A degen’s daily update of news, markets, NFTs, and more.
Markets are getting tight out there, and directly investing for price speculation is becoming harder and harder. So today, we explore TVL metrics to spot where the limited money supply is headed and highlight any current trends.
In addition, we all know how much you love NFTs, so we’ll show you the hot mints of the week and keep you in the loop for this exciting corner of the market.
All that and much more in today’s Brew!
Overview
- The search for value across chains using TVL
- Bitcoin: Accumulations continue, BTC enters a possible range
- News: The first African nation adopts bitcoin as legal tender
- NFTs: Akutar disaster, BAYC metaverse
This week’s Total Value Locked (TVL) metrics and the search for value across chains. 💰💸⛓
Source: Defi Llama
Typically, the newsletter covers Total Value Locked (TVL) on Mondays in a short section, but we’ll dive a little deeper into metrics this week for a couple of reasons. One, several blossoming ecosystems are garnering attention. Two, TVL appears to be holding up better than crypto prices. The second reason leads me to believe a greater number of coin holders are entering ecosystems instead of only speculating from the outside.
Simply put, more users on a chain equals more buyers. The buyers who turn into chain users begin to extract value through the various protocols. TVL is a snapshot of cryptocurrencies locked in smart contracts across the protocols at a given time.
Total Valued Locked (TVL) across all of crypto continues to range sideways after nearing its yearly high of US$231b on April 5.
Source: DeFi Llama
The notable winners this past week in TVL increases are Terra (LUNA) +9%, Near (NEAR) +14%, Parallel (PARA) +29%, and Optimism +14%.
Terra (LUNA) onboarded US$2.6b this previous week, making it the highest gainer in terms of value. The matured Terra ecosystem offers a myriad of value across its 150+ protocols. Although, Anchor (ANC), Lido (LDO), and Astroport (ASTRO) account for over 70% of a TVL locked on the chain.
Near Protocol (NEAR) is a chain positioned as the next major Layer 1 after the release of USN, a copycat stablecoin version of UST. TVL on the chain is up 153% the previous month as NEAR holders begin the search for yields and value on the chain. As Ran noted, NEAR is where the bees are currently flying. Noticeable projects to keep an eye on are Ref Finance (REF), Burrow, Bastion (BSTN), Aurigami, and Trisolaris (TRI).
Parallel Finance (PARA) is the latest Polkadot parachain that quickly attracts users. There are now a total of four parachains in the top 50 of TVL (Moonbeam (GLMR), MoonRiver (MOVR), Astar (ASTR)). Parallel allows for liquid staking of DOT on top of other DeFi capabilities. Despite Polkadot’s slow-growth approach, the chain may be a viable candidate for long-term sustainability.
Last week, a juicy subject was the possible airdrop of an Optimism token by the layer-two protocol. The team released an auspicious newsletter on its one-year anniversary, and Coinbase “accidentally” leaked an Optimism token chart on its exchange. Needless to say, users began to enter the low-cost Ethereum alternative in preparation. As a result, TVL in Optimism grew 14% this week.
The upcoming layer-two airdrops could be juicy indeed as the L2s look to steal layer-one users from more developed ecosystems. Three L2s have hinted at token airdrops, so later this week I will release a guide on how to prepare for future airdrops.
Market update 🌍
Bitcoin (BTC) broke an uptrend that began in Jan 2022 over the weekend but continues to hover near US$40,000. Price could jump back into the trend but the breakage point towards a range-bound market for now. The FED’s upcoming meetings in early May will broadly impact how markets move in the coming weeks. At the moment, a US$40,000 appears to symbolize a fair value for BTC. BTC closed the US session at US$39,537 up +0.24%.
Source: Trading View
The chartest at Blockware Intelligence spotted outflows from exchanges are hitting a zone that has only occurred three times in bitcoin’s history. It highlights the amount of accumulation happening under the surface. The chart looks promising considering price action after the previous outflows hit the current zone.
Notable Gainers (7d)
| Protocol (Coin) | Price ($) | Gain (%) |
| ApeCoin (APE) | 16.31 | +40 |
| STEPN (GMT) | 3.30 | +35 |
| Curve DAO (CRV) | 2.67 | +20 |
| Terra (LUNA) | 88.46 | +14 |
| Synthetix Network (SNX) | 5.68 | +12 |
| Zcash (ZEC) | 155.08 | +12 |
| Everscale (EVER) | 0.35 | +44 |
| Kava (KAVA) | 5.30 | +30 |
| LooksRare (LOOKS) | 1.66 | +16 |
| ZoidPay (ZPAY) | 0.91 | +54 |
Newswatch 📰
The first African country adopts bitcoin! The Central African Republic becomes the first African country to adopt bitcoin as a currency according to Forbes. Cryptocurrencies will be a legal means of payment through the recent legislation as the African country moves towards a path of “technological advancement and economic performance.” The central African Republic is a landlocked nation with an estimated population of 4.7b.
Crypto research at MIT. Singapore-based crypto exchange Crypto.com has made a four-year grant to MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) to support bitcoin security and open-source development research. The amount was unspecified.
The big Whale interviews President Macron. France-based crypto news site the big Whale interviewed President Emmanuel Macron concerning crypto regulation in Europe. The President, who’s a day away from election round votes, pointed toward a neutral stance on the technology that will not prevent innovation but additionally mentioned the move towards a digital Euro.
News tidbits:
- Metamask outage due to Infura
- NY wants to criminalize rug pulls
- Crypto Miner compass selling $30m of equipment
On-chain ⛓
SHIB is on fire! ShibaSwap, the native exchange for the Shiba Inu ecosystem, launched a burn portal for the SHIB token on Saturday. The burning mechanism rewards the burning of SHIB by giving users burntSHIB in return, which generates passive incomes. As a result, ShibaSwap burned eight billion SHIB tokens in the first 24 hours.
NFT & metaverse update 🐵
Akutar Exploit. An exploit to smart contracts during the AkuDream’s Akutar mint locks $34m in ETH (11,529 ETH) forever. The project has vowed to uphold its discount of .5 ETH to Akutar Mint Pass holders despite the setback of affected funds. Akutars are set to drop into wallets today. Good for ETH holders but quite the financial setback for the AkuDreams team.
Other side monkey metaverse. Yuga Labs, the team behind, The Bored Ape Yacht Club ecosystem, announced the launch of the “Otherside” metaverse for April 30. Here’s a list of NFTs whitelisted to mint Otherside land (unconfirmed!). < —— major alpha alert!
NFT tidbits:
- Cobie releases “ ApeCoin and the death of staking.”
- Louis Vuitton releases a new game and NFTs.
- Coinbase NFT beta is officially live.
- Moonbirds nesting is live.
Notable Mints:
| Project | Type | Mint price | Date of mint | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imaginary Ones | PFP | Dutch / 50% of whitelist | April 27 | 11:00 PM EST |
| Ragnarok | Gaming | .05 ETH Dutch | April 27 | Unknown |
| Inferno | Gaming | 0.25 ETH | April 27 | 5:00 PM EST |
Banter’s take
Despite the sideways market, TVL growth looks positive for emerging ecosystems. Since the macro-economic challenges of the market arose, money isn’t flowing as freely as six months ago. In turn, crypto participants become selective when choosing where to invest their money. Watching TVL helps spot where those investments are going. On the other end, protocols with little activity and growth will suffer during these times.
Coins won’t pump on pure speculations as much, and the easy-money tourists are undoubtedly diminishing. But we aren’t those people, and crypto is not a one-trick pony. So there are still plenty of opportunities. Whether in the form of airdrops, yield, project updates, and NFTs sales, there are many activities to maintain the attention of our degen hearts and minds while we patiently wait for the next major bull cycle.
Gabri
