NASDEX, the premiere decentralized cryptocurrency exchange that enables the trading of tokenized Asian stocks on the blockchain, now has its governance token NSDX live and tradable on the Uniswap decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, expanding its offerings to millions of users.
By listing on Uniswap, NASDEX aims to bring more eyes to its project and the NSDX token.
Uniswap is a leading decentralized finance protocol featuring an ever-growing network of DeFi dAPPs. The protocol has facilitated over $386 billion in trading volume and supports over 200 DeFi integrations, making it the ideal centre point for the trading of Ethereum-based tokens without intermediaries. Overall, Uniswap supports a whopping 55,463 token pairs with hundreds of millions in daily trading volume.
NASDEX and its native NSDX token will be exposed to all other projects listed on the protocol and will be provided compatibility with each ERC-20 token available. The NASDEX team will open up a liquidity pool for NSDX-ETH, with users also having the opportunity to provide asset liquidity in order to receive a portion of the trading fees.
Uniswap is just one of many DeFi protocols in which NASDEX aims to list on and utilize. The DEX recently listed its NSDX token on the Binance Smart Chain-based PancakeSwap, and previously on QuickSwap and Gate.io, but has plans for more integrations with strategic protocols in the future.
NASDEX’s dAPP MVP will be launched in Q4 of 2021, and will support the top tokenized Asian stocks for trading purposes. With an easy-to-access token and trading of tokenized stocks, NASDEX is preparing to bring a big change and new approach to traditional equities marketplaces.
NASDEX is the premiere decentralized exchange enabling the trading of tokenized Asian stocks on-chain. It is designed to serve as a bridge between the crypto and equity worlds. Its core benefits include the ability for permissionless and borderless stock investing, along with staking and farming features to generate substantial yields on-top of yield-less equities. Its product offering is primarily focused on never-before-seen tokenized Asian stocks initially but will expand to ETFs, indices, additional asset classes and derivatives as well. NASDEX has created a user-friendly platform where investors can buy and sell tokenized equity as easily as crypto with permissionless, decentralized, 24/7 trading, farming and staking.
Uniswap is a decentralized finance protocol that is used to exchange cryptocurrencies without the need for an unnecessary intermediary, rewarding the excess value of the transaction back to stakeholders and token holders. Uniswap is also the name of the company that initially built the Uniswap protocol. The protocol facilitates automated transactions between cryptocurrency tokens on the Ethereum blockchain through the use of smart contracts.
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The information on or accessed through this website is obtained from independent sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, but Decentral Media, Inc. makes no representation or warranty as to the timeliness, completeness, or accuracy of any information on or accessed through this website. Decentral Media, Inc. is not an investment advisor. We do not give personalized investment advice or other financial advice. The information on this website is subject to change without notice. Some or all of the information on this website may become outdated, or it may be or become incomplete or inaccurate. We may, but are not obligated to, update any outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate information.
You should never make an investment decision on an ICO, IEO, or other investment based on the information on this website, and you should never interpret or otherwise rely on any of the information on this website as investment advice. We strongly recommend that you consult a licensed investment advisor or other qualified financial professional if you are seeking investment advice on an ICO, IEO, or other investment. We do not accept compensation in any form for analyzing or reporting on any ICO, IEO, cryptocurrency, currency, tokenized sales, securities, or commodities.
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The world’s leading decentralized exchange, Uniswap, has announced the delisting of a number of tokens from its app interface.
Uniswap Labs made the announcement on July 23, emphasizing that the tokens had been removed from the app interface only, and that the protocol remains immutable:
“These changes pertain to the interface at app.uniswap.org — the Protocol remains entirely autonomous, immutable, and permissionless.”
The company Uniswap Labs is the software developer that has built the front-end web app portal. The front-end is separate from the Uniswap protocol itself, which is autonomous code that was released as a public good.
In the blog post, Uniswap Labs hinted that increased regulatory pressure may have influenced its decision, stating: “we monitor the evolving regulatory landscape.” The company also described the move as “consistent with actions taken by other DeFi interfaces.”
The tokens that have been delisted from the platform’s interface include instruments that may be at risk of being classified as securities by a regulator, including tokenized stocks, options tokens, insurance-based tokens, and synthetic assets from crypto derivatives platforms like Synthetix.
Gold-backed token, Tether Gold (XAUT), is among the assets targeted, however, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams attributed XAUT’s removal to buggy code. Meme-themed tokens including Grumpy Cat (GRUMPY) had also found their way onto Uniswap’s blacklist.
The reaction from the crypto community saw Uniswap’s purported decentralization called into question. Industry observers such as ‘ChainLinkGod’ asked why UNI holders did not get to vote on the delistings, tweeting:
“Not very informative here. Was this decision made through governance vote? If not, this opens a whole can of worms and sets a terrible precedent.”
Uniswap is currently the leading decentralized exchange by trade volume, with the protocol’s v2 and v3 versions facilitating a combined $1.45 billion worth of trade in the past 24 hours.
Related:Concern as Uniswap-backed ‘DeFi Education Fund’ dumps $10M worth of UNI
Regulatory pressure on the crypto sector is mounting across the globe, with Binance and BlockFi recently incurring the wrath of authorities in the U.K. and U.S. respectively.
As reported by Cointelegraph on July 22, the Texas State Securities Board has joined its counterparts in New Jersey and Alabama in taking action against the crypto lending platform. Vermont has become the fourth state to issue an order against BlockFi, on July 25.
THORSwap has announced via Twitter on June 28, that THORChain synthetics is now live on its testnet. The team says users will be able to mint, redeem and swap regular tokens for synthetic assets, transfer Synths to THORChain wallets, and more.
THORChain Synthetics Launched
Building on its previouspartnershipwith Synthetix, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol that makes it possible for anyone to harness the deep liquidity of synthetic assets, THORSwap, a multichain decentralized exchange powered by THORChain, has rolled out THORChain synthetics on its testnet.
According to a short Twitter thread by the team, the feature will enable users to easily mint, redeem, and swap between layer1 cryptoassets such as ether (ETH), bitcoin (BTC), amongst others.
What’s more, the team hashintedthat users will also be able to transfer their synthetic assets to THORChain-based wallets and earn interest on their holdings in the near future.
We are thrilled to announce THORChain synthetics is officially available on testnet 🚀🚀🚀
– Mint, Redeem, and Swap between Layer1 and Synth assets
Notably, the THORChain team claims the new feature will usher in an array of exciting benefits for users including enhanced capital efficiency, generation of higher yields for liquidity providers, deepen the liquidity of the protocol, while also laying a solid foundation for the addition of more THORfi features.
For those who are unaware, asynthetic cryptoassetis just a tokenized derivative of another asset, mimicking the parent asset’s name and value. For example, the price of bitcoin (BTC) will sometimes be equal to or slightly higher than that of its synth asset, wrapped bitcoin (WBTC), which is designed to enable users to provide liquidity on Ethereum-based DeFi protocols.
Interestingly, unlike the aforementioned example, the team claims THORChain Synths get their value from liquidity and have the ability to generate yields for holders when locked up.
AsreportedbyBTCManager,the THORChain multichain Chaosnet (MCCN) and decentralized exchange officially went live earlier in April 2021, offering users frictionless trading of established cryptocurrencies including bitcoin (BTC), litecoin (LTC), and ether (ETH), amongst others.
While decentralized finance has continued to grow in popularity, the barrier to entry for institutional investors is still very high. However, Circle hasannouncedplans to roll out an innovative DeFi API that will effectively attract more Wall Street money into the burgeoning decentralized finance ecosystem.
At press time, THORChain’s native cryptocurrency, RUNE is trading around $6.21, according to CoinMarketCap.
The Synthetix DAO has added some new, perhaps surprising voices to its governance.
Today the synthetic asset protocol announced a $12 million dollar fundraise led by venture capital firms Paradigm, Coinbase Ventures, and IOSG. The funds purchased SNX tokens directly from the DAO treasury, and will be “providing liquidity, engaging in the Synthetix governance process and helping to bring institutional grade participation into the ecosystem,” the announcement reads.
“We’re excited about supporting the synthetixDAO as it builds the leading synthetic asset platform,” said Paradigm investment partner Arjun Balaji. “Synthetix has one of the best communities in crypto and we’re glad to be a part of it.”
The investment is notable for being among the first instances of funds investing directly with and through a project governed by a DAO. How VCs interact with DAO-governed protocols has been a hot topic of late, with some arguing that VCs shouldn’t get preferential treatment, while others say that VCs are welcome, like any entity, to participate in an open ecosystem.
A recent Tweet thread from Hayden Adams, the founder of Uniswap, made the case for working with VCs — so long as they’re the right ones.
1/
I think it’s worth briefly explaining the positive and mutually beneficial experience I’ve had working with @paradigm @a16z @usv and other investors.
I’ve seen a lot of negativity and propaganda so I think it’s worth sharing my personal experience.
Quick thread:
— Hayden Adams (@haydenzadams) February 12, 2021
Jordan Momtazi, a core contributor to Synthetix DAO (and the former Synthetix COO pre governance decentralization), agrees that it’s all about which funds a protocol is working with.
“Many VC’s don’t add much value. The delta between quality VC’s and the rest is quite large,” he said in a statement to Cointelegrap.
Each of the three VCs that joined in on the $12 million raise are bringing additional value to the table that an individual investor might not be able to muster, he said.
“Paradigm has been helping the protocol recruit talent through their in house HR and network. They’ve also been actively helping think through our v3 planning. Providing insights into approaches around our re-architecture,” Momtazi said. “Coinbase ventures has helped with connectivity across many functions, both internally and externally.”
IOSG, meanwhile, is helping to spearhead Synthetix’s push into China by assisting with the hiring of a China regional lead, as well as with “person roadshows and creating educational content in Chinese.”
The raise comes during an especially productive period for Synthetix. The team recently announced the launch of synthetic Tesla stock, and SNX was among the tokens that filings show may be the next to be listed as a Grayscale investment trust.
It’s momentum Momtazi hopes the latest members of the community can help carry forth.
“Having the sharpest minds applied to the hardest problems is part of the community’s success and we look forward to working closely with these new stakeholders.”
Synthetix is adding Tesla to its growing list of Synths.
After a governance proposal, the Synthetix community unanimously voted in favour of adding sTSLA to the protocol.
Other DeFi services have introduced synthetic stocks as well.
The DeFi news category was brought to you by Ampleforth, our preferred DeFi partner
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Synthetix’s governance board has voted to add Tesla stocks (TSLA) to the DeFi derivatives trading protocol.
Tesla Coming to Synthetix
The addition of a synthetic TSLA asset was first officially proposed on Feb. 2. The vote was put in motion on Feb. 10, and it required approval from the Spartan Council, a governance board that votes on proposals on behalf of the Synthetix community.
The proposal passed unanimously, as all eight members of the Synthetix governance board voted to add sTSLA to the protocol.
With the addition of synthetic Tesla stocks, Synthetix users will now be able to trade on one of the biggest corporate stocks, but from a DeFi app rather than a retail trading app such as Robinhood.
The synthetic TSLA stock will be listed with the ticker “sTSLA.”
Tesla’s Crypto Connection
On Monday, Tesla caused a frenzy across the cryptocurrency community when the company revealed that it had made a $1.5 billion investment in Bitcoin in January.
The news came during a series of crypto-related musings from Musk, who took to promoting Dogecoin and alluding to an “inevitable” outcome as he referenced Bitcoin in his Twitter bio.
TSLA’s stock price has risen by more than 420% over the last year. The ongoing price rally helped founder Elon Musk become the richest person in the world in January.
Synthetix Faces Competition
Synthetix isn’t the only protocol to embrace synthetic stocks. Injective Protocol turned heads when it announced support for FAANG stocks, Forex trading, and GameStop. Another DeFi platform, Mirror Protocol, also lists its own synthetic TSLA stock.
But with $2.87 billion in value locked inside Synthetix, those projects are trailing behind Synthetix by a wide margin.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this feature owned ETH and SNX, among a number of other cryptocurrencies.
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The information on or accessed through this website is obtained from independent sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, but Decentral Media, Inc. makes no representation or warranty as to the timeliness, completeness, or accuracy of any information on or accessed through this website. Decentral Media, Inc. is not an investment advisor. We do not give personalized investment advice or other financial advice. The information on this website is subject to change without notice. Some or all of the information on this website may become outdated, or it may be or become incomplete or inaccurate. We may, but are not obligated to, update any outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate information.
You should never make an investment decision on an ICO, IEO, or other investment based on the information on this website, and you should never interpret or otherwise rely on any of the information on this website as investment advice. We strongly recommend that you consult a licensed investment advisor or other qualified financial professional if you are seeking investment advice on an ICO, IEO, or other investment. We do not accept compensation in any form for analyzing or reporting on any ICO, IEO, cryptocurrency, currency, tokenized sales, securities, or commodities.
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Synthetix to Launch Batch of Synthetic DeFi Tokens
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Bellatrix will include two further updates, pending community approval.
The DeFi news category was brought to you by Ampleforth, our preferred DeFi partner
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DeFi’s favorite synthetic assets protocol is getting a revamp. Bellatrix will see Synthetix add a new batch of synthetic DeFi tokens.
Synthetix Expands DeFi Offerings
Synthetix is launching a new group of synthetic DeFi tokens.
Tokens for Aave, Uniswap, Yearn.Finance, Polkadot, REN, and Compound will all be available as Synths, the protocol’s label for its native synthetic assets. According to a blog post, each new token will also have a corresponding Inverse Synth. The update will be deployed this Thursday.
Synthetic assets are designed to track the price of an underlying asset. Synthetix currently offers users exposure to synthetic assets for crypto assets, fiat currencies, and commodities like precious metals. It’s thought that the protocol may add stocks at some point in the future, similar to those Injective Protocol has listed recently.
Users of Synthetix can mint Synths by staking the protocol’s SNX token. These Synths are tradable on the protocol’s decentralized exchange, Kwenta. While Synths essentially replicate their corresponding asset price, Inverse Synths fall in price as the tracked asset’s price increases, and vice versa.
The addition of a list of new DeFi tokens is just one proposed update of the Bellatrix release. There are also plans to incentivize users to open shorts against sBTC and sETH and add support for Synth exchange suspension during market closures. However, both of those updates are pending community approval.
Synthetix, thebiggest derivatives protocolon Ethereum by some distance, names each of its major releases after stars in the solar system. Other recent updates have included Castor, Shaula, and Adhara.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this feature owned ETH and SNX. They also had exposure to SNX, AAVE, UNI, YFI, and COMP in a cryptocurrency index.
The DeFi news category was brought to you by Ampleforth, our preferred DeFi partner
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The information on or accessed through this website is obtained from independent sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, but Decentral Media, Inc. makes no representation or warranty as to the timeliness, completeness, or accuracy of any information on or accessed through this website. Decentral Media, Inc. is not an investment advisor. We do not give personalized investment advice or other financial advice. The information on this website is subject to change without notice. Some or all of the information on this website may become outdated, or it may be or become incomplete or inaccurate. We may, but are not obligated to, update any outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate information.
You should never make an investment decision on an ICO, IEO, or other investment based on the information on this website, and you should never interpret or otherwise rely on any of the information on this website as investment advice. We strongly recommend that you consult a licensed investment advisor or other qualified financial professional if you are seeking investment advice on an ICO, IEO, or other investment. We do not accept compensation in any form for analyzing or reporting on any ICO, IEO, cryptocurrency, currency, tokenized sales, securities, or commodities.
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This week’swNewscolumn explores the various ways to measure retail’s entry into cryptocurrency, as well as why the world’s richest man is so obsessed with Dogecoin.
Besides DOGE’s 367% rise over the past month, Bitcoin and Ethereum have also seen heady and volatile times. Following a brutal crash on Monday, both tokens looked primed to breach new all-time highs. Friday’s market activity had different plans, however.
Finally, readers will learn how to earn up to 200% APY by purchasing and staking popular equities like Google, Netflix, and Alibaba.
All that and more below.
Why Retail and Elon Musk Love Dogecoin
If last year’s narrative was the arrival of larger institutional investors to crypto, then this year looks to be marked by retail FOMO.Twitter threadsand commentary already abound, discussing the “frothy” crypto ecosystem.
For the purposes of this article, Investopedia provides a sound definition of “froth.” Theywrite:
“A frothy market is one where investors begin to ignore market fundamentals and bid up an asset’s price beyond what the asset is objectively worth. Froth in the marketplace is often characterized by overconfident investors and is a sign thatinvestor behaviorand investment decisions are being driven by emotions.”
Thus, as the market approaches levels unrelated to the underlying fundamentals, one can say that it has entered rather frothy territory.
For example, despite its pending SEC lawsuit and wave after wave of exchange delisting, XRP has yet to crumble to zero. The token has even found a floor of sorts,suggestingthat investors continue to buy the Hertz stock equivalent of cryptocurrencies.
There are other ways to measure froth, too.
A prevalent metric is using Google Trends for terms like “Bitcoin,” “Ethereum,” and a few popular companies like “Coinbase.” This tool analyzes search volume for Google searches. Higher volumes indicate that more people are typing the term into Google in one form or another.
Comparing this to the heady times of 2017 helps contextualize how far along the market is.
Google Trends for “Bitcoin” (Blue), “Ethereum” (Red), and “Coinbase” (Yellow) from Jan. 1, 2017, to present. Source:Google Trends
So far, the market has a long way to go before it hits 2017-levels. But, one should keep in mind that the above is a rather crude metric for determining a market’s froth. There are a hundred different ways to measure this phenomenon.
To find out more about these other metrics, Crypto Briefing spoke with the co-founder and COO of the data analytics platform,CoinGecko.
Besides high traffic on crypto-specific websites,Bobby Ongsaid:
“There are also other metrics that have also increased in the past few months such as unique wallets created and exchanges’ trading volume. Mainstream fintech companies such as Square have recently reported that almost 80% of its Q3 Cash App revenue came from Bitcoin, indicating that retail users are actively buying Bitcoin through these easily accessible products.”
In a nutshell, keep an eye on volumes for easy-to-use fiat on-ramps like Cash App and Coinbase. This is where retail is cropping up.
After that, there are specific tokens that also signal the entry of non-professional investors.
Ripple’s XRP token served this purpose in the past, but the recent lawsuit has dampened this narrative. In its place, Dogecoin appears to be filling this gap.
Alongside the token’s meteoric rise in the past month, Ong said that CoinGecko’sDOGEpage has “seen a 367% increase” compared to the previous 30-day period. He added:
“There are two catalysts for the increase in Dogecoin price in 2020 which we identify as Elon Musk andTikTok. Elon Musk, who was recently crowned the richest man in the world and has 42.3 million followers on Twitter, in December,tweetedabout Dogecoin and changed his Twitter profile as the ‘Former CEO of Dogecoin.’ This led to many retail investors to become aware of Dogecoin.”
What’s more, that same Dogecoin tweet is nowup for auctionas a non-fungible token (NFT). At the time of press, the tweet is worth more than $7,000.
Ong also confirmed that DOGE is a reasonable proxy for retail investors due to its use as a meme. Musk’s fascination with the token is likely similar. The Tesla founder has something of a penchant for actively posting viral memes on Twitter.
Not everything is made of cake pic.twitter.com/oMaCmYQAwx
Thanks to DOGE, now they can express this love through the purchase of a cryptocurrency. And based on recent price action, love is a powerful market force.
Market Action: Bitcoin (BTC)
7-day BTC/USD chart. Source:CoinGecko
Bitcoin crashed on Jan. 11, 2021,sheddingmore than 20% of its value in just a few hours. Various critics, including ECB President Christine Lagarde, called for the token’s imminent death.
Despite the market panic, on-chain analysisrevealedthat large holders were quietly adding cheap BTC to their wallets.
Source:Twitter
In the end, dip-buying optimists eventually prevailed. At the time of press, Bitcoin has recuperated nearly all of its losses since Monday and is currently trading hands at roughly $35,000 despite a midday crash on Friday.
“BTC has recovered strongly from the $30,000 level in recent days and the dip-buying tone should prevail while the $36,500 level is defended. I would expect a coming test towards the $41,000 level if this remains the case, with a breakout above this area placing the $46,500 and $51,000 levels as upside targets.”
Though $51,000 seems like an extremely bullish target, one need only consider the retail froth mentioned above. eToro, another popular crypto brokerage for this demographic, recentlytoldusers that they might have to suspend trading on the platform this weekend due to high demand.
For reference,eTorohas been dominating the social-networking-meets-finance market slice since 2007. They’re a popular brand with huge volumes.
And when they say that they’re running low on Bitcoin, Batchelor’s price targets may actually be too low.Previous highs were thanks to institutional investors, but now retail is joining in a big way.
Market Action: Ethereum (ETH)
7-day ETH/USD chart. Source:CoinGecko
Insofar as the crypto market is one big Bitcoin trade, Ethereum followed BTC in the crash earlier this week. But, as the above chart shows, the recovery has been V-shaped as ETH now trades a meager 21 points below its all-time high of $1,448.
All that needs to happen is a successful breach of $1,400. From there, the sky’s the limit, according to Batchelor. He said:
“Ethereum looks set to test $1,400 at the moment. A sustained move above $1,400 and I would expect a breakout towards $2,000.”
Ethereum’s DeFi niche continues to build, ship, and deploy since making headlines last summer alongside positive price action. And one particular competition that emerged during those heady times was that betweenUniswap and SushiSwap.
For those just joining, SushiSwap is a forked version of Uniswap. It offers essentially the same product as Uniswap, but at that time, it incentivized users to join the platform with its native token, SUSHI. Uniswap hadn’t yetdistributedits UNI token.
What initially appeared to be just another meme coin amid the yield farming frenzy, SushiSwap has now emerged as quite efficient for several trading pairs. A former Crypto Briefing journalist turned Delphi analyst,Ashwath Balakrishnan, whipped up aninsightful threadon precisely this.
In sum, both platforms are thriving despite the existence of this competition. Uniswap is on thecusp of breakingan all-time high for daily volume despite dropping its token incentives, too.
Finally, Ethereum enthusiasts have been anxiously awaiting anew proposalthat would burn gas fees to reduce network congestion. Unfortunately, miners aren’t too pleased with EIP-1559, as it would bite into their profits and allegedly promote centralization.
Crypto Briefing will be monitoring this proposal closely.
Crypto To-Do List
Last week, readers wereencouragedto experiment with one of ten DeFi applications. The reason for the testing was simple: Each application isrumoredto be dropping a native token for early users.
This week, readers are encouraged to experiment in the emerging world of synthetic assets.
This sub-niche has been booming recently, with large exchanges like FTX and Bittrex launching their offerings. Other decentralized versions like Synthetix and Mirror Protocol also show promise.
These assets essentially bring the world of traditional equities to crypto, opening up the market to anyone with an internet connection. There are a few flavors of how this is precisely executed, but Kyle Samani of Multicoin CapitaltoldCrypto Briefing that:
“There’s a pretty high probability that synthetic assets overtake traditional markets. Permissionless venues will open American markets to a 7 billion global population.”
Whether one agrees with Samani or not is beside the point.Experimenting with tokenized Google stocks is an excellent educational opportunity.
And today, Crypto Briefing will unpack Mirror Protocol in particular. For anyone wondering, the author does not hold any LUNA, MIR, or UST tokens. This is strictly for educational purposes.
To get started, users must have Terra’s native stablecoin called TerraUSD (UST) and its third-party wallet, Terra Station. The wallet is not dissimilar from MetaMask, except that it’s connected to the Terra blockchain rather than Ethereum. Users can buy UST on Uniswap with ETH.
Once fully equipped, users can begin minting their UST for “mirrored” versions of 13 traditional stocks.
The list includes Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOGL), Tesla (TSLA), Netflix (NFLX), Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), Twitter (TWTR), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Alibaba (BABA), iShares Gold Trust (IAU), iShares Silver Trust (SLV), United States Oil Fund (USO), and the Proshares VIX (VIXY).
Users receive tokens with an “m” prefix, followed by the synthetic stock’s ticker. With that, users’ work is done. They now have price exposure to some very popular equities.
For the more ambitious user, however, there are a few other options to continue this journey.
Users can take their “mAssets” and add them to a liquidity pool akin to Uniswap and earn fees. Users receive a liquidity provider (LP) token representing how much liquidity they provided for doing this.
The final step is then adding this LP token to any number of relevant staking opportunities on Mirror.
Mirror Protocol has two cryptocurrencies, a stablecoin and a native asset calledMIR. The most lucrative staking opportunity at the time of press is 214% for staking mVIXY-UST. Source:Mirror Protocol
The returns for staking are relatively high, but users also run the risk of incurringimpermanent loss. Experimentation is all part and parcel of crypto these days, but staying safe should be a high priority for all users.
That’s why Ong of CoinGecko advises caution to any crypto-curious retail user. He concluded:
“Retail investors should be aware of the various risks involved when it comes to cryptocurrencies. They will need to focus on understanding the basics such as how blockchains and cryptocurrencies work. They should also be aware of cryptocurrencies’ highly volatile nature as this will prepare them for any high pressure situations as the market keeps gyrating.”
That’s all for this week’s edition of wNews, readers. Stay tuned for next week’s dispatch.
Disclosure: At the time of press, the author held BTC, ETH, POLS, and WBTC.
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The information on or accessed through this website is obtained from independent sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, but Decentral Media, Inc. makes no representation or warranty as to the timeliness, completeness, or accuracy of any information on or accessed through this website. Decentral Media, Inc. is not an investment advisor. We do not give personalized investment advice or other financial advice. The information on this website is subject to change without notice. Some or all of the information on this website may become outdated, or it may be or become incomplete or inaccurate. We may, but are not obligated to, update any outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate information.
You should never make an investment decision on an ICO, IEO, or other investment based on the information on this website, and you should never interpret or otherwise rely on any of the information on this website as investment advice. We strongly recommend that you consult a licensed investment advisor or other qualified financial professional if you are seeking investment advice on an ICO, IEO, or other investment. We do not accept compensation in any form for analyzing or reporting on any ICO, IEO, cryptocurrency, currency, tokenized sales, securities, or commodities.
See full terms and conditions.
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The launch of Badger DAO’s DIGG, a synthetic rebasing asset meant to track the price of Bitcoin, is one of the most eagerly anticipated product releases in recent DeFi memory — but the person most excited to see DIGG hit the market might not be a trader, but instead Badger DAO founder Chris Spadafora himself.
According to community-minded Spadafora — who would be quick to note that he doesn’t care for the “founder” label despite its technical truth — anticipation for the launch has led to more than one ‘badgering’ inquiry directed at him on Twitter.
“You’ve probably seen it… ‘When $DIGG, when $DIGG’ — it’s constant,” Spadafora sighed.
For all the excitement, however, the exact date of the launch is still unknown. In an interview with Cointelegraph Tuesday, Jan. 5, Spadafora said DIGG was set for release “within a few days.” However, on a Friday community call, he pushed that timeline back, saying users could expect DIGG “sometime next week” — a series of delays that have only stoked the Twitter crowd’s passions.
wen $bDIGG? wen $CLAWS?
so many questions.
we need answers.
wen???
— coin.profit (@C0inAlchemist) January 10, 2021
Still, Spadafora has largely remained good-humored about the ‘badgering’, as he knows that it’s rooted in an eager community ready to play the latest algorithmic asset game.
He’s also excited about the launch for another reason, however: he believes that when all of the forthcoming stabilization mechanisms are ready, DIGG could become more than just another spin at the rebase casino, and it might even evolve into a true synthetic Bitcoin asset.
Keeping a proper peg
It’s a difficult goal to reach. So far, algorithmic assets such as algorithmic stablecoins have proven to be great ways for savvy game theoreticians to enrich themselves, but inefficient when it comes to keeping their intended pegs.
To this end, Spadafora and the rest of the team have taken inspiration from previous rebasing experiments such as Ampleforth.
“We think the secret sauce is learning from what AMPL did around liquidity, and then adding the automated vaults on top,” said Spadafora.
Ampleforth’s model is a time-tested one (at least by DeFi standards) which has undergone over 600 rebases to date. Its success was markedly accelerated once they developed the “Geyser” in which users could deposit their AMPL to a liquidity pool in order to earn additional token yield.
The addition of vaults on top of that is a novel move, however, which may yield benefits for the stability of the peg as well as users.
“What we want to do with our vault system is really at large-scale be the… let’s call it the ‘buy-and-sell’ dictators. So through automated strategies we’re able to buy when the time is right and sell when the time is right to optimize return for the users.”
Effectively, a DIGG vault would automatically and programmatically play the tokeneconomic ‘games’ other algorithmic asset projects expect users to play with bonds or coupons. Currently Badger’s vaults are worth $700 million — a massive pool of automated yield-generating liquidity that could be brought to bear to keep DIGG’s price tied to BTC.
Spadafora told Cointelegraph that the DIGG vaults and their strategies would ideally launch “a few weeks” after the DIGG token launch, and that additional stabilization measures, such as vault rewards that fluctuate depending on how close DIGG is to the peg, are also in the works.
In the end, however, the best resource Badger DAO might bring to the stabilization effort is the community itself. Spadafora said that the DAO will have the power to tweak mechanics such as rebase time, or to even develop an entirely different model for the token if the plans the team brings to the table aren’t working. Such community-run operational efforts have proved successful with projects like Synthetix.
“We are putting all paratmeters of DIGG and control of DIGG into the hands of the BADGER token holders. So any and all parameters — you want to switch to a different model, you want to change the rebase time, you want to do anything associated with that — that’s in control of the community to decide.”
High supply?
Still, even if DIGG manages to properly track the price of Bitcoin, it’s an open question as to how much market appetite there is for more Bitcoin on Ethereum. BTC on ETH has topped out in recent weeks, stalling below 150,000 total BTC after a parabolic advance throughout most of 2020.
The DIGG launch is expected to bring an eventual total of 4000 BTC to the market, though according to Spadafora only 15% of the supply will be available on day 1 — roughly 580 tokens. Half will be allocated to the Badger treasury, and another 30% will come onto the market in a liquidity mining event over a multi-week period. But does anyone even want another source of Bitcoin on Ethereum?
Spadafora thinks so. He thinks of Bitcoin as “the ultimate collateral,” and says that one long-term goal is for Badger to ‘flip the stack’ — instead of Badger being the end-point in a cycle of smart contract transactions (wrap BTC, pool WBTC with Ethereum, deposit pool tokens into Badger for yield), it would become more of a base layer.
“When groups like us are able to say, “Oh, you can unlock this illiquid position, and borrow against it so you can go and take additional strategies, lever up and buy more Bitcoin, provide that stablecoin as liquidity somewhere, or just re-invest that into our vaults and increase your APY in the Badger App, that’s where it gets interesting.”
“Once those things start opening up, I can see a lot more people wanting to bring more tokenized Bitcoin to Ethereum because they will have more use.”
One way they will accomplish this will be by allowing users to borrow assets against staked liquidity pool and vault positions — likely a with a stablecoin called $CLAW.
Badger Dollars https://t.co/ABTsEFhFMY
— ₿adger DAO (@BadgerDAO) January 10, 2021
As a result, already a few clever Badger DAO fans are looking past DIGG and to the potential of taking out stablecoins against their position locked DIGG vaults. The question for them, now, is “Wen CLAW?”
Long term security
Bringing all these new products to the DeFi ecosystem is a developmental load, but Spadafora says that the responsibility of nearly a billion dollars in total value locked is what weighs on him more than the exhaustion.
“This last five weeks have probably been the most stressful five weeks of my life,” he admitted.
After all, it’s difficult to sleep when “you don’t know what you don’t know” and you’re building a wildly successful project in a space rife with hacks, exploits, and vulnerabilities. Additionally, complexity inherent in Badger’s interacting systems — farms, vaults, a rebasing token, liquidity pools, etc — provide layers upon layers of smart contract risk.
To that end, the Badger DAO team is leading the way with a variety of security processes that Spadafora thinks will become the standard.
First, Spadafora says that the team conducted what he calls a “non-smart contract security audit.” This includes internal policies regarding how developers handle updates, make changes to the web app user interface, and mitigate things like spear phishing attacks — but the most important development coming is the “Badger War Room.”
Many of the recent exploits over the past few months have seen the same half dozen to a dozen white hat hackers convene to try and replicate, then mitigate, recent contract exploits. The “War Room” aims to have that ad-hoc group in place from the start, featuring a contract management and contract repository system making it easier to untangle possible exploits.
Additionally, Spadafora says the team has onboarded all War Room participants to Badger’s systems, pre-built a test environment, and established multiple communication channels and a schedule for who would be awake and available to respond to an attack.
It’s a system designed with the reality in mind that it’s impossible to predict where the next exploit might come from, but constructed to better analyze and potentially reduce the harm such an exploit might cause.
Considering the project has been live for barely more than a month, the progress is remarkable. In the end, though, Spadafora hopes it all might help create a new, sustainable niche in DeFi:
“I think it will change the way people think about algorithmic stablecoins.”
