DeFi Bulletin: Aave rebrands, and Opyn founders exit the industry

The decentralized finance (DeFi) sector continues to attract heightened attention from crypto investors. ForkLog has compiled the most important DeFi events and news from the past weeks in this digest.

Key metrics of the DeFi segment

Total value locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols rose to $45.3 billion. The leader remained Lido with $17.48 billion, while the second and third places were held by Maker ($8 billion) and JustLend ($5.87 billion), respectively.

TVL in Ethereum applications rose to $24.55 billion. Trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEX) over the last 30 days stood at $69.2 billion.

Uniswap continues to dominate the non-custodial exchange market — accounting for 63.1% of seven-day volume. The second DEX by volume is PancakeSwap (14.1%), the third is Curve (3.85%).

Aave Companies rebrands and acquires wallet developer Family

The team behind the Aave platform conducted a rebranding, changing its name to Avara.

According to the announcement, Avara will become the parent organisation for Aave, Lens, the GHO stablecoin, Sonar and other brands.

According to him, the Aave protocol will continue to operate under the same brand through Aave Labs.

In addition to the rebrand, Avara announced the acquisition of wallet developer Los Feliz Engineering. Its founder Benji Taylor will join the team as Senior Vice President of Product and Design.

Earlier this month the Aave team had to suspend part of the protocol’s operations after a vulnerability was discovered. The incident did not affect user funds.

1inch Network launches portfolio-tracking service

The liquidity aggregator from decentralized exchanges 1inch Network introduced the 1inch Portfolio solution for tracking users’ positions across various crypto assets.

1/ ? #Crypto tracking got too complicated?

Meet the ? #1inchPortfolio – a super-tool that displays all your wallets on one screen.

Simple, right?

✅ Dive in at https://t.co/H4s7vUZhhu and see how easy life can be when everything’s under one digital roof!#1inch #DeFi pic.twitter.com/kXWRe2kq41

— 1inch Network (@1inch) November 16, 2023

According to the statement, the tool on one screen provides portfolio data and detailed analytics. Users can access information about crypto assets held in different wallets and pools across multiple networks without having to resort to several apps.

Sushi to test its own DeFi Bitcoin swaps

DEX Sushi announced a partnership with the interoperability-focused platform ZetaChain. It is envisaged that the integration will allow users to swap their Bitcoins across 30 networks.

ZetaChain operates as a Layer 1 blockchain and a platform for developers. The protocol enables “cost-efficient, efficient and secure” cross-chain transactions thanks to Omnichain-supported smart contracts.

One of ZetaChain’s features is support for the ZRC-20 standard. The solution is essentially an extended version of ERC-20, enabling deposit/withdrawal of various assets across multiple interconnected networks.

LidoDAO launches official version of wstETH on Base

The decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) Lido approved the deployment of Wrapped Staked Ether (wstETH) derivative token on Base.

Lido is on @BuildOnBase ?

You can now bridge your staked ETH to Base. https://t.co/JmmFeVwNnN pic.twitter.com/R9vN2XGs2g

— Lido (@LidoFinance) November 8, 2023

In October Kyberswap and Beefy Finance jointly launched an unofficial version of wstETH on the Coinbase-supported blockchain. The teams proposed that LidoDAO take over governance and ownership of the asset.

The community approved the decision, with 597 million votes in favour and 255 million against.

Opyn founders exit the crypto industry

The founders Zubin Koticha and Alexis Gauba made the decision to leave the crypto industry after regulatory measures against the project by the CFTC.

In September the regulator fined Opyn $250,000 for unregistered trading of derivatives and operating without a license as a trading platform.

According to Kotich, he and his partner entered the industry in 2017.

“Last six years we have been working on incredible things that would never have been possible in TradFi, innovations in structured products and derivatives. We thought we’d be in crypto for the rest of our lives. But, unfortunately and unexpectedly, this is the end of the road,” he wrote.

The project will continue to operate, and the post of CEO instead of Kotich at Opyn will be taken by the head of research Andrew Keone.

Also on ForkLog:

• dYdX Chain launched for beta testing on 33 markets.
• DEX-aggregator Jupiter will distribute an airdrop among 955,000 Solana wallets.
• Experts noted an increase in centralisation in the DeFi sector.
• PancakeSwap launched a gaming marketplace.