Governance is Upon Us | Pyth Newsletter #48

Welcome to the Pythiad, the front page of DeFi and the official newsletter of the Pyth Network. Did you miss us? Biweekly updates on all things Web3 await you.

What’s New with Pyth

• Pyth Network kicks off the second phase of its Retrospective Airdrop. The first phase targeted users of #PoweredByPyth dApps. This second phase distributes PYTH Tokens to over 160 dApps using Pyth.

• On February 13, the Pyth DAO voted to approve the DAO Constitution, which lays out the DAO’s decision-making and governing framework.

• To date, there are over 1B PYTH Tokens staked and over 160K stakers. Learn more from Dune.

• Pyth has secured over $30B in trading volume in January, a 3x rise from the past quarter, led by Optimism, Arbitrum, Solana, Aptos, and Sui.

• Pyth experienced a 30% increase in total value secured (TVS), surpassing $2.5B, led by burgeoning activity on Solana, Sui, Optimism, and Manta.

What's New with DeFi

Technology and Development

• The current state of security in Bitcoin and Ethereum make attacks economically unfeasible, according to a new paper, “Breaking BFT” by Nuzzi, Waters, and Andrade.

• Wormhole announces plans to use AMD's FPGA hardware accelerators for scaling "light client" proofs for cross-chain messaging (using ZK proofs).

• L2s finalize new rollup standard bolstering compatibility with mainstream tech, with Ethereum L2 teams preparing to embrace this new standard to improve interoperability.

• Samczsun launches security alliance for crypto cybercrime victims. The alliance aims to empower white hat hackers to improve security in the blockchain industry.

Ecosystems

• Bitcoin ETF inflows pick up again, with BlackRock leading the way. In fact, ETFs and other funds now own 3.9% of BTC supply, and amid $Bn outflows in Gold ETF.

• Solana users have paid $18.2M of priority fees so far in 2023, compared to just $6.6M in the last four months of 2023.

• Ethereum validator queue reaches highest level since October, amid apparent renewed interest in staking. 

• Puffer Finance reaches $850M in TVL, and has now become the second-largest Ethereum liquid restaking protocol.

• Tranchess, a liquid staking DeFi protocol, has shipped leveraged stETH exposure after its V3 Launch: Turbo Yield ETH and Stable Yield ETH.

• Uniswap Foundation reveals a tentative date for the launch of Uniswap v4. The launch is expected to be in Q3 2024.

• Sommelier Finance launches DeFi strategy vaults on Arbitrum for users priced out of Ethereum mainnet.

• Optimism launches its Security Council. The council is planned to be solely responsible for implementing OP Mainnet upgrades.

Stablecoins

• Ethena raises $14m funding round and launches stablecoin. The stablecoin is backed by Ether and its derivatives. See recent discussions on USDe's 27% yield promises.

• Prisma Finance introduces ULTRA, a stablecoin backed by Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs). Users can mint ULTRA against LRTs.

Exchanges

• CME announces plans to launch EUR denominated micro Bitcoin and Ether futures.

• Coinbase beats Q4 estimates. Transaction revenue has risen to $529M.

• Crypto.com comments on user base expansion from its partnerships with Formula 1 and the UFC.

Community Shoutout

This week, we’ve received some amazing artwork by Pythians pshaliwe, drops2021, Gereish, and nicoIAS. Keep up the good work, everyone!

We want to hear your feedback. Join the Pyth Discord and Telegram and follow Pyth on X. You can also learn more about Pyth here.