1. Polkadot Treasury Reports Modest Half-Year Network Income of Only $250,000, Yet Expenditures Exceed $80 Million link

Polkadot Forum has released its financial report for the first half of 2024. The treasury spent $87 million (11 million DOT), with 13% allocated through executive entities (bounties and collectives). The treasury’s total assets amount to $245 million (38 million DOT), of which $188 million (29 million DOT) are liquid assets. The treasury holds $8 million in USDT and USDC stablecoins, with an additional 2.5 million DOT ($16 million) earmarked for ongoing stablecoin purchases. Strategic initiatives such as marketing, DeFi tools, gaming, and business development received $24.5 million (3.8 million DOT), while $6.4 million (1 million DOT) was used for airdrops in the gaming sector. Polkadot also injected 1.6 million DOT ($10 million) into the DeFi market for liquidity.

With the current burn rate of $87 million every six months, Polkadot’s funds are projected to last about two years. The Polkadot treasury’s network revenue for the first half of 2024 was only $250,000, while expenditures exceeded $80 million, leading to widespread criticism within the community. Polkadot is currently operating at a deficit. In the first half of 2024, the revenue was 2,887,002 DOT, while expenses totaled 11,327,316 DOT, resulting in a net loss of 8,440,314 DOT. The Polkadot treasury’s cash and equivalents stand at 29,336,487 DOT. At the current monthly loss rate of 1,406,719 DOT, liquidity cash will be exhausted in 20.85 months. More critically, from a USD perspective, stablecoins constitute less than 5% of the treasury’s liquid cash, amounting to $8,096,505 in USDT and USDC (1,265,080 DOT), which is insufficient to sustain even one month at the current loss rate. Despite the treasury’s nominal reserves, its actual liquidity and payment capacity face significant short-term challenges, especially during market volatility.

For a detailed analysis, refer to the article written by WuBlockchain’s team members on WuBlockchain’s official website.

Victor Ji, co-founder of Manta Network, has vehemently criticized the Polkadot ecosystem and its team in response to the Polkadot Treasury’s expenditure of 87 million USD in the first half of the year. He expressed his decision to sever ties with the Polkadot ecosystem and team, citing his previous role as founder of one of Polkadot’s largest projects by Total Value Locked (TVL) and market value. Victor Ji characterized the Polkadot ecosystem as highly toxic, lacking genuine value for Web3, and showing little concern for user adoption or usage rates. He pointed out disparities in funding allocation, noting that European and American projects receive significantly more support compared to Asian projects, which he perceives as discriminatory against Asian founders within the ecosystem.

Furthermore, Victor Ji criticized the Polkadot team for their perceived lack of capability in achieving true decentralization and providing effective support for developers, resulting in a largely stagnant ecosystem. He indicated that their focus has now shifted to the Manta Pacific project, expressing hope that more developers will choose a more active ecosystem.

2. Blast Releases Phase 2 Reward Allocation Details, Focuses on Mobile DApps for Blast App link

Blast has announced the allocation details for Phase 2 rewards, with a total of 10 billion BLAST tokens designated for this phase. Of these, 50% (5 billion BLAST) will be allocated to Blast Points, which users can earn based on their balances of ETH, WETH, USDB, and BLAST. The remaining 50% (5 billion BLAST) will be allocated to Blast Gold. Gold distribution will occur during the first week of each month, with the next distribution set for July 8. This allocation will cater to both new and existing Dapps, and additional Big Bang competitions will be held to incubate new Dapps. Phase 2 will primarily focus on mobile Dapps within the Blast App.

3. etherfi Phase Two Airdrop Imminent, 150 ETHFI to Be Distributed to All Small Investors link

Ethereum re-staking protocol etherfi has updated the information regarding the second phase of its airdrop. The second airdrop has been postponed to July 7 and will distribute up to 150 ETHFI to all small investors. The team has partnered with Chaos Labs to detect Sybil attacks and other suspicious activities. To claim the airdrop, users must prove their wallet is not part of a Sybil cluster. Providing false proof will result in disqualification from the airdrop and forfeiture of all airdrops associated with that Sybil cluster. Users identified as Sybil can still receive the basic linear airdrop but are not eligible for additional rewards.

4. Pendle’s Total Value Locked (TVL) Drops 40% Over the Past Week link

Pendle’s total value locked (TVL) has decreased by 40% over the past week. Since Wednesday, users have withdrawn nearly $3 billion, primarily from liquid restaked tokens. Kairos Research founder Ian Unsworth noted that this decline is partly due to the expiration of several products, particularly those involving the top five liquid restaked tokens. The massive withdrawals indicate a waning interest in restaking airdrops among users. Additionally, Renzo’s points program is set to conclude at the end of July, prompting further reassessment by users on whether to lock their tokens.

5. Friend Tech Eliminates All Protocol Fees for BunnySwap, Clubs, and v1 Smart Contracts link

Friend Tech tweeted that FRIEND has always aimed to be a fully community-controlled token to support the Clubs contract. Migrating supply and liquidity does not align with this intention. Users can still create clubs, chat, buy keys, and use FRIEND within the Base of the Friend Tech app. Additionally, Friend Tech has eliminated all protocol fees for BunnySwap, Clubs, and v1 smart contracts. Now, 100% of the fees will belong to traders, liquidity providers, and club leaders within the community.

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6. Paradigm-Backed Restaking Protocol Symbiotic Reaches $1 Billion TVL link

After raising its hard cap, the Paradigm-backed restaking protocol Symbiotic has surpassed $1 billion in total value locked (TVL), overtaking its competitor Karak. There are over 26,800 depositors, with the top 10 depositors accounting for approximately 68% of the staked amount, primarily from the LRT protocol contracts. Currently, the restake pools for wstETH, sUSDe, mETH, swETH, and sfrxETH in Symbiotic have all reached their hard caps.

7. Worldcoin Hires Former Executives from Google, X, and Apple to Enhance Privacy and Security link

Worldcoin project contributor Tools for Humanity (TFH) has announced the appointment of four new executives to enhance privacy, security, and identity management. Former X (formerly Twitter) privacy officer Damien Kieran will serve as Chief Privacy Officer; ex-Google executives Adrian Ludwig and Ajay Patel will assume the roles of Chief Information Security Officer and Head of World ID, respectively; and former Apple executive Rich Heley will take on the position of Chief Device Officer, overseeing Worldcoin’s iris-scanning devices.

8. dYdX Mid-Year Report: $166 Billion in Trading Volume link

The dYdX Foundation has released its 2024 semi-annual ecosystem report, highlighting key data: a trading volume of $166 billion; $32 million paid to stakers and validators; 62 governance proposals passed; the launch of iOS and Android applications; over 40 markets launched; and more than 800 new markets unlocked.

9. Chainlink Partners with Fidelity and Crypto Bank Sygnum on Project to Onboard Net Asset Value Data On-Chain link

Chainlink has announced a partnership with Fidelity International and crypto bank Sygnum to collaborate on a project focused on bringing asset net asset value (NAV) data onto the blockchain. This partnership aims to provide transparency and accessibility for NAV data of tokenized assets, particularly the $50 million inventory stored by Matter Labs recently and held within Fidelity’s $6.9 billion institutional money market fund. Chainlink will facilitate secure storage and automatic synchronization of NAV data for these tokens on the ZKsync blockchain technology. Earlier in May, Chainlink completed a pilot project named Smart NAV with a custody trust and settlement company, exploring methods to standardize the distribution of NAV data across multiple blockchains.

10. Telegram CEO: Hamster Kombat Plans to Issue Token on TON Blockchain link

Telegram’s CEO Patel Du Rove announced on his personal channel that Hamster Kombat has emerged as the latest internet phenomenon, with 239 million registrations in three months. This Telegram mini-app achieved 100 million monthly active users within 73 days, with daily additions ranging from 4 to 5 million, establishing it as the world’s fastest-growing digital service. Additionally, Hamster Kombat plans to launch its token on the TON blockchain.

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