Weekly DeFi Index

This week's market cap index was positive at +9.31%, while volume and volatility indices were negative at -7.90% and -43.70%, respectively.

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Chart of the Week

On 9 February, Ethereum network gas fees hit an average peak of 70 gwei (equivalent to ~US$60 for an average transaction), reaching as much as 272 gwei or an eight-month high. 

The recent spike in gas prices coincides with the growing popularity of the new ERC-404 token standard. ERC-404 is an unofficial Ethereum token standard introduced by the Pandora project, which aims to bind ERC-721 NFTs to ERC-20 tokens, allowing for fractionalised NFT ownership. 

Since launching on 5 February, the PANDORA token has recorded over $47.36 million in sales volume, with its price going up to $17,341 (+315%) today. Additionally, the trading volume of the over 600 deployed ERC-404 tokens on decentralised exchanges has reached $1.25 billion. To further promote adoption and integration, the team’s developers are working to reduce gas costs by 300% to 400%.

News Highlights

• Ethereum developers set a target date of 13 March for the Dencun upgrade, following successful testnet deployments.

• Avalanche has launched the Durango upgrade on the Fuji testnet, which introduces Avalanche Warp Messaging (AWM) for trustless communication across EVM chains. The upgrade also includes improvements for the C-Chain and P-Chain, such as native transfers and smart contract compatibility with Ethereum's Shanghai upgrade.

• On 7 February, Wormhole announced the launch of its native W token, and that 17% of the 10 billion supply will be airdropped to its community. Ahead of the token launch, the cross-chain messaging protocol reported that it has surpassed one billion cross-chain messages and facilitated nearly $40 billion in cross-chain transfers since its inception in September 2021. 

• Aptos Labs introduced a new passkey authenticator on its Layer-1 blockchain Aptos that eliminates the need for passwords and enables users to sign transactions with their passkey. The authenticator allows users to store the private key for a passkey account directly on their device and sync their private key with their backup provider. It aims to mirror the ease of use of services like Apple Pay or Google Pay.

• Restaking protocol EigenLayer experienced a $4.3 billion influx following the removal of its staking cap. This led to a surge in TVL, which stands at $6.91 billion as of writing.

• Starknet Foundation announced that it will airdrop its STRK token on 20 February, with around 1.3 million wallets eligible to receive it.

• Over $11 million in liquidity  was removed from various pools associated with the cryptocurrency project SafeMoon. Blockchain security company Cyvers Alert flagged unusual activity linked to SafeMoon, which triggered speculation about a possible connection to SafeMoon’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.

• HectorDAO investors are demanding control of the protocol's remaining funds after the team ceased communication following a hack that resulted in a $2.7 million loss. The protocol had planned to dissolve itself and return assets to investors, but the hack occurred just before the scheduled payments, and the investigation into the incident is ongoing.

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