Ethereum

Cosmos

Solana

Avalanche

Optimism

Arbitrum

Almost two weeks after <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/">Ethereum</a>’s latest major upgrade, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/ethereum-s-shapella-upgrade-is-live-now-what">Shapella</a>, <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 ship and flourish. <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/cosmos/">Cosmos</a>-based <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/ethereum-virtual-machine-evm">Ethereum Virtual Machine</a> (EVM) chain, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/evmos/">Evmos</a> narrowly avoids a critical vulnerability as the team fixes the bug quietly. Finally, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/memecoin">memecoins</a> rally <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/on-chain">on-chain</a> as market participants enter a temporary manic phase in the markets.Wild week! Let’s see what went down this past week in <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/defi">DeFi</a>.<h2 id="header-0">Overview: Bears Take the Wheel</h2><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/total-value-locked-tvl">Total value locked</a> (TVL) across all chains took a hit of almost 8% across the week as crypto markets tanked, driven by aggressive <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/spot">spot</a> selling. Notable increases in TVL occurred on the <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/secret/">Secret Network</a>, likely due to the launch of <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/shade-protocol/">ShadeSwap</a>, a <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-exchange-dex">decentralized exchange</a> (DEX) on the network.<img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/ec9d1967385d42d198bba94023fe9ef1.png"/>Source: DeFiLlama<h2 id="header-1">Welcome To Alpha Central</h2>Veteran crypto developer, Taylor Monahan, shares a huge thread on a large wallet draining operation which has seized more than 5,000 ETH since December 2022 across all 11 chains. The root cause is currently unknown.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/tayvano_/status/1648187031468781568"></tweet-embed>Francesco shares a comprehensive guide to <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-eip-4844-a-quick-guide-for-beginners">EIP-4844</a>, Proto-Danksharding, the next big milestone for Ethereum, with the completion of the Shapella upgrade two weeks ago. EIP-4844 could make fees on rollups significantly cheaper for users.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/francescoglt/status/1647979498317709315"></tweet-embed>WinterSoldier dives deep to compare the designs of perpetuals DEXs: <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/gains-network/">Gains Network</a>, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/gmx/">GMX</a> and <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/synthetix/">Synthetix</a>.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/WinterSoldierxz/status/1648329291804065793"></tweet-embed><h2 id="header-2">Ethereum: Memes Mooning</h2>Memecoins on-chain see a huge rally in the week, sending retail users scrambling to find the next coin to ape into. In the background, MEV bots run wild with <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-are-sandwich-attacks-in-defi-and-how-can-you-avoid-them">sandwich attacks</a>, with the most notable being jaredfromsubway.eth, which at one point became the 7th highest <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/gas">gas</a> spender for a single day, spending 950k in gas fees on Ethereum.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/SeaLaunch_/status/1648436056717688832"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/cow-protocol/">CoWSwap</a> launches partially fillable <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/limit-order">limit orders</a>, allowing better fills on limit orders, especially in low liquidity environments where orders can be gradually filled over time. CoWSwap is known for protection against <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/miner-extractable-value-mev">Maximal Extractable Value</a> (MEV) attacks during transactions.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/CoWSwap/status/1647962756400701443"></tweet-embed>Enso Finance launches Enso V2, introducing a new DeFi dashboard to the space. Enso allows access to a range of <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-applications-dapps">decentralized applications</a> (DApps) including <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/yearn-finance/">Yearn</a>, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/curve-dao-token/">Curve</a>, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/aave/">Aave</a> and more, allowing one-click deployments to provide liquidity as well as bundled transactions.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/EnsoFinance/status/1649049560696909824"></tweet-embed>ETH LSD provider, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/rocket-pool/">RocketPool</a>, launches RocketPool Atlas, bringing greater efficiency to the protocol as well as higher rewards for <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/node">node</a> operators and higher <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/rocket-pool-eth/">rETH</a> capacity among other optimizations.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/Rocket_Pool/status/1648519857309368327"></tweet-embed>ETH LSD platform, Asymmetry Finance, introduces safETH, a basket of LSDs, at zero additional cost to the end user. This basket will include their own flagship LSD, afETH, which will be released in the coming months.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/asymmetryfin/status/1648071430775488515"></tweet-embed>ETH LSD issuer, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/unsheth/">Unsheth</a>, releases new details on their updated <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/governance">governance</a> model using vdUSH, which is obtained from locking their native token USH or their USH/unshETH <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/balancer/">Balancer</a> <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/liquidity-pool">liquidity pool</a> token.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/unsheth_xyz/status/1649489306216693760"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/stakewise/">Stakewise</a> discusses the road to the launch of Stakewise V3 mainnet with the Shapella upgrade finally completed. Stakewise V3 will enable greater flexibility and composability for stakers with a single LSD token, osETH.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/stakewise_io/status/1648314346072682497"></tweet-embed>Advanced on-chain trading protocol, Carbon DeFi, goes live on Ethereum mainnet, allowing for complex strategies such as recurring orders, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/arbitrage">arbitrage</a> trades on <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/peg">pegged</a> assets, strategies for sideways markets and more.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/carbondefixyz/status/1649040664561082369"></tweet-embed>Compossable <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/leverage">leverage</a> protocol, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/gearbox-protocol/">Gearbox Protocol</a>, rolls out a suite of security updates leading up to the launch of Gearbox V3.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/GearboxProtocol/status/1648725010918555648"></tweet-embed>Multichain DEX and DEX aggregator, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/kyber-network-crystal-v2/">KyberSwap</a> freezes their Elastic Liquidity pools and unclaimed rewards due to security concerns. Rewards that have not been claimed are now reopened for claiming.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/kybernetwork/status/1648514840238125062"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/bridges">Bridge</a> aggregator solution, Li.Fi Protocol, partners with insurance platform, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/insurace/">InsurAce</a>, to insure bridging transactions on Jumper Exchange, a bridge and cross-chain DEX by Li.Fi. The insurance pool is funded from a small fee on all funds bridged via Jumper Exchange.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/lifiprotocol/status/1648321942536224768"></tweet-embed>Omnichain liquidity layer protocol, Entangle, drops their litepaper, covering their underlying mechanism, technologies, revenue model and the <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/tokenomics">tokenomics</a> of the ENTGL token.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/entanglefi/status/1648742693043064832"></tweet-embed>Institutional decentralized credit platform, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/maple/">Maple Finance</a>, introduces their Cash Management Pool, a cash management solution for institutions, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-autonomous-organizations-dao">decentralized autonomous organizations</a> (DAOs), Web3 treasuries, and offshore companies.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/maplefinance/status/1648681419428839424"></tweet-embed><h2 id="header-3">L2s: ARB Airdrop to Protocols</h2><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/arbitrum/">Arbitrum</a> initiates transactions for ARB token <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/airdrop">airdrop</a> to selected protocols, beginning the distribution of 1.13% of the ARB total supply. Several protocols are in governance discussions to determine how the ARB tokens will be used.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/arbitrum/status/1648413744203018244"></tweet-embed>Arbitrum top perpetuals DEX, GMX, partners with multichain infrastructure, Socket, to allow minting of the GMX Liquidity Pool token, GLP, on any of their seven supported chains.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/GMX_IO/status/1648328500074409989"></tweet-embed>Arbitrum-based perpetuals exchange, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/vela-token/">Vela Exchange</a>, airdrops 50m in <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/usd-coin/">USDC</a> to their users after the Vela beta was closed early due to an uncovered bug in the Vela Liquidity Pool (VLP) code.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/vela_exchange/status/1647005067525128192"></tweet-embed>ZkSync <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/order-book">orderbook</a> DEX, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/zigzag/">ZigZag</a>, deploys on Arbitrum, bringing an intuitive Web2-like interface to the chain.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/ZigZagExchange/status/1649101307532414978"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/array-capital/">Array</a> announces Mayfair, their first incubated project, a DEX-traded fund (DTF) issuer, which will be launching on Arbitrum and zkSync Era. The platform allows users to long or short DTFs on the platform, allowing them to play to specific sectors or narratives. The platform goes live on 30th April.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/array_capital/status/1646579820090859520"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/maverick-protocol/">Maverick Protocol</a> brings their Dynamic Distribution <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/automated-market-maker-amm">Automated Market Maker</a> (DDAMM) mechanism to zkSync Era after launching on Ethereum last month. They are celebrating the launch with a free Maya IV <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/non-fungible-token">NFT</a> for qualified users.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/mavprotocol/status/1648042148481101825"></tweet-embed>DeFi product suite, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/popsicle-finance/">Popsicle Finance</a>, introduces WAGMI, a new phase for the protocol. WAGMI brings in <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/concentrated-liquidity">concentrated liquidity</a> to the platform, an expansion to zkSync Era, and a new token for ICE token holders.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/PopsicleFinance/status/1646513957388324864"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/zero-knowledge-rollups">Zero-knowledge</a> EVM project, Taiko, deprecates their testnet alpha-2, recording over 1.5 million transactions over 144,000 wallets since its launch almost a month ago.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/taikoxyz/status/1647684931735396352"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/venture-capital">Venture capital</a> firm, a16z, introduces Magi, a rollup client built on the <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/optimism-ethereum/">Optimism</a> tech stack developed in <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/rust">Rust</a>.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/NoahCitron/status/1648702968219471875"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/spankchain/">SpankChain</a> founder, Ameen Soleimani, puts up a governance proposal for the deployment of a multi-collateral fork of <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/rai/">RAI</a> on Optimism, known as HAI. The <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/fork-software">fork</a> will take a range of assets as collateral including ETH, RAI, ETH LSDs and more. It is expected to launch on mainnet in July.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/reflexerfinance/status/1649088296612675584"></tweet-embed><h2 id="header-4">Avalanche: Can I Get Another Gaming Subnet?</h2>Gaming DAO, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/merit-circle/">Merit Circle</a>, deploys their very own gaming subnet on <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/avalanche/">Avalanche</a>. Known as Beam, the subnet will bring onboard Merit Circle’s games and deployment will be restricted to whitelisted developers. The Merit Circle token, MC, will also be used as the gas token on the subnet.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/BuildOnBeam/status/1648355760936570883"></tweet-embed><h2 id="header-5">Binance Smart Chain: Ultrasound CAKE</h2><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bnb/">Binance Smart Chain</a>’s top DEX, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/pancakeswap/">PancakeSwap</a>, releases a new governance proposal, looking to lower the inflation of the native token, CAKE, to 3-5. The proposal seeks to improve CAKE’s tokenomics, especially with the recent launch of concentrated liquidity on the platform.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/PancakeSwap/status/1648675713170673665"></tweet-embed>The exploiter of <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/safemoon-v2/">SafeMoon</a>’s DEX returns 80% of BNB stolen after negotiations with the protocol. The exploit occurred three weeks ago, draining the SFM-BNB pool on the SafeMoon DEX for almost $9 million.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/safemoon/status/1648679029438906369"></tweet-embed><h2 id="header-6">Cosmos: Evmos Disaster Averted</h2>The Evmos team uncovers a critical vulnerability in the Ethermint code during the week as well. Fortunately, the bug was fixed with the help of the <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/cronos/">Cronos</a> and Jump teams.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/EvmosOrg/status/1646538552807653378"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/osmosis/">Osmosis</a> introduces StreamSwap, a novel mechanism for price discovery on Osmosis. Building off the original Osmosis <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/liquidity-bootstrapping-pool-lbp">Liquidity Bootstrapping Pool</a> mechanism, StreamSwap removes the need for collateral provision, protects transactions from MEV, and separates primary and secondary markets.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/osmosiszone/status/1648672895948947456"></tweet-embed>ShadeSwap launches on the Secret Network, bringing private DeFi to the Cosmos. The launch also brings additional liquidity pooling opportunities for users, with incentives in the SHD token for providers.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/Shade_Protocol/status/1646249077519048705"></tweet-embed><h2 id="header-7">Another Week, Another Airdrop</h2>Crypto entertainment and metaverse platform, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/gala/">Gala Games</a>, announces the airdrop of the GALA V2 to GALA V1 token holders as they migrate to a new token to introduce new functionality to the token. The snapshot will be taken on 15 May and users will have to withdraw from liquidity pools and <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/smart-contract">smart contracts</a> to qualify.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/GoGalaGames/status/1648354756707115008"></tweet-embed><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/euler-finance/">Euler Finance</a>’s compensation plans for the exploit on their platform more than three weeks ago still remains open, with more than $10 million unclaimed in the claims contract.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/earndrop_io/status/1648407640928550922"></tweet-embed>Arbitrum-based lending protocol, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/unbound/">Unbound Finance</a>, airdrops compensation to affected users of the exploit on the protocol on 13 April.<tweet-embed url="https://twitter.com/unboundfinance/status/1648346718755495936"></tweet-embed>Market sinks against a backdrop of sellers and fear after a strong first quarter. Builders&#x27; shipping shows no signs of slowing however. Stay tuned for next week’s edition, and keep supporting your favorite projects, degens!

Week in DeFi: LSD Teams Going Strong, Evmos Avoids Disaster and Memecoin Mania

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