The decentralized finance (DeFi) sector continues to attract heightened attention from cryptocurrency investors. ForkLog has compiled the most important events and news of the past weeks in this digest.
Key metrics of the DeFi segment
The total value locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols fell to $55.14 billion. The leader is MakerDAO with $7.32 billion, while second and third place are held by Lido ($6.03 billion) and Curve ($5.7 billion) respectively.
TVL in Ethereum applications fell to $31.76 billion. Over the last 30 days the figure fell by 10% (the figure on 24 August was $35.15 billion).
Trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEX) over the past 30 days amounted to $47.6 billion.
Uniswap continues to dominate the non-custodial exchange market — accounting for 69.4% of total trading volume. The second DEX by trading volume is Curve (11.5%), the third is DODO (7.6%).
Infura team to launch a decentralized infrastructure network
The Ethereum infrastructure solutions provider — Infura — will launch a decentralized protocol with open source. It is designed to provide uninterrupted access for users to Web3 applications and to remove a single point of failure.
Working title for the project is Decentralized Infrastructure Network (the decentralized infrastructure network). The protocol will complement, but not replace, Infura’s existing products. Its launch is planned for the first half of 2023.
“A decentralized protocol is a community of highly active infrastructure providers and open-source ecosystem participants who together can overcome the market’s existing constraints,” the press release says.
ConsenSys CEO Joseph Lubin said the project’s launch is a natural evolution for the platform.
CFTC files first-ever suit against a DAO and its participants
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Ooki DAO, established in 2021 to govern the DeFi platform bZx, as well as holders of its tokens.
The CFTC described Ooki DAO as an association without corporate status, consisting of Ooki token holders.
The agency charged the defendants with unlawfully offering exchange-traded products using borrowed funds and violating the Bank Secrecy Act for lack of KYC.
The agency’s interest in the DAO and its participants arose in tandem with the settlement of claims against bZeroX and its founders — Kyle Kisner and Tom Bean — who built and maintained the bZx protocol up to the governance-distribution decision.
The developers paid a $250,000 penalty, but did not admit or contest the Commission’s findings.
DeFi project Compound launches lending service for institutional investors
Compound Labs, the developer behind the eponymous lending project, announced the launch of a lending service for institutional investors.
The solution built on the protocol powers the Compound Treasury unit. Firms and financial institutions can borrow in the US dollar and the stablecoin USDC against digital assets as collateral.
Collateral can include Bitcoin, Ethereum and ERC-20 tokens supported by the platform.
According to the statement, loans are issued with no fixed maturities or repayment schedules, at rates starting from 6% per annum. Clients will be able to use the liquidity at their discretion as long as the collateral remains sufficient, the company noted.
In June, Compound Treasury rolled out an institutional cash-management solution based on the protocol. Users can earn yields on USD and USDC up to 4% per year.
The company stressed that liquidity for the lending service is provided by both Compound Treasury’s clients and the Compound Protocol with assets valued at more than $3 billion.
Also on ForkLog:
- The Cream Finance hacker converted the stolen $1.75 million into bitcoins.
- The DeFi protocol Hxro launched USDC-collateralized futures.
- The trader used the decentralized exchange GMX to manipulate the price of AVAX.
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