DAI is now the third-largest stablecoin
The crypto market remains under pressure, with many altcoins still in the red after a recent lawsuit classified several big names as regulated ‘securities’.
Nevertheless, some segments are beginning to recover: Maker and Uniswap are both sitting on double-digit gains, while Bitcoin has bounced back after briefly falling below $25K.
Read more after the jump.
This week’s focus
– Bitcoin bounces back after falling below $25K
– Uniswap up more than 10% on v4 release
– Maker sees double-digit gains as DAI becomes third-largest stablecoin
– Curve sinks 6% as founder caught in controversy — can the “backbone of DeFi” recover?
Bitcoin bounces back after falling below $25K — will BlackRock’s ETF change the narrative?
After dipping below $25K, BTC has bounced to over $26K
Bitcoin briefly fell under $25K last week, before rapidly recovering as the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, joined the race to launch the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US.
The news, which followed a period of heightened regulatory scrutiny, was largely welcomed by the Bitcoin community. A spot Bitcoin ETF is often seen as the key to wider adoption, as it would enable anyone to easily add Bitcoin to their retirement accounts.
As business professor Gustavo Schwenkler told CoinDesk, the approval of BlackRock’s ETF could mark the next wave of institutional adoption for Bitcoin.
“If [the ETF] were to get approved” said Schwenkler. “Then I could anticipate a lot more institutional investors adding Bitcoin to their investment to their portfolios… it would institutionalize the market in a way that is not possible right now.”
Uniswap up more than 10% on v4 release
UNI is bouncing back towards resistance at $4.5
Uniswap is hitting headlines after announcing its vision for the next iteration of its crypto exchange platform: Uniswap v4.
The protocol’s native token surged more than 10% in the wake of the announcement, riding higher on excitement about upcoming features. These include on-chain limit orders, automated compounding of liquidity provider rewards, and dynamic fees. All of which increase the sophistication of the trading platform and reduce transaction costs, potentially helping Uniswap to retain its lead in the decentralized exchange space.
According to some analysts, the upgrade could have an even bigger impact across the crypto market. Twitter commentator Frisson ranks the new version of Uniswap alongside other Ethereum-based innovations such as Eigenlayer, which he claims have the “potential to ignite a new bull market all on their own”.
Maker sees double-digit gains as DAI becomes third-largest stablecoin
MKR has risen more than 10% off strong support at $600
In a move that is expected to cause ripple effects across DeFi, decentralized stablecoin protocol MakerDAO is hiking the DAI Savings Rate (DSR) to 3.49%.
This decision, which was voted on by the MakerDAO community, will provide additional incentive for investors to hold and lend DAI, instead of rival stablecoins such as USDC and USDT.
Funds flowed into DAI on the news, helping it to officially overtake $BUSD to become the third-largest stable coin, according to CoinGecko. At the same time, Maker added more than 10%.
And yet, if decentralized treasury management provider Karpatkey is to be believed, this could be just one of many resulting changes that stimulate more activity for the protocol.
In a tweet, the decentralized treasury management service said that “MakerDAO’s DSR hike to 3.49% brings about a significant reshaping of the DeFi landscape. It introduces new risks but also transforms DAI into a yield-bearing stablecoin, possibly stimulating more on-chain activity.”
Curve sinks 6% as founder caught in controversy — can the “backbone of DeFi” recover?
CRV is attempting to recover after sinking 6% to touch $0.55
Leading DeFi protocol Curve has had a difficult week, with the price sinking 6% amidst multiple controversies.
Last week, it emerged that the CEO of Curve Finance, Michael Egorov, is being sued for fraud by several venture capital firms for allegedly misappropriating trade secrets and defrauding them out of close to $1 million in funds.
At the same time, Egorov is also under the microscope for taking out a large loan against his Curve tokens, which has led to fears of a big liquidation event that would negatively impact the price.
Nevertheless, many analysts remain bullish on Curve, with pseudonymous Twitter commentator Etherpyr describing the protocol as the “backbone of DeFi” and likening the buying opportunity to the same as “buying ETH in the 2016 bear bottom”.