August 18, 2023

This Week In DeFi – Aug 18

To the DeFi community,

This week, opBNB's EVM-compatible Layer 2 network on BNB Chain has progressed beyond its testnet phase, with its mainnet now accessible to infrastructure providers – one step closer to a public mainnet launch.

Decentralized apps have already contributed $1.4 million in total value locked, notably driven by BinarySwap's $1.35 million TVL. The BNB Chain team expressed their journey's rapid progress since the June 19, 2023, testnet launch, attributing it to the dedicated community and technology advancements.

opBNB employs Optimism's OP Stack and optimistic rollup technology to enhance app scalability.

https://twitter.com/RomeoTrades/status/1691914271054041126

Shibarium, the Ethereum Layer 2 solution developed by the team behind the meme cryptocurrency Shiba Inu (SHIB), has had a disastrous start following its mainnet launch on August 16.

Crypto influencer Shroom Daddy shared screenshots allegedly showing Shytoshi Kusama, the pseudonymous lead developer of Shiba Inu, admitting that all Ether bridged onto the network is currently unrecoverable.

Blockchain security firm Beosin Alert has estimated that approximately $1.7 million worth of bridged ETH is trapped, with transactions on Shibarium stuck in a pending state.

This launch disappointment comes after a year of expectations for SHIB investors anticipating the project's move beyond meme coin status with the Layer 2 deployment.

https://twitter.com/Shibtoken/status/1691935726244409446

Kraken Ventures, the venture capital arm of crypto exchange Kraken, is seeking to raise $100 million for its second fund amidst a challenging environment for crypto venture capital.

Despite the downturn in the market, the firm is actively engaging potential investors. The new fund aims to surpass the $65 million raised for its first fund in 2021.

Managing partner Brandon Gath confirmed the effort, emphasizing their commitment to support founders from initial capital to IPO and their belief that smaller funds outperform larger ones.

https://twitter.com/mallikakolar/status/1691126581086113792

Blockchain data firm Arkham Intelligence has asserted that former President Donald Trump is likely the owner of a cryptocurrency wallet that's accumulating substantial royalty payments from NFTs.

The company is currently tracking the wallet's activities. Arkham pointed out that Trump's financial statement from August 14, 2023, listed a cryptocurrency balance of $2,806,341, remarkably close to the balance of the prominent wallet linked to the Trump NFT project.

Trump had recently disclosed the ownership of a crypto wallet containing up to $5 million worth of ether, as indicated in financial disclosures. He also earned significant income from an NFT licensing deal worth $4.9 million with NFT INT LLC, a company behind notable NFT drops.

https://twitter.com/ArkhamIntel/status/1691875444809781337

The Ethereum Layer-2 trend continues, as opBNB takes the next steps towards its mainnet launch, opening the space up for developers.

The move represents another Ethereum Layer-1 “competitor” giving up being an alternative to the network, and instead attempting to enhance it as a scaling platform.

Existing Layer-2s are also seeing progress, as the recently-launched network Mantle reaches a milestone of $40 million in total value locked (TVL). Linea has also completed its own mainnet rollout, while Shib’s Shibarium goes live – but not without its own issues.

A clear convergence is in effect, where major projects are now attempting to enhance Ethereum via scaling, rather than fight it.

But do we need this many different scaling networks?

The likely answer is no – there are already infinitely more Layer-2 scaling platforms than required. Which leads to the inevitable next question:

What will become of the several Layer-2s that are being launched right now?

The simple answer may be that a large proportion of them will cease to exist, sinking or swimming depending on their abilities to attract users via liquidity, security, and overall efficiency.

We may very well reach another point of convergence – as usage consolidates to just a few primary Layer-2s

The only question then will be, which of the current scaling network(s) will prevail?