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Ethereum Liquid Restaking Drives DeFi TVL to $100B in Q1 2024

When compared to the previous quarter, the total value locked (TVL) in decentralised finance (DeFi) approximately doubled during the first quarter of 2024, indicating that DeFi has witnessed tremendous growth from the previous quarter. It is possible to ascribe, at least in part, this spike to Ethereum’s liquid restaking activities, which have been the driving force behind the expansion of DeFi TVL prices. Protocols such as Lido and EigenLayer have been essential in this growth, since they have contributed to the widespread adoption of liquid staking and restaking.

Recent study indicates that DeFi TVL experienced a significant increase from a low of $36 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023 to a high of approximately $97 billion in the first quarter of 2024. This is an increase of 81% and marks a high point for DeFi TVL that has been reached in the last two years. There was a modest rise in the TVL data that Messari gave, and he said that the amount of DeFi collateral climbed by 65.6% from the previous quarter to reach $101 billion. A number of factors, including the rise in the values of underlying assets and the implementation of liquid restaking, have contributed to the expansion of TVL.

Both asset price appreciation and liquid restaking were the primary factors that contributed to the increase of Ethereum’s total value of assets (TVL), which was roughly 71% higher than before. Lido and EigenLayer are two examples of protocols that have played a significant role in the revival of DeFi TVL since its inception. On March 13, liquid staking TVL achieved an all-time high of $63 billion. This result was mostly driven by the Ethereum liquid staking protocol Lido, which now controls a market share of 62% of the liquid staking ecosystem. In addition, during the first three months of 2024, the liquidity restaking protocol known as EigenLayer seen a significant increase in both its popularity and its utilisation. The total value of EigenLayer’s TVL reached $12 billion at the conclusion of the quarter, representing a stunning 990% rise. EigenLayer makes it possible to stake Ethereum several times, which results in increased returns.

In addition to liquid restaking activities, user activity also played a big influence in the expansion of DeFi TVL. This growth was not just contributed by liquid restaking initiatives. In the most recent quarter, QuickNode recorded a significant increase in user activity of 29.1% compared to the previous quarter, which has spurred expectations of a second “DeFi Summer”. Despite the attempts of the SEC to regulate the decentralised finance area, there are indications that expansion and a paradigm change are on the horizon.

However, the current retreat in the cryptocurrency market has resulted in a decrease in the value of DeFi TVL that has been seen. As this article is being written, the value of DeFi TVL has dropped by 11%, reaching $86.6 billion. The entire value of assets that are locked in DeFi protocols has been negatively impacted as a consequence of the larger market slump, which has cause this reduction.

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Circle Integrates zkSync for USD Coin

Circle, one of the largest stablecoin producers, has expanded its support for Ethereum’s layer-2 solution zkSync to include its own stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC). This integration expands the possibilities for Ethereum developers and users, letting them to benefit from zkSync’s zero-knowledge proofs and rollup technology. Increasing the Reach of USD Coin With the inclusion of zkSync, USDC is now available on 16 blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, Base, Arbitrum, and more. This extension allows developers to build on a stable foundation provided by Circle, assuring the reliability and sustainability of their apps and services. Leveraging zkSync’s technology zkSync uses zero-knowledge proofs and rollups to execute transactions on layer 2 of the Ethereum network with record speed and low cost. Zero-knowledge proofs enable the evaluation of transaction integrity without disclosing the underlying data, guaranteeing privacy and security. Rollups combine many transactions from the Ethereum core layer into a single transaction, which increases scalability and lowers costs.The integration of zkSync with USDC offers a number of advantages for organisations and developers:1. Quick and low-cost transactions Using zkSync’s unique data compression mechanism, developers may enjoy low-cost transactions on the Ethereum network. This scaling solution greatly decreases petrol expenses and increases transaction throughput, making it more affordable to both individuals and companies.2. Improved security and privacy. zkSync’s zero-knowledge proofs give cryptographic assurances of transaction validity, assuring the transaction’s integrity. This increased security feature is critical for banking apps and DeFi protocols, where trust and privacy are essential.3. Native Account Abstraction Developers may use zkSync’s built-in account abstraction to perform social wallet recovery, subscription payments, and network fee payments in USDC. This functionality improves user experiences and broadens the use cases for USDC in the Ethereum ecosystem.Growing the zkSync ecosystemAs of April 9, 2024, the zkSync ecosystem has over 180 decentralised apps and 5.7 million unique active wallet addresses over the previous 30 days. This rising development and user community illustrates that layer-2 solutions like zkSync are becoming more popular and in demand.Circle’s commitment to Ethereum’s futureCircle’s integration of zkSync with USDC is consistent with its aim of increasing Ethereum’s throughput while maintaining its core ideals of freedom, self-sovereignty, and decentralisation at scale. Circle aspires to foster innovation and development within the Ethereum ecosystem by offering access to a reliable and scalable infrastructure for developers and companies alike.Conclusion Circle’s adoption of zkSync to its native stablecoin, USD Coin, is another key step towards the establishment of the Ethereum layer-2 ecosystem. zkSync’s zero-knowledge proofs and rollup technologies provide developers with a strong platform for rapid, low-cost transactions and better security. This integration underlines Circle’s commitment to Ethereum’s future and its objective of boosting scalability while maintaining the network’s essential principles.

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Ethereum's Pectra Upgrade to Enhance Wallet Functionality and User Experience

With the introduction of its Pectra update in late 2024 or early 2025, Ethereum hopes to significantly enhance cryptocurrency wallets by adding new features and improving user experience. Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 3074, one of the main recommendations of the update, would allow regular cryptocurrency wallets to operate like smart contracts, including transaction bundling and sponsored transactions .

Improved Crypto Wallet Usability and Functionality

A number of improvements to cryptocurrency wallets will be brought forth by the Pectra update, giving consumers a more streamlined and effective experience. Users will benefit from transaction bundling—which enables many transactions to be bundled together and processed as a single transaction—with the addition of EIP 3074. This function can lower transaction costs and boost productivity.

The update will also make sponsored transactions possible, enabling users to store assets in wallets that aren’t Ethereum-based yet still have access to the Ethereum network’s features. With the help of this functionality, users will be able to engage with dApps and take advantage of Ethereum’s ecosystem without having to physically own Ether. Security Points to Remember

Even though the Pectra update has several interesting new features, users should still be cautious and alert to any security concerns. Users should take the necessary precautions to safeguard their wallets and valuables since there is always a danger of financial loss while completing financial transactions. Using trustworthy wallets and adhering to recommended security procedures for wallets—like creating strong passwords, turning on two-factor authentication, and updating hardware and software—are essential. Additionally, users should exercise caution while using unidentified dApps or participating in sponsored transactions, since these activities may provide extra dangers.

Anticipated for deployment in late 2024 or early 2025, the Ethereum Pectra update will significantly enhance cryptocurrency wallets by adding new capabilities and improving user experience. With the addition of EIP 3074, standard cryptocurrency wallets will be able to perform the functions of smart contracts, including sponsored transactions and transaction bundling. To reduce any dangers, users should prioritise wallet security and exercise caution.

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CoinGecko: 2024 Q1 Strong Crypto Industry Growth Propels Market Cap to $2.9 Trillion

The 2024 Q1 Crypto Industry Report by CoinGecko showcases the continued growth and development of the cryptocurrency market. The report highlights key statistics and trends observed during the first quarter of 2024.

Bitcoin (BTC) emerged as a top performer, growing by 68.8% and reaching an all-time high of $73,098. This growth was attributed to the approval of US spot Bitcoin ETFs in early January. The report also indicates that Bitcoin ETFs held over $55.1 billion in assets under management (AUM) by April 2, 2024.

Ethereum (ETH) also witnessed positive growth, with the total number of restaked ETH on the EigenLayer platform increasing by 36% to 4.3 million. Additionally, Solana memecoins experienced a surge in market cap, growing by $8.32 billion in Q1.

The NFT market remained active, with NFT trading volume across the top 10 marketplaces reaching $4.7 billion. Magic Eden emerged as the leading marketplace in terms of market share.

Spot trading volume on centralized exchanges (CEX) reached $4.29 trillion in Q1, the highest since Q4 2021. However, Ethereum’s share of decentralized exchanges (DEX) trading volume fell below 40%, indicating the increased attention given to other blockchain networks.

The report provides comprehensive insights into these developments, featuring 50 slides of analysis and data. It offers valuable information for investors, traders, and industry enthusiasts seeking to understand the current state of the crypto market.

CoinGecko’s 2024 Q1 Crypto Industry Report demonstrates the continued growth and innovation within the cryptocurrency industry. As the market expands and evolves, it is crucial to stay informed about the latest trends and developments to make informed decisions.

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Introducing Scroll Sessions: Native zkEVM Layer 2 for Ethereum

Scroll, a prominent player in the blockchain space, has recently announced the launch of Scroll Sessions, a native zkEVM Layer 2 solution designed specifically for the Ethereum network. This innovative technology aims to address the scalability and high transaction costs associated with the Ethereum blockchain.

With the rapid growth of decentralized applications (dApps) and the increasing popularity of the Ethereum network, scalability has become a pressing issue. The current limitations of Ethereum’s Layer 1 infrastructure have resulted in congestion and skyrocketing gas fees, hindering the seamless user experience and adoption of dApps.

Scroll Sessions introduces a unique approach to scalability by leveraging zero-knowledge proofs (zkSNARKs) technology. By incorporating zkEVM, a native Layer 2 solution, Scroll aims to significantly enhance Ethereum’s throughput, allowing for faster and more cost-effective transactions.

The integration of zkEVM enables the execution of Ethereum smart contracts off-chain, while maintaining the same level of security and trust as the Layer 1 Ethereum network. This off-chain execution reduces the computational burden on Ethereum’s mainnet, resulting in improved scalability and reduced gas fees for users.

One of the key advantages of Scroll Sessions is its compatibility with existing Ethereum smart contracts. Developers can seamlessly migrate their contracts to Scroll Sessions without the need for any modifications, ensuring a smooth transition to the Layer 2 solution.

In addition to enhanced scalability, Scroll Sessions also offers privacy features through zkSNARKs technology. This allows users to maintain the confidentiality of their transactions and data, further enhancing the overall security of the platform.

The introduction of Scroll Sessions has garnered significant attention within the blockchain community, as it has the potential to address the scalability challenges faced by Ethereum. By providing a seamless and cost-effective Layer 2 solution, Scroll aims to unlock the full potential of the Ethereum ecosystem, enabling greater adoption of dApps and facilitating a more efficient blockchain experience.

As the development of Layer 2 solutions continues to gain momentum, Scroll’s native zkEVM Layer 2 technology holds great promise for the future of Ethereum. With its focus on scalability, cost-effectiveness, and privacy, Scroll Sessions could pave the way for a more scalable and inclusive blockchain ecosystem.

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Exclusive: Why is Everipedia Built on EOS, not on Ethereum?

Wikipedia is the largest online encyclopedia and one of the top 5 websites worldwide in terms of web traffic. While Wikipedia has been dominant in decades, the ecosystem of the encyclopedia is likely to be changed with the advent of blockchain. Everipedia is a wiki-based online encyclopedia which adopts EOS blockchain technology. Besides, a cryptocurrency token called “IQ” is used to encourage the content generation and censorship resistance in Everipedia.

Wikipedia Co-Founder Larry Sanger is happy to embrace the changes in the online encyclopedia with blockchain. Joined Everipedia as Chief Information Officer (CIO) Dec 2017, Larry shares to our readers why Everipedia is built on EOS instead of Ethereum! He also mentioned 4 advantages of blockchain on the encyclopedia, yet efficiencies are not the main advantage!

According to Wikipedia, Everipedia is a wiki-based online encyclopedia launched in Jan 2015 as a fork of Wikipedia. As the chief information officer of Everipedia, is this role even more challenging than your co-founder role of Wikipedia?

I’m not sure about the date. The first bits of code were done in late 2014, I’m told. I saw the first version of the site in the spring or summer of 2015, and it had recently come online then. By the way, I’m not a co-founder of Everipedia. I was an informal adviser starting in 2015. I became CIO officially in December of 2017, as a direct result of Everipedia’s move to the blockchain.

No, Wikipedia was harder. With Wikipedia, I was the only person doing daily management of the site, and we had one assigned programmer. So almost everything was on me. When I joined Everipedia, there were already over a dozen full-timers and we’ve doubled that number by now. It’s a very different ball game this time around. The Internet startup scene has changed a lot.

Why Everipedia chose to launch on the EOS blockchain instead of Ethereum? Will Everipedia be launched on other blockchain platforms in future?

There are several reasons to build on EOS. We thought EOS was especially well-built for utility tokens used in content production projects, like ours. Say what you will about it, but the EOS TPS is very high–that’s what we’ll need for frequent edits on an actively-edited wiki. As EOS has a proof-of-stake system, we incorporate staking in our current system as a quality check. The current Everipedia system is based roughly on another project by Dan Larimer, STEEM.

Yes, we have considered launching on other blockchain platforms, but then we’ve always said that—if EOS turns out to have been the wrong platform, we can make changes.

As an encyclopedia, what are the efficiencies that blockchain can bring to Everipedia as compared to Wikipedia?

Sure blockchain is efficient in lots of ways—theoretically, the more decentralized a system is, the less friction there is, so there are fewer people-based inefficiencies. But I don’t think the main advantages of the Everipedia Network are its efficiencies per se.

As we’ve said many times, there are several big advantages to being on the blockchain:

(1) It incentivizes the socially positive work of writing encyclopedia articles. People who wouldn’t work for free on Wikipedia might consider working on Everipedia.

(2) While this applies only to proof-of-stake blockchains, we have a basic layer of democratic oversight in that users must stake something of value (50 IQ most recently) which they could lose if other IQ token holders downvote their contributions. But this doesn’t slow down the editing system; it happens after the edits go live on the wiki.

(3) By being on the blockchain, we become a natural locus of not just an encyclopedia but of an encyclopedia network, what I like to call “the encyclopedia layer of the Internet.” Why should you have to contribute to Wikipedia if you want to contribute to the biggest encyclopedia in the world? All of the world’s articles should be tracked, if not managed through, the Everipedia Network.

(4) Similarly, being on the blockchain will make it easier to persuade people to rate competing articles, when we develop that system. An encyclopedia article rating system is a potentially very powerful, consequential thing, and rating encyclopedia articles takes a lot of work, so people will have to be persuaded that the project is not in the hands of any one organization. It needs to be governed by a neutral, impersonal, technical protocol. So that’s what we’re building.

Ethereum Hit 1 million Daily Transactions since May 2018

As reported by leading Ethereum block explorer Etherscan, Ethereum hit over 1mn daily transactions on 28 June, the first time since May 2018 (see Exhibit 1).

Exhibit 1: Daily Transactions of Ethereum

Source: Etherscan

There were 1,004,170 transactions confirmed on the Ethereum blockchain on 28 June, yet it is still lower than the peak on 4 Jan 2018 of 1,349,890 daily transactions.

The on-chain transaction value of Ethereum hit a monthly transaction high of 115mn in December 2018. This is second to the all-time high transaction value following a hard fork caused by the DAO hack in 2016.

For the unique address growth of Ethereum, it has hit 69.06 mn as of 30 June, a 27% increase compared to beginning of 2019. (see Exhibit 2).

Exhibit 2: Ethereum Unique Address Growth

Source: Etherscan

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Exclusive: Can Web3 Foundation Achieve a Truly Decentralized Web?

Exclusive interview with Jack Platts: Part 2

Following the technical underpinnings of Polkadot in Part 1, Jack Platts, Head of Collaborations Web3 Foundation reveals their effort towards the goal of the decentralized web! He also explained the governance and technical challenges in achieving a decentralized web!

How Web 3 Foundation can achieve a truly decentralized web?

Web3 Foundation convenes, coordinates, and funds the projects, teams, and individuals that are building the frameworks for a fully functional and user-friendly decentralized web.

All of our research, grants, and events we view through the lens of the Web3 Technology Stack. The development of this inclusive set of interoperable and extensible protocols is the primary measuring stick by which we evaluate our progress. The Web3 Tech Stack guides how we approach research, collaborations, and grants. We’re most interested in funding and providing a platform for the protocols and pieces of the stack that are less monetizable or appealing to companies to tackle. That is where we as a Foundation can step in and act, and if everyone does their piece we will over time build a fully decentralized web together. For example, decentralized and private messaging is a piece of the stack that many applications need because currently, we rely on centralized services to handle our encrypted messaging if it is encrypted at all. So we are working with other teams in the space to research this problem and implement a solution. This type of thing is more difficult to monetize, so it’s great for us as a Foundation to step in and jumpstart the development so that downstream teams can build their own applications using the protocol.

Source: Web3 Foundation

The Web 3 Foundation aims to construct an internet where users are in control of their own data, identity, and destiny. What are the governance challenges in doing so?

Web3 Foundation only provides grants for open-source software. Everything we do we try to do in an open, transparent way. We try to foster that type of culture internally, and we have some work to do to be totally transparent. Some groups in the space do an even better job than us, like Aragon. It is difficult from a governance perspective to push open-source across the industry because there is money involved with some of these protocols and companies. But that is what we stand for: open-source, autonomous software.

What are the technical challenges in achieving syntactic interoperability and semantic interoperability for the internet? How do you overcome these challenges?

From a technical perspective, it is difficult to have perfect interoperability when users need control and privacy. The blockchain is a great truth machine, but not always a great privacy machine. We employ and work with many cryptographers who are trying to solve these challenges so that use cases in health care and banking can also be interoperable. I like the analogy to the early Internet where Intranets ruled and private companies and systems dominated the industry. We’ve now come full circle and that is why Web 3.0 is so important. You have to trust that the private, closed systems are doing the right thing, and we’re building protocols that obviate the need for trust. We like the phrase “Less Trust, More Truth” for what we’re doing.

In the creation of a decentralized web, how do you compare the existing competitor, like Tron (TRX)?

As long as systems and applications are open and transparent about what they are and what they are doing I don’t think there is much competition in the space from one protocol to the next. There are probably too many smart contract platforms at this point, especially since they cannot talk to one another right now, but we mostly think about our competition as closed, proprietary systems that control and provide very little information about what they are doing with your information or how it is stored. Those types of applications are our competition. That is the status quo and we want to tear that down.

CertiK Announces the Completion of British Pound Backed Stablecoin on Binance

In a report by a blogging site, CertiK had announced it had completed an audit on the British pound backed stable coin on the biggest cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance, the BGBP. In an interview with Bloomberg some weeks ago the CFO of Binance Wei Zhou, had given hints about the exchange’s plan to issue its own stable coin.

According to the Exchangers representative, the token was going to be referred to as Binance GBP and was going to be fully backed by British pounds reserves. He also stated that in the nearest future more fiat currency backed stablecoins would be introduced on the platform.

After the completion of the verification process by CertiK and absolutely ensuring there are no vulnerabilities within the system they made a tweet on their twitter handle to this effect. BGBP being a dual-issue token was created on both the Ethereum (ERC-20) and Binance (BEP2) Chains. The Binance GBP is currently trading on the Binance.com and Binance.je exchanges.

Bitcoin's Largest Competitor Ethereum Quickly Gaining Ground in Colombia

From every indication, it appears the second largest cryptocurrency and most formidable Bitcoin rival, Ethereum has been seen quickly gaining ground as it gains tremendous popularity in Colombia.

Ethereum becoming Colombia’s best option

It has been seen that the South American region has been very receptive to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. Countries such as Venezuela that have experienced extreme situations ranging from inflation of their currency to other economic situations which ultimately renders them useless to persons within that geographical location have been left with little or no choice but to seek refuge in cryptocurrencies.

While some others have turned to other cryptocurrencies such as dash to make sure they are able to meet their daily needs such as feeding, the government hasn’t been of much help in this situation.

Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro had recently introduced the Petro, which was alleged to be backed by the countries rich oil reserves. However there has been no mention of backing this native digital currency by the country’s oil reserves in the country’s whitepaper, and many believe this to be false and not workable. Also, Maduro had made efforts to integrate Petro into the salary scheme of workers in the country so as to enable ease of there payment through this digital currency as the value of the Venezuelan Bolivar is fast hitting rock bottom. But unfortunately, this plan too had failed.

Although the plans to integrate Petro into the country’s financial system had failed, its citizens have been able to take on other solid substitutes like Bitcoin, and now Ethereum which has been gaining a lot of popularity recently. This was reflected in a survey conducted by Paxful, a cryptocurrency platform that allows peer to peer trading between users who want to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. From every indication, this looks like a good sign for the altcoin.

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