocation, further boosting confidence among participants.

• The final Sonic Shard is now available on Galxe. Users can complete tasks on the listed dApps for The Road to Sonic: Series 6 to claim.

• mETH Protocol has initiated $EIGEN claims for eligible holders in Phases 1 and 2, starting October 1, 2024. A total of 2,098,636.67 $EIGEN will be distributed, with 1,077,480.69 $EIGEN allocated for Phase 1 and 1,021,155.98 $EIGEN for Phase 2.

• deBridge Foundation has announced that Backpack is the ninth exchange to support the DBR claim-to-CEX flow, allowing eligible recipients to claim DBR off-chain directly in their Backpack accounts ahead of the Token Generation Event (TGE), scheduled for two weeks from now.

• Alpha Drops has stated that the Swell airdrop will be taking place as planned, with no further delays. The $SWELL checker will be available next week.

• Plena has noted that there are 24 hours left to mint and earn $PLENA through a free mint on Magic Eden. The Whitelist Checker for Plena's Magic Eden launch is now live, enabling users to check their eligibility.

• MagicEden released more info regarding ME token launch. ME will be launched through a first-of-its-kind mobile token claim inside Magic Eden Wallet. You’ll be able to link all your existing browser, mobile, and hardware wallets across chains without using your seed phrases. A test token will be launched first in Oct to simulate and test run for ME claim. The detailed tokenomics will soon follow and official TGE afterwards.

• Phantom usernames are now claimable starting from today. If your wallet is eligible, you’ll see a banner in Phantom with the official link to claim your username. If you don’t have access yet, you should get it by the end of the week.

• Sonic, previously Fantom, starts distributing points to users of Sonic Arcade for ~200M S token airdrop.

• GRASS airdrop will soon to be live. Users need to connect the Solana wallet by Oct 1 to be eligible for the airdrop. GRASS is now trading at ~$1.2 on average at on pre-launch markets. The FDV is around $1.2B.

• Galxe now are hosting a series of Quest campaigns from Movement, BitLayers, Rootstock, RDNT, and Naoris.

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Farms 🧑🏻‍🌾

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  Stake your GHO to earn ~16.30% APR from AAVE and Merit Program

  • Today in DeFi is supported in part by ACI

• Usual’s USD0++ PT from Pendle is now on Morpho. Holders of USD0++ PT can now borrow USDC or USDA against the asset at 4.76% borrowing APY to further increase the capital efficiency while still benefiting from the PT fixed rate.

• pSTAKE Finance partners with Babylon and Binance. Users can now stake native BTC on Binance mobile app to share 100K PSTAKE tokens and upcoming Babylon Cap 2 points.

• Sandglass, the yield trading protocol similar to Pendle on Solana, has launched a cUSDC vault on Kamino. cUSDC is a deposit receipt for depositing USDC in Kamino's Main Pool. All cUSDC in Sandglass receives a 2x multiplier on its Kamino points on top of 5% PT APY, 4% YT APY, or 5% LP APY.

• Morpho hyUSD/eUSD on Base is now paying eUSD borrowers 3.49% APY against hyUSD collateral. There’s still $200K of available liquidity.

• PancakeSwap just added pufETH on BNB Chain. You can now stake pufETH-ETH (0.05% fee tier) V3 LP, earn CAKE and Puffer points.

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For example, last week we published the following features for our Premium Subscribers:

• Complete Quest for MAV Airdrop

• Farm Promising New RWA Protocol Airdrop with Stables

• Stake Stables for ~18% APY in Native Yield and Rewards

• and more…

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- Leverage Farm Uni v3 with Automation, or Lend USDC to Earn Airdrop Points

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