An Ape's Prologue Weekly (3 Feb)

This Week’s Fundamentals

• $FXS surpasses $SWISE for the third spot amongst LSDs just three months after its launch. It has grown 80% in the past month, offering the most attractive yield

• $OP proposal to approve the Bedrock Upgrade goes live. It will considerably lower gas fees and enable the usage of zero-knowledge proofs

• $SNX proposal to launch the V3 upgrade takes effect. The upgrade will introduce improved tokenomics and a more efficient contract architecture

• $CANTO faces rapid growth as NFT activity soars, with a 300% increase in daily active users and 450% surge in daily active addresses

• $STG announces token re-issue proposal in light of ‘compromised’ Alameda wallets, effectively reducing the total supply by 10%

• $NXM's proposal to approve the V2 upgrade has been accepted, introducing a peer-to-peer decentralized insurance protocol

• Dopex introduces rDPX V2, which will bring synthetic assets and improved tokenomics

• $Y2K bond program goes live, allowing users to bond $USDC for $Y2K at a discount

• Vela exchange announces a Tokenomics revamp featuring a 50% reduction of the circulating supply

• Fantom announces fUSD V2, which will offer fUSD as an on-chain fee-system

• Jones DAO has launched its GLP-based strategy vaults, where users can earn up to 10% APY on market-neutral strategies. It is already the first GLP vault in DeFi by TVL

• The Cardano-based algorithmic overcollateralized stablecoin $DJED launched. It is backed by $ADA and pegged to the U.S. dollar

• Quickswap integrates Gammaswap for active liquidity management, enhancing the user experience

• Shapeshift integrates Thorchain Savers Vault. Users will be able to earn yield on their assets natively through Shapeshift's app while maintaining self-custody

• Vest Lab announces the Vest Exchange, a Perp DEX backed by Jane Street that will enable permissionless trading of any asset

• Sentiment, an AAVE competitor on Arbitrum, announces GMX integration. Users will be able to use $GMX and $GLP as collateral and leverage

• Entangle, a cross-chain DeFi protocol, Testnet V1 goes live. It is available on major chains such as Polygon, Fantom, Arbitrum, Optimism, BSC, and Avalanche

• Mars Protocol mainnet launched on Cosmos. There was a $MARS airdrop for past users of the Terra Classic chain

Next Week’s Fundamentals

• $MATIC zk-EVM mainnet is expected to launch in February

• $SNX V3 is expected to launch by mid-February

• $GMX final audits for the synthetics contracts expected to be done soon

• $DESO hard fork on February 6th, the upgrade will feature innovative on-chain social features

• $CFX is rumored to improve its tokenomics by increasing burn rates

• $ANGLO to launch a stablecoin backed by gold

• FloorDAO to release changelog highlighting the launch of its own LSD, treasury growth strategy, improved redemptions and enhanced liquidity mechanisms

• Mars protocol will be available on Osmosis on February 7th, supporting borrowing & lending

• $VELA Public Beta Round happening on February 3rd. Users can trade across 6 assets, including crypto and forex, and there will be an airdrop for testers.

• $VELO v2 officially goes to audit on February 7th. The upgrade is set to launch in Q1 2023 and will introduce technical upgrades and improved user experience

Tweets of the Week

• $ETH withdrawals ELI5 by korpi

• BlockRock’s 2023 Global Outlook summary by Whospay Intern

• zkSync in-depth research by Louround

• Breakdown of a DAO’s operational costs by Token Terminal