Weekly DeFi Index

This week’s DeFi indices showed negative movements, with the market capitalisation, volume, and volatility indices declining -11.24%, -44.30%, and -56.00%, respectively.

Check Price

• Aave (AAVE) and Chainlink (LINK) partnered to strengthen the decentralised finance (DeFi) ecosystem by integrating Chainlink's Smart Value Recapture (SVR) oracles into Aave's V3 platform. This initiative aims to optimise recaptured maximum extractable value (MEV) from liquidations.

Chart of the Week

According to DeFiLlama, the monthly trading volume on decentralised exchanges (DEXes) reached a record high of US$436 billion in December. The bullish performance was likely driven by renewed interest in crypto resulting from the outcome of the 2024 US presidential election in November.

Uniswap remained the leading DEX, recording $104.4 billion in trading volume over the past month, followed by Raydium with $58.1 billion.

News Highlights

• Derivatives exchange Hyperliquid launched native staking on its mainnet, allowing token holders to earn rewards by securing the network. Users can choose to delegate their tokens to validators based on various metrics such as uptime, commission, and reputation. According to data compiled by ASXN, $384 million worth of HYPE tokens have been staked.

• The decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) behind the AI agent platform, ai16z, is planning to create a launchpad similar to pump.fun. The initiative aims to generate value for its native token via initial agent offerings, liquidity pools, and launch fees.

• Solana DEX aggregator Jupiter plans to expand its token distribution through an airdrop event called ‘Jupuary’. The project will distribute 700 million JUP tokens, valued at $580 million, to users, stakers, and contributors this month.

• The Open Network (TON) Foundation announced a partnership with Jupiter to incubate a new DEX aggregator on the TON blockchain. The collaboration aims to enhance the scalability of the TON DeFi ecosystem by tapping into Jupiter's expertise and network to create inter-chain trading opportunities.

• Ethereum Layer-2 (L2) rollup Fuel Network launched the Fuel Agent Kit, which is designed to assist developers with existing or creating new AI agents within the Fuel ecosystem. This launch came after a month-long airdrop that distributed over 1 billion tokens.

• The Telegram-based tap-to-earn game, Hamster Kombat, announced plans to launch an L2 network called Hamster Network on TON. The team will present a detailed roadmap strategy in the coming weeks, with the goal of enhancing Hamster Kombat's presence in the decentralised gaming sector.

• Frax Finance commenced voting for the proposal to onboard the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity (BUIDL) Fund, which will back the DeFi protocol’s upcoming frxUSD stablecoin. So far, 2.8 million votes have been cast in favour of the proposal. If approved, the initiative will offer the Frax community a range of benefits, including yield generation, multiple asset transfer options, and reduced counter-party risk.

Recent Research Reports

• 2024 Year Review and 2025 Year Ahead: The crypto industry witnessed a number of impressive milestones in 2024. In this report, we curate the top crypto events and trends of the year, followed by our outlook for 2025.

• Ethereum Pectra Upgrade: The Pectra upgrade aims to address Ethereum’s mainnet performance with three key objectives: fix existing network issues, improve user experience, and prepare for future upgrades.

• Alpha Navigator: Quest for Alpha [November 2024]: Our latest issue of Alpha Navigator, an institutional-focused report, covers macro trends, market-neutral pair trades, style factor screening, and event-driven ideas.

Interested to know more? Access exclusive reports by signing up as a Private member, joining our Crypto.com Exchange VIP Programme, or collecting a Loaded Lions NFT.

Recent University Article

• What Is the Crypto.com Rewards Hub?: Learn which benefits, rewards, and rebates are available in the Crypto.com Rewards Hub, which users can enjoy simply by using the Crypto.com App.

• Dogecoin vs Litecoin — Comparing Two Early Bitcoin Alternatives: Discover the key differences between Dogecoin and Litecoin, two early Bitcoin alternatives. Explore their origins, use cases, and tokenomics.

• How to Participate in Solana Governance: A Step-by-Step Guide: Staking SOL tokens on-chain gives users the opportunity to participate in Solana governance. Here’s how it works.

Author

Research and Insights Team

Disclaimer

The information in this report is provided as general market commentary by Crypto.com and its affiliates, and does not constitute any financial, investment, legal, tax, or any other advice. This report is not intended to offer or recommend any access to products and/or services. While we endeavour to publish and maintain accurate information, we do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information in this report, nor do we adopt nor endorse, nor are we responsible for, the accuracy or reliability of any information submitted by other parties.

This report is not directed or intended for distribution to, or use by, any person or entity who is a citizen or resident of, or located in a jurisdiction, where such distribution or use would be contrary to applicable law or that would subject Crypto.com and/or its affiliates to any registration or licensing requirement.

The brands and the logos appearing in this report are registered trademarks of their respective owners.

We’re all ears.

Your feedback has always helped us provide insightful crypto market trends. Tell us how we can improve this newsletter further by taking a quick survey below (it will only take less than a minute). Thank you!

Take our survey now

Thank you for reading! We hope you find our Weekly DeFi and Layer 1 & Layer 2 News Update enlightening!

Hungry for more? Visit our Research Hub and University to access other insightful crypto research! 

Share with a friend if you like our email!

Share

Thanks for reading Crypto Trends from Crypto.com: Market, DeFi, NFT, Gaming! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.