Weekly DeFi Index

This week's market cap and volume indices were positive at +11.33% and +24.57%,  respectively, while volatility index was negative at -32.52%.

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Chart of the Week

LayerZero, an omni-chain interoperability protocol, has seen a significant surge in activity in the past few months, reaching a record of nearly 500,000 daily transactions on 30 June. The protocol, launched in March 2022, has surpassed 31 million cumulative transactions. 

Read our research report on Layer-0s and interoperability solutions, including a deep dive on LayerZero: Layer-0: Infrastructure for Customised Blockchains.

News Highlights

• A new token standard called ERC-223 has been officially added to Ethereum documentation and token standards. The new standard aims to rectify the flaws present in its predecessor, ERC-20, and enhance security measures.

• A modified version of the BRC-20 token standard called BRC-69 was released by Luminex, a launchpad for Bitcoin Ordinals. BRC-69 requires only a single line of text to be inscribed to the blockchain (rather than a full image) and claims a 90% reduction in minting costs.

• The circulating supply of the USDC stablecoin dipped by over 2% over the weekend, dropping from US$27.9 billion to $27.3 billion. Its total supply has also reportedly been in decline, decreasing by over 38% since 1 January.

• Polygon Labs proposed a new four-layer infrastructure as part of its recently released plans for Polygon 2.0. The firm said that this design will utilise a shared zero-knowledge infrastructure to power all networks within the ecosystem, which will be unified using new staking and interoperability layers.

• The TRON network is scheduled for a major upgrade this month, gearing up for its Great Voyage (Periander) upgrade set for 11 July. This upgrade aims to bring significant enhancements across four key areas within the TRON mainnet: an advanced Stake 2.0 mechanism, compatibility with EIP-3855, a more streamlined smart contract interface calling, and a revamp of its P2P network module.

• Cross-chain bridging protocol Poly Network experienced another exploit on 2 July, affecting 57 crypto assets on 10 blockchains. The attack was reportedly caused by compromised private keys, and the network has temporarily suspended its services as it works with authorities.

Recent Research Reports

• The Development of ZK Rollups: Zero-knowledge rollups (ZK rollups) are still in their nascent stage. However, as the technology evolves, various methods to achieve compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) have emerged.

• Layer-0: Infrastructure for Customised Blockchains: Layer-0 protocols are the infrastructure that customised Layer-1 blockchains can be built on. We explore notable projects like Cosmos, Polkadot, Avalanche, LayerZero, and zkLink.

• Research Roundup Newsletter [May 2023]: In our latest issue of Research Roundup, we feature trending market insights, charts of the month, and our latest research reports exploring memes — what makes them successful, their role in crypto and Web3, and the resurgence of meme mania. 

Recent University Articles

• What Is Sharding? Sharding can improve transaction speed and scalability. Learn what the term means and how sharding works.

• Bitcoin Scalability: Challenges and Solutions: This article explores the various challenges associated with Bitcoin’s scalability problem, with potential solutions while maintaining network security.

• Cryptocurrency Futures and Derivatives: A Growing Market: Explore the rapidly expanding world of crypto futures and derivatives, and learn about their impact on the digital asset market.

Disclaimer

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