Weekly DeFi Index

This week, the market capitalisation index dropped by -13.97%, while the volume and volatility indices increased by +6.49% and +1.54%, respectively.

Check Price

• Rune Christensen, co-founder and CEO of Sky, passed an emergency proposal to alter the limits on Sky Protocol after an alleged hostile takeover attempt by malicious voters. The proposal removed the 5% exit fee on MKR withdrawals, significantly expanded borrowing against MKR collateral, raised borrowing rates, and lowered liquidation thresholds for borrowers. The episode has brought up concerns and criticism among community members.

• The Aave communityvoted to halt lending on Polygon's Proof of Stake (PoS) chain in response to Polygon's proposal to use bridged stablecoins for yield generation. Aave's founder, Marc Zeller, deemed the proposal to be too risky, and the vote would result in a loss of over $300 million in total value locked (TVL) for Polygon.

Chart of the Week

Solana meme coin launchpad Pump.fun is reportedly testing its own automated market maker (AMM), which would enable users to trade tokens directly on the platform. The move would allow Pump.fun to collect additional trading fees and offer more incentives, but it risks disrupting Pump.fun’s partnership with Raydium since meme coins from the former account for around 20% of Raydium’s total trading volume. Raydium's RAY token dipped around 40% in response to the news.

News Highlights

• The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved Figure Markets's application for YLDS, a yield-bearing stablecoin that offers a 3.85% yield. The digital asset is the first of its kind in the US, allowing users to earn interest on their holdings.

• The Ethereum Foundation launched the Open Intents Framework, a new initiative aimed at enhancing user experiences and simplifying interactions within the Ethereum ecosystem. This framework lets developers create ‘intents’ that streamline transactions and smart contract interactions, making decentralised applications (dapps) more accessible and user-friendly while driving further adoption of the Ethereum network.

• Monad distributed test tokens to 9 million wallet addresses for its testnet launch, encouraging holders to use the chain while gathering feedback to improve the platform's functionality before its launch.

• Safe, a multi-signature cryptocurrency wallet provider, paused certain functions as a precaution after the recent Bybit hack, where a malicious actor stole nearly $1.5 billion in liquid-staked ETH and other ERC-20 tokens by deceiving signers with a masked URL.

Recent Research Reports

• Research Roundup Newsletter [Jan 2025]: We present to you our latest issue of Research Roundup, featuring our deep dives into The Significance of Meme Coins and DeFAI.

• DeFAI: DeFi x AI: DeFi is witnessing a fresh wave of innovation, with one of the most exciting developments being the fusion of DeFi and AI — often referred to as DeFAI. In this report, we look into the DeFAI landscape, and delve into Griffain and HeyAnon as case studies, both of which are notable examples in the abstraction protocol category.

• From Trading to Broader Adoption: The Significance of Meme Coins: The launch of US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania’s meme coins, — $TRUMP and $MELANIA, — drove the meme coin hype to a new level. Meme coins are going beyond acting as an investment vehicle and becoming tools for community engagement, capital raising, and user acquisition.

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 DeFi Lending?: Learn how decentralised finance (DeFi) lending platforms can offer users potential passive income and access to loans without needing intermediaries.

• Bitcoin vs Solana: Comparing a Pioneer to an Optimised Vision: Explore the differences between Bitcoin and Solana, and compare the original cryptocurrency’s reliability and scarcity with Solana’s speed, scalability, and innovation.

• Four AI Agent Tokens to Watch in 2025: Discover four AI Agents cryptocurrency tokens that are blending cutting-edge blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Author

Research and Insights Team

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