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This Week In DeFi – September 15

This Week In DeFi – September 15

Messaging app giant Telegram is about to natively support crypto, with a new integration of TON Space – the Open Network-based self-custodial crypto wallet.

Alex Miguel
September 15, 2023

Happy weekend, DeFi readers!

This week… 👀

Telegram is integrating a TON wallet into its app for 800 million users
BNB Chain launches opBNB to the public
MetaMask ventures outside EVM chains with “Snaps”
Polygon looks to ditch the MATIC token

Telegram gets a crypto wallet?

Messaging app giant Telegram is about to natively support crypto, with a new integration of TON Space – the Open Network-based self-custodial crypto wallet.

The integration is a major move, which will allow Telegram’s 800 million monthly active users to access the wallet via Telegram settings.

The feature is now available for Telegram Wallet users, and will eventually be rolled out for most users globally beginning in November. The U.S. and some other countries will be excluded from the feature.

https://twitter.com/ton_blockchain/status/1702293207306948820

BNB rollups are live!

BNB Chain has officially entered the rollup scene, as it launches its OP Stack-based opBNB network to the public.

The launch follows extensive testing with no major bugs reported, as well as hitting benchmarks of up to 4,000 transactions per second. opBNB focuses on scalability with reduced gas fees and fast finality.

The team intends to attract users and funds through airdrop incentives and ecosystem projects.

https://twitter.com/BNBCHAIN/status/1702230764459311124

MetaMask expands with Snaps

Leading web3 wallet MetaMask has formally introduced "Snaps", a software mechanism designed to expand its usability on non-Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchain networks.

Snaps will enable MetaMask to be used with several popular non-EVM blockchains such as Cosmos, Solana, Tezos, Starknet, Algorand and others.

Initially, MetaMask plans to release over 34 Snaps for various add-on features and allow third-party developers to independently create and maintain Snaps, creating an open platform for innovation in the ecosystem.

https://twitter.com/MetaMask/status/1701585470512095636

No more $MATIC? It’s POL time

Polygon’s getting rid of its MATIC ticker as part of its upcoming Polygon 2.0 upgrade. The detail is just one part of a much larger plan, which aims to create a network of interconnected Layer 2 chains using zero-knowledge proofs.

The three proposals include:

PIP-17, which ensures no action is needed from end-users and developers during the upgrade
PIP-18, which introduces the POL token to replace the MATIC token as the native gas and staking asset, and
PIP-19, which upgrades the native gas token from MATIC to POL while maintaining backward compatibility to ensure compatibility with existing smart contracts.

The proposals are open for community feedback and will be implemented after a governance vote, with the final upgrade expected next year.

https://twitter.com/0xPolygonLabs/status/1702280764677578755

DeFi continues to expand outside Ethereum

Just as all the EVM chains have caved into becoming Layer-2 scaling platforms for Ethereum rather than competing against it as Layer-1s, there has also been an uptick in development outside of Ethereum altogether.

An emerging trend is the development and rise of non-EVM chains, which are slowly gaining adoption and popularity.

MetaMask’s launch of Snaps provides perfect evidence for forecasted growth away from EVM chains, as the feature makes the popular web3 wallet compatible with these newer, growing chains.

Adding to last week’s proposed migrations of major protocols to other chains, Sushi is expanding to Aptos, while Telegram opens the floodgates to The Open Network. Lido has expanded to Cosmos, as dYdX continues to work on shifting its whole derivatives exchange to a Cosmos chain.

Although we are yet to see any significant and lasting migrations away from the Ethereum ecosystem, could this be the moment that it begins to happen for real?