To the DeFi community,
Retroactive airdrops were at full display through the launch of BadgerDAO, a decentralized protocol built to optimize yields from Bitcoin locked on the Ethereum network, and Mirror Protocol, Luna’s new protocol for trading onchain representations of stocks like Apple and Tesla.
With BadgerDAO, Bitcoin holders are incentivized to use Ren (renBTC), Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) and tBTC (TBTC) – showcasing the growing number of tools available to port Bitcoin to Ethereum in both trusted and trustless manners. DeFi power users who performed any number of the following actions earned an attractive airdrop, showing the power of being an early user of DeFi.
https://t.co/R2h6O1fZpi
Claim your $BADGER if you:
1. $SUSHI gov
2. $wBTC on $COMP
3. @Meta_Cartel
4. $wBTC on $AAVE
5. $YFI gov
6. $YAM gov
7. Mint $wBTC
8. Mint $renBTC
9. LAO
10. $BTC on $CRV
11. Mint $sBTC
12. 1Hive
13. BTC-ETH $BAL
14. Gitcoin
15. $wBTC maker
— Cryptoyieldinfo.YFI (@Cryptoyieldinfo) December 4, 2020
Ethereum-based BTC wrappers can be used as liquidity on Curve Finance to earn yields. Now, BadgerDAO allows Curve liquidity providers to stake their LP tokens in Sett Vaults, designed to generate even more yield for BTC holders.
With Mirror, any address holding more than 100 UNI was airdropped a fixed 220 MIR, good for a hearty airdrop of the newest governance token from the team behind Terra and the UST stablecoin.
1/ Introducing ?? @mirror_protocol, the first synthetics protocol providing ?? on-chain price exposure to real world assets. https://t.co/ZB4NNnPRfQ
— Mirror Protocol (@mirror_protocol) December 3, 2020
The two airdrops go to show that DeFi power users are still reaping rewards from the actions of DeFi summer – a trend which is likely to continue into 2021 with new projects opting in favor of retroactive aidrops.
Speaking of cross-pollination, UMA and Yam are joining forces to accelerate the development of new DeFi derivatives, in a program dubbed Degenerative Finance. Building off the foundation of the UMA’s recently released uGas token and Developer Mining rewards, Yam will own uGas and build a new user interface and supply the gas saving contracts for February and March 2021.
uGas offers contracts for the median price of gas in a given month, allowing hedging and speculation for traders and power users with high gas usage. Yam will add additional features like independent liquidation and dispute bots, with developer mining rewards being split between the Yam Treasury, liquidity providers for uGas contracts, and contributing developers.
Messari Research released their Crypto Theses for 2021 report this week, packed with over 130 pages of some of the biggest trends and influencers across the crypto industry. DeFi protocols from Maker to Uniswap, stablecoins, stock market ETFs, digital derivatives, and the experiments in decentralized governance all get a feature in one of the most comprehensive overviews of the crypto and DeFi landscape out this year. If you’ve heard about an interesting topic in the world of digital assets, you’re likely to find it covered in this report.
And a few notes to end the week…
- The Ethereum Push Notifications project raised $750k to bring notifications to DeFi and other decentralized Ethereum applications, ater raising $16k in Gitcoin grants earlier this year.
- Microstrategy is doubling down on their BTC buying strategy, announcing plans to offer $550 million in equity notes to buy Bitcoin after buying more than $425 million in October.
- Insurance provider MassMutual purchased $100 million in Bitcoin in another vote of confidence from the financial sector that BTC is the real deal.
- Happy 7th Birthday Dogecoin!
DAI
Highest Yields: Fulcrum at 7.42% APY, dYdX at 7.38% APY
Cheapest Loans: Bitfinex at 0.50% APY, CoinList at 3.00% APY
MakerDAO Updates
DAI Savings Rate: 0.00%
Base Fee: 0.00%
ETH Stability Fee: 2.00%
USDC Stability Fee: 4.00%
WBTC Stability Fee: 4.00%
USDC
Highest Yields: Fulcrum at 13.76% APY, BlockFi at 8.6% APY
Cheapest Loans: CoinList at 0.15% APY, Compound at 3.86% APY
Badger Finance Aims to Bring BTC to DeFi
Badger Finance is adding more liquidity rewards for BTC holders who bring their coins to DeFi on Ethereum.
DerviaDEX Launches Insurance Mining
DerivaDEX is rewarding users who stake stablecoins as insurance for the decentralized exchange.
Compound And Uniswap Grant Programs
Compound and Uniswap users vote to reward contributors in new ways.
Melon Protocol Announces Partnership with Rari Capital
Yield aggregator Rari Capital will Melon Protocol’s asset management tools for autonomous investment strategies.
Harvest Finance Launches GRAIN Claims Portal
Harvest Finance is paying out GRAIN to users impacted by an October hack worth $24 million.
Stat Box
Total Value Locked: $14.08B (down -4.74% since last week)
DeFi Market Cap: $16.75B (down -13.21%)
DEX Weekly Volume: $4.13B (up 9.26%)
DAI Supply: 1.08B (up 1%)
Total DeFi Users: 1,028,300 (up 3.24%)
Bonus Reads
[MakerDAO] How Linux Provides a Roadmap for Increased Adoption of Blockchain Tech and the Maker Protocol
[Jesse Walden – Variant] Uniswap Grant Proposal
[Kerman Kohli – DeFi Weekly] Options 101
[Regan Bozman – Bankless] The Bull Case for Decentralized Index Funds
[Cooper Turley – The Defiant] Basis Cash Revives Shuttered Stablecoin with 10,000% Yields
[Ryan Watkins – Messari] The Theory of the Yearn
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Alex is an analyst and writer with experience at tech startups and Fortune 500 corporations. He’s focused on cutting-edge technologies in blockchain, energy, supply chains, transportation, urban living, and more and has been in the crypto community since 2014.
