Ethereum

Cosmos

Solana

Optimism

Arbitrum

In quite possibly the most anticipated upgrade for <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/">Ethereum</a> since <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/events/eth-merge/">the Merge</a>, the <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/ethereum-s-shapella-upgrade-is-live-now-what">Shapella upgrade</a> goes off without a hitch, unlocking withdrawals for Ethereum <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/staking">stakers</a>. New <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/bug-exploit">exploits</a> continue to plague the <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/defi">DeFi</a> space, claiming more than $21 million in losses across various protocols. Finally, with Shapella completed, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/liquid-staking-derivatives">liquid staking derivative</a> (<a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/liquid-staking-derivatives">LSD</a>) issuers continue to prosper and ship new features for their users.What a big week! Let’s see what went down this past week in DeFi.<h2 id="header-0">Overview: No Selling on Shapella, Bulls Take Charge</h2><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/total-value-locked-tvl">Total value locked</a> (TVL) across all chains surged this week, reaching its pre-FTX levels at $53.48 billion. The surge was driven largely by the removal of the cloud of uncertainty surrounding the Shapella upgrade, both around the upgrade and whether ETH stakers would withdraw to sell. Notable TVL jumps include <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/zero-knowledge-proof-2">zero-knowledge</a> <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/ethereum-virtual-machine-evm">Ethereum Virtual Machine</a> (zkEVM) chains, zkSync Era and Polygon zkEVM, which continue to see weekly TVL growth in the high 40-50%.<img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/ff945958942b4a619ec67cf81e9bd711.png"/>Source: DeFiLlama<h2 id="header-1">Welcome to Alpha Central</h2>CJ shares all on how <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/token-sale">token presales</a> work, how to play them effectively, and of course, how to avoid losing it all.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/CJCJCJCJ_/status/1645796353707225089"></tweet-embed>Temmy dives deep into the world of <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/over-the-counter-otc">over-the-counter</a> (OTC) trades, how they work and why people use them.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/Only1temmy/status/1644310586472427521"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/venture-capital">Venture capital</a> firm, A16z drops their “State of Crypto 2023” report, sharing their insights into the space for the year in a 60-page document.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/a16zcrypto/status/1645778427402928129"></tweet-embed><h2 id="header-2">Ethereum: Shapella Success</h2>Major Ethereum upgrade, Shapella, goes off without a hitch, with the highly anticipated withdrawals finally being opened after years of lockup. Initially expected to be a bearish event with stakers withdrawing to sell, the expected sell pressure did not come, resulting in markets pushing higher.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/etherscan/status/1646281789735047168"></tweet-embed>Lending protocol, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/euler-finance/">Euler Finance</a>, opens up redemptions for affected users from the exploit on their protocol three weeks ago, after successfully reclaiming most of the funds from the hackers.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/eulerfinance/status/1645964057239855104"></tweet-embed>Multichain <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-exchange-dex">decentralized exchange</a> (DEX), <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/sushiswap/">Sushi</a>, also prepares a redemption plan of their own for users impacted by the RouteProcessor2 exploit the week prior. These funds were intercepted by <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/white-hat-computer-hacker">white-hat hackers</a> during the exploit, allowing for their safe recovery.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/SushiSwap/status/1646032261257781248"></tweet-embed>Decentralized institutional credit platform, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/maple/">Maple Finance</a>, leaks the preparations for a US Treasuries lending pool, in a community call during the week as well.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/CoinDesk/status/1645823083805016068"></tweet-embed>Yield vault protocol, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/yearn-finance/">Yearn Finance</a>, was exploited for $10 million via a <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-are-flash-loan-attacks">flash loan attack</a> via <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/money-market">money market</a> platform, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/aave/">Aave</a>, due to a bug in the configuration of the iearn USDT (yUSDT) token. Fortunately, the exploit did not affect Yearn V2 vaults.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/osec_io/status/1646411672175939585"></tweet-embed>LSD protocol, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/stader/">Stader Labs</a>, opens up their delegation program in a bid to decentralize the platform as well as to involve more community members in their <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/governance">governance</a> process.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/staderlabs/status/1645170319185920002"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/sommelier/">Sommelier Finance</a> releases Real Yield ETH, a vault strategy which utilizes deposited ETH LSD tokens to be deployed across Aave, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/compound/">Compound</a> and <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/uniswap/">Uniswap</a> V3 to generate additional yield on their tokens.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/sommfinance/status/1646192460584951808"></tweet-embed>Yearn Finance releases their governance proposal for yETH, a basket of ETH LSDs for diversified ETH LSD exposure.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/iearnfinance/status/1646245441216937986"></tweet-embed>Voltz Protocol announces Voltz V2, bringing cross-DEX <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/margin-trading">margin</a> to the DeFi space. Voltz enables a single margin account to power trades on multiple DEXs at once.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/voltz_xyz/status/1645741501002010624"></tweet-embed>Cron Finance introduces their <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/time-weighted-automated-market-maker-twamm">time-weighted automated market maker</a> (TWAMM), built on <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/balancer/">Balancer</a> and based on Paradigm’s research paper on the mechanism.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/cronfinance/status/1645802789006876672"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/bridges">Bridge</a> aggregation protocol, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/relay-token/">Relay</a>, launches V3, integrating various bridging solutions such as LiFi, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/synapse-2/">Synapse</a> and Squid Router into their service as well as introducing their “Bridge and Swap” service to Relay.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/relay_chain/status/1646616510847221760"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/on-chain">On-chain</a> institutional financial product protocol, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ondo-finance/">Ondo Finance</a>, announces OMMF, a tokenized form of money market funds, on-chain. This brings low price volatility and the yield of money market funds to the DeFi space.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/OndoFinance/status/1646515414321754115"></tweet-embed><h2 id="header-3">L2s: Lyra Rewards Program Goes Live</h2><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/arbitrum/">Arbitrum</a>-based perpetuals platform, Rage Trade, upgrades their delta-neutral vault for <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/gmx/">GMX</a> <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/liquidity-pool">Liquidity Pool</a> (GLP) tokens, allowing for a fully delta-neutral experience by pushing the <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/hedge-contract">hedge</a> against GMX traders profit or loss up to 100% from the original 60%.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/rage_trade/status/1645821667325751296"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/layer-2">L2</a> <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/option">options</a> trading platform, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/lyra-finance/">Lyra</a>, announces trading rewards for traders, with $150k in rewards up for grabs over the next two weeks on Arbitrum and <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/optimism-ethereum/">Optimism</a>. Traders are rewarded for each trade, with multipliers for staked Lyra, referrals and trader rank.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/lyrafinance/status/1646348828889731072"></tweet-embed>Multichain options protocol, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/premia/">Premia</a>, re-vests unlocked team tokens for another 4 years, signaling their long-term vision and confidence in the future of the protocol.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/kindahangry/status/1644552651017965568"></tweet-embed>Cross-chain liquidity protocol, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/symbiosis-finance/">Symbiosis</a>, integrates with zkEVM chain, zkSync Era, bringing cross-chain swaps and additional liquidity pools to the L2 scaling solution.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/symbiosis_fi/status/1645329867574214656"></tweet-embed>One-click <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/optimistic-rollup">rollup</a> deployment service, Caldera, integrates bridging solution, Hyperlane, to enable seamless bridging between Caldera-deployed rollups.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/Calderaxyz/status/1645503070015729666"></tweet-embed>Decentralized key management platform, Lit Protocol, migrates to their own rollup, built on the Optimism tech stack. Lit Protocol was originally built on <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/polygon/">Polygon</a> Mumbai testnet.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/LitProtocol/status/1646582894964670464"></tweet-embed>Multichain lending platform, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/hundred-finance/">Hundred Finance</a>, has been exploited for $7 million on their Optimism assets. The team is currently investigating the situation.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/HundredFinance/status/1647290085476384768"></tweet-embed><h2 id="header-4">Solana: Solend V2</h2><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/solana/">Solana</a> money market platform, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/solend/">Solend</a>, launches phase 1 of Solend V2, adding three new features to the platform: borrow weights, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/time-weighted-average-price-twap">Time-Weighted Average Price</a> (TWAP) <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/oracles">oracles</a> and outflow rate limits. The changes will take effect on Monday, 17th April.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/solendprotocol/status/1645681226601361410"></tweet-embed>Solana <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/memecoin">meme coin</a>, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bonk1/">Bonk</a>, launches Bonk Swap, providing greater utility for the BONK token via swaps, liquidity provision or betting on the platform.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/bonk_inu/status/1646136874614792192"></tweet-embed><h2 id="header-5">Cosmos: Parallel is Live</h2>Parallel goes live on <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/injective/">Injective</a>, bringing a new <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/spot">spot</a> and perpetuals trading platform to the chain. Parallel also teased the upcoming launch of <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-forex-trading">forex markets</a> for the protocol.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/DexParallel/status/1644707062977314817"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/cosmos/">Cosmos</a> EVM-compatible chain, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/kava/">Kava</a>, announces the launch date for the Kava 13 upgrade for 10th May. The upgrade will bring seamless bridging between the Cosmos and Ethereum via the <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/inter-blockchain-communication-ibc">Inter-Blockchain Communication</a> (IBC) protocol as well as optimizations to the chain among others.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/KAVA_CHAIN/status/1646073190328725504"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/terra-luna/">Terra Classic</a> AMM, Terraport Finance, was exploited for $4 million, draining all liquidity pools and halting operations on the platform. 60% of the stolen funds have since been frozen in <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/centralized-exchange-cex">centralized exchanges</a> (CEXs).<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/officer_cia/status/1645352491641339904"></tweet-embed><h2 id="header-6">Another Week, Another Airdrop</h2>Privacy-focused L1 blockchain, Namada, proposes an <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/airdrop">airdrop</a> to <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/zcash/">ZCash</a> token holders, in an alliance between ZCash and Namada, including bridging, liquidity pooling and grants between the two chains. The details of the airdrop have not been finalized yet.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/cwgoes/status/1646225407509770243"></tweet-embed>Content-creation network, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/access-protocol/">Access Protocol</a>, releases details on their second airdrop campaign, which will have two separate parts, distributing 500 million tokens to selected users. The campaign will last until 20th May 2023.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/AccessProtocol/status/1645789425346179072"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/move-programming-language">Move</a>-based L1, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/sui/">Sui</a>, quells rumors of a SUI token airdrop as mainnet launch draws near. A token sale has since been announced on three CEXs, Bybit, OKX, and Kucoin, with a special sale price for selected early community members.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/Community_Sui/status/1647522466393370630"></tweet-embed>The market surges back to life as Bitcoin hits a 10 month high, despite fears of a recession in the traditional markets. Nevertheless, builders keep building. Stay tuned for next week’s edition, and keep supporting your favorite projects, degens!

Week in DeFi: Shapella Success, New Exploits and LSD Action

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