DeFi Weekly Report | April 2021 Week 4: Ethereum Gas Fees Enter Zen Mode, PancakeSwap V2

Ethereum transaction fees are in a "zen" state, PancakeSwap V2, Synthetix's platform Kwenta launches FAANG stock synthetic assets, Alpha Homora V2 goes live again, Ampleforth introduces governance token FORTH.

Dear DeFi enthusiasts,

If you are a DeFi investor who focuses on prices and technical charts, these two weeks may bring panic to the market; but if you pay attention to fundamentals like Ethereum's upgrade, you might feel completely different. Bear market, bull development.

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Headlines this week: Ethereum transaction fees are in a "zen" state, Uniswap coin exchange fees are under $20; PancakeSwap V2 is revamped, what should BSC users pay attention to?; Synthetix derivative trading platform Kwenta officially launches FAANG stock synthetic assets; Ampleforth introduces governance token FORTH, with 67% of the initial supply being airdropped to the community, and more.

This week's selected insights include: What event will make Yearn Finance founder Andre Cronje reveal his new project? Why does Hakka Finance founder Chen Ping firmly state that DeFi is Ethereum? And Messari founder Ryan Selkis: What data made him suddenly see the demand for Dogecoin?

1. This Week's Highlights

✨ Top Headlines of the Week

Ethereum Gas Fees in Zen Mode, Uniswap Coin Exchange Below $20

The Ethereum blockchain reached a near-weekly low gas price of 40 Gwei on the 25th, with average fees for ERC-20 token transfers costing only $5.8, Uniswap coin exchanges at $17.85, and liquidity provision on Uniswap at $15.62. During this period of discounted gas fees, users can take advantage by exchanging on Uniswap/SushiSwap, participating in liquidity mining, applying for ENS, buying/selling NFTs, etc.

PancakeSwap Pancakes V2 Update, What BSC Users Need to Know?

Similar to Ethereum, BSC's smart contracts require the creation of new contracts for upgrades, done through migration. Therefore, users who had liquidity mining on PancakeSwap need to manually migrate their liquidity. After the V2 upgrade, the platform will distribute the 0.25% transaction fee as follows: 0.17% to LP token holders, 0.03% to PancakeSwap's treasury, and 0.05% for CAKE buyback and burning.

Synthetix Derivatives Trading Platform Kwenta Officially Launches FAANG Stock Synthetic Assets

The derivative trading platform Kwenta, based on the Synthetix protocol, has officially launched FAANG stock synthetic assets, tracking the stock prices of Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google's parent company Alphabet. Kwenta states, "Regardless of trading volume, all trades can be executed with zero slippage during market hours (9:30 am to 4:00 pm ET). Additionally, FAANG stock synthetic assets are also used for liquidity mining, where users can provide liquidity in the FAANG AMM pool of Balancer."

Leveraged Mining Protocol Alpha Homora V2 to Upgrade and Relaunch

The leveraged mining protocol Alpha Homora will relaunch its V2 version on Ethereum. For miners, the V2 version will add liquidity pools on Uniswap, SushiSwap, Curve, and Balancer, more categories of lending assets, and the ability to use LP tokens as collateral for borrowing, among others. For borrowers, users will be able to borrow other assets on top of the protocol-supported ibETHv2 and stablecoins, also gaining higher returns through these additional ibTokensV2.

Ampleforth Introduces Governance Token FORTH, 67% Airdropped to Community

The stablecoin protocol Ampleforth announced the launch of the governance token FORTH. FORTH is a governance token that allows proposals and voting on changes to the Ampleforth protocol, with an initial minting of 15 million tokens. 67% of the tokens will be distributed to users who have interacted with AMPL on-chain, making over 75,000 users eligible to receive FORTH tokens and become founding members of the Ampleforth governance community. The remaining 33% of tokens will be allocated to early FORTH supporters. Additionally, a permanent annual inflation rate of 2% will be implemented after one year.

🚀 DeFi Protocols

• Celer's Scalability Solution Layer2.finance V0.1 Mainnet Launched, Initial Support for Compound, AAVE, and Curve

• Balancer to Launch V2 Version, Introduces New Proposal for Emergency Shutdown Mechanism to Mitigate Potential Vulnerabilities

• The Graph Introduces Microtransaction Solution Scalar Based on Connext Technology

• MakerDAO Issues World's First DeFi-Based Real-World Asset Loan

• Deri Protocol Goes Live with COIN Derivatives

• Solana Ecosystem Aggregator Step Launches IDO, Mainnet Now Live

• NEST Protocol to Upgrade, Adding Voting Governance Module and Removing Dividends

• 1inch Network Now Supports Trading of Synthetix Synthetic Asset sUSD

• Basis Cash Introduces V2 Version, Implements Dynamic Incentive Mechanism and Further Rewards BAS Holders

🖼 NFT

• Renowned Rapper Eminem to Release NFT Music Works

• Julia Wu's Single NFT Sells Out! Taiwanese Startup OURSONG Launches NFT Production and Issuance Services

• Limited Edition NFT Issuance Platform Ethernity Chain to Integrate Chainlink for Secure Minting and Pricing of NFTs

🏛 Exchanges, Regulations, Institutions

• Biden Proposes Capital Gains Tax as High as 43.4% for the Wealthy

• Robinhood Appoints COO to Lead Robinhood Crypto

• Facebook's Digital Currency Project Diem Association's Lobbying Efforts in the US Stalled

• South Korea's Financial Regulator Suggests Crypto Exchanges Could Be Shut Down If They Fail to Register Under Regulatory Conditions

• Southeast Asia Blockchain and Digital Assets Association Forms ASEAN Blockchain Alliance

• USD Stablecoin Issuer Paxos Approved as a US Trust Bank to Operate Across States

• Former Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks Becomes CEO of Binance.US, Advancing Binance's Global Compliance Efforts

2. Insights from Experts

Yearn Finance Founder Andre Cronje: If gas fees drop to single digits, I'm launching a new project

Hakka Finance Founder Chen Pin: DeFi is Ethereum. Other EVM chains are just testing grounds for DeFi

Messari Founder Ryan Selkis: Just look at Robinhood's crypto trading volume increase from $1.7M to $9.5M, you'll know who's buying Dogecoin 🤯

3. Data Indicators

Data for this week is sourced from: DeFi Pulse as of 4/26/2021.

DeFi Market Data Overview

TVL (Total Value Locked) refers to the total market value of assets stored in DeFi platforms; Maker Dominance shows the current market share of the largest project by market value; DeFi Pulse Index is the DeFi weighted index provided by SetProtocol.

Top Ten DeFi Projects by TVL

4. Weekly Coin Picks

This week, negative global news continued to unfold, including Trump's wealth tax, regulatory pressure on Korean crypto exchanges, and BTC's daily chart falling below the uptrend. On the other hand, crypto information provider Plan B predicts Bitcoin hitting $70K within 22 days, and Three Arrow Capital's CEO declared this sell-off as a "bull market sell-off," simply transferring coins from weak hands to strong hands. We believe the disconnect between coin prices and project development progress in recent weeks is severe, as evident from the headlines and DeFi news above. Coins we are particularly watching this week are:

• Ethereum derivatives market Synthetix SNX. SNX has been a blue-chip DeFi coin since the recent DeFi frenzy, with the team's innovation and development capabilities making it a standout. However, the coin price has not reflected this. This week saw the platform launching crypto tracking FB, Google stocks, and its stablecoin sUSD being supported by 1INCH, which is quite exciting. We suspect it's about time SNX shows its performance.

• Another coin of interest is the leading Binance Smart Chain automated market maker PancakeSwap CAKE. The V2 upgrade with the Buy Back and Burn mechanism favors mid-to-long-term price performance. Additionally, as BSC remains the preferred DeFi choice for small-scale users, the development of the leading exchange PancakeSwap remains highly anticipated.

• Lastly, the Ethereum automated market maker that our team continues to monitor, Balancer BAL. Balancer, currently ranked ninth in Ethereum DeFi projects, is undervalued in terms of market value and discussion volume compared to many projects outside the top ten. We believe it is underrated. With Balancer V2 set to launch this week, integration of Balancer mining pools post-Alpha upgrade, and the ability to liquidity mine stock tokens from Synthetix on Balancer, along with continued partnership news with other DeFi projects, we believe there is potential in the future.

5. Weekly Memes

pic.twitter.com/zZiINav7lM

— Bankless 🏴 (@BanklessHQ) April 26, 2021

About the Authors

• Raizel / Youtuber promoting Bitcoin and DeFi, "Chill Blockchain with Nao-ge"

• Thomas / DeFi enthusiast working in chip design in Boston

• Anderson / Founder of Dapp Pocket & Cappuu, believes in DeFi deposits over bank deposits

Partners

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