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This Week In DeFi – April 12

This Week In DeFi – April 12

Alex Miguel
April 12, 2024

Happy Friday, DeFi readers!

This week…

Uniswap’s in trouble with the SEC
EigenLayer & EigenDA launch on Ethereum mainnet
MarginFi CEO resigns, $155M flows out of protocol
MetaMask introduces airdrop eligibility feature

Uniswap’s in trouble with the SEC

Uniswap has received a Wells notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), indicating that they are preparing to sue the decentralized exchange.

The SEC has been looking to reform regulations to redefine what constitutes an exchange, with an aim of including DeFi platforms.

The price of Uniswap's UNI token plummeted by more than 9% in an hour following the news, now sitting at its lowest price since late February.

Today @Uniswap Labs received a Wells notice from the SEC.
I’m not surprised. Just annoyed, disappointed, and ready to fight.
I am confident that the products we offer are legal and that our work is on the right side of history. But it’s been clear for a while that rather than… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
— hayden.eth 🦄 (@haydenzadams)
6:22 PM • Apr 10, 2024

EigenLayer & EigenDA launch on Ethereum mainnet

Restaking protocol EigenLayer and its data availability layer, EigenDA, went live on Ethereum mainnet this week, allowing restakers to delegate their entire stake to their preferred operator.

The protocol has already drawn in almost half a billion dollars in restaked ETH, across 28 operators.

The influx of funds brings EigenLayer’s total value locked to a whopping $13.8 billion.

Just two days after @eigenlayer M2 mainnet and @eigen_da went live, over 400k ETH ($1.4B) has been delegated to operators.
— Onur Sucu (@OnurES_)
4:21 PM • Apr 11, 2024

MarginFi CEO resigns, $155M flows out of protocol

Edgar Pavlovsky, the longtime leader of Solana DeFi lending platform MarginFi, has resigned following internal disagreements and operational issues – leading to $155M in outflows from the protocol.

Although MarginFi is still fully functional, there’s significant uncertainty about the future leadership of the project.

MarginFi competitor, Solend, has seen major inflows since the incident, capitalizing on the protocol’s troubles.

so far over $260M in TVL has fled marginfi.
the more funds migrate from marginfi to solend, the bigger the season 2 reward pool will be.
fuck predatory dark patterns. fuck forever points.
— Rooter (@0xrooter)
10:04 PM • Apr 11, 2024

MetaMask introduces airdrop eligibility feature

MetaMask has teamed up with Daylight to enable users to verify their eligibility for airdrops and potential NFT claims, directly within their wallet.

The new feature is available across several major chains including Ethereum, Optimism, Arbitrum, Base, Zora, and Polygon, ensuring wide accessibility.

The Daylight API provides personalized NFT suggestions based on social factors like allowlist status, token holdings, and connections on Farcaster, giving users suggestions for potential airdrops and NFTs on the MetaMask Explore page.

🪂Verify airdrop eligibility in seconds! We’ve partnered with @daylight to help users check if they qualify for any airdrops in the ecosystem. ☀️
Head over to the Explore tab on MetaMask Portfolio to get started.
👀 go.metamask.io/4cRs1ne
— MetaMask 🦊🫰 (@MetaMask)
1:59 PM • Apr 9, 2024

Toncoin is now a Top 10 Crypto – but what is it?

Telegram’s Toncoin (TON) has just entered the Top 10 cryptocurrencies by circulating market cap, according to CoinGecko – and its hot on Dogecoin’s heels for the #9 spot.

You also may have realized it gets fairly few mentions in the DeFi world. So, let’s take a refresher on what exactly Toncoin is, and why it’s suddenly in the headlines.

Toncoin overview

Toncoin is a coin originally conceptualized by the popular messaging platform Telegram, now managed by the open-source community under the new branding of The Open Network (TON).

Telegram released a white paper in 2018 outlining the Telegram Open Network, but ditched it soon after facing regulatory hurdles with the SEC. It was then picked up by community developers, who have continued its development.

Telegram IPO coming?

Recently, Toncoin has been in the spotlight thanks to some big price surges, almost closing in on Dogecoin in terms of market cap. It’s reached a market cap of around $25 billion, nearing Dogecoin’s $27.6 billion.

Why is it rallying? Rumors have been circulating of Telegram planning an initial public offering (IPO), with previous remarks made by CEO Pavel Durov about being offered $30B+ valuations – not a small deal at all.

A sharding machine

Toncoin operates on a sharded proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, similar to the one proposed by Ethereum for its scalability solutions.

The TON coin itself facilitates a bunch of network functions. This includes transactions and payments for services within the ecosystem such as decentralized storage, VPN services, and a domain name system.

It also has a wallet built into Telegram, giving an absolutely massive user base almost immediate access into the TON world.

TON has a maximum supply of 5 billion coins, with 3.4 billion already in circulation. It manages network inflation at a rate of 0.6% annually, which is relatively low compared to many other cryptocurrencies.

The TON ecosystem

The Open Network functions under a DAO framework, letting token holders to vote on changes and development direction. It already supports over 500 apps through its very own app store.

Will it take over?

With its close integration with messaging app giant Telegram, who reports 800 million monthly active users, it’s no doubt that TON may be a force to be reckoned with.

But we haven’t seen a mass crossover to Ethereum or Solana users yet. Will it get there?