Weekly Report | PayPal Launches Dollar Stablecoin PYUSD; DAI Deposit Rate Increased to 8%
70% of the funds attacked from Curve have been recovered; which institutions are the most favored lead investors this year? Which institutions have made the most moves?Organizer: Biscuit, ChainCatcher
"What Important Events Happened This Week (8.7-8.13)"
1. PayPal Launches USD Stablecoin PYUSD
On August 7, PayPal Holdings Inc. announced the launch of its USD stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), for transfers and payments. The stablecoin is issued by Paxos Trust Co. and is fully backed by USD deposits, short-term government bonds, and similar cash equivalents, and will gradually be made available to PayPal's U.S. customers.
The PYUSD token contract address is 0x6c3e…A0e8 (Ethereum mainnet), and its code includes two functions: Freeze and wipeFrozenAddress. PayPal officials can freeze or unfreeze wallet addresses they deem malicious through centralized operations, and they can also wipe all assets from those addresses.
As of the publication date on August 13, a total of 26,905,005.66 PYUSD tokens had been issued, with 17 holding addresses. (Source link)
2. DAI Deposit Rate Increased to 8%, Lending Pool TVL Exceeds $1.2 Billion
According to the MakerDAO lending protocol Spark Protocol, the DAI Savings Rate (DSR) has been increased to 8%. As of the time of publication, the current TVL of the DAI pool has exceeded $1.2 billion.
MakerDAO founder Rune Christensen stated in a community post that immediate action should be taken to optimize the Enhanced DSR (EDSR) to ensure that this measure primarily benefits ordinary DAI holders rather than allowing ETH whales to benefit massively. He proposed changing the maximum EDSR from 8% to 5%, raising the borrowing rate to match the EDSR to eliminate arbitrage opportunities (initially reaching a minimum of 5%), and establishing a retroactive airdrop for Spark Protocol borrowers.
On-chain data shows that Justin Sun's two addresses have collectively mortgaged 231,116 stETH (worth $428 million) to mint 175.8 million DAI and deposit it into the DSR, accounting for approximately 15%. (Source link)
3. Curve: 70% of Funds Affected by Hacker Attack Have Been Recovered, Calculating Individual Shares for Affected Users
According to PeckShieldAlert monitoring, approximately $73.5 million worth of cryptocurrency was stolen from the Curve Reentrancy vulnerability on Ethereum. So far, about 73% (approximately $52.3 million) has been returned. The remaining $19.7 million worth of cryptocurrency on Ethereum has not yet been returned by the first Curve CRV-ETH exploit user (0xb752…b324).
The details of the returned funds are as follows: AlchemixFi returned all: $22 million (including 7,258 ETH + 4,821 alETH); Jpegd Frontrunner returned 90%: $11.5 million (equivalent to 5,495.4 WETH); Metronome ($1.6 million) + CRV pool ($5.3 million) returned by c0ffeebabe.eth: $7 million; Alchemix (white hat operation): $13 million.
Curve is actively investigating the remaining funds while calculating each affected user's individual share to ensure proper distribution of funds. Curve has also initiated a proposal for a new generation of stable liquidity pool, the Stableswap Pool, which will reduce fees by 4 basis points. This proposal opened for community voting on August 8 and will end on August 15, with the current approval rate at 100%.
Additionally, Binance Labs has committed to investing $5 million in Curve DAO tokens (CRV) as part of a collaboration, and Curve plans to deploy on the BNB Chain. (Source link)
4. Fantom Considering Integration of Optimistic Rollups to Connect to Ethereum
Andre Cronje, co-founder and architect of the Fantom Foundation, stated that Fantom is considering integrating Optimistic Rollup to connect Fantom to Ethereum.
Andre Cronje mentioned that if Fantom adopts Optimistic Rollup and provides a complete transaction history on Ethereum, then Fantom will need to pay transaction fees to write these snapshots to Ethereum. Fantom Foundation CEO Michael Kong added that implementing Layer 2 technology in this way would allow the Fantom network to gain more liquidity from the Ethereum ecosystem. (Source link)
5. Base Mainnet Officially Open to the Public, TVL Surpasses $100 Million
Coinbase's Layer 2 network Base mainnet is officially open to the public, and the Base ecosystem currently has over 100 dapps and service providers. Prior to this release, developers and users had already transferred assets worth over $100 million to the network. Jesse Pollak, head of Coinbase's protocol, stated that compared to Ethereum, users can access these dapps with lower transaction fees and faster transaction speeds.
Dune Analytics data shows that on August 10, the daily active users of the Base mainnet exceeded 100,000 for the first time. According to L2BEAT data, the total locked value of Coinbase's Layer 2 network Base mainnet has surpassed $100 million, reaching $111 million, with a 7-day increase of 473.39%. (Source link)
6. Temasek, Sequoia Capital, SoftBank, and 18 Other FTX Investment Institutions Listed as Defendants in Class Action Lawsuit
Temasek, Sequoia Capital, SoftBank, and 18 other FTX investment institutions have been named as defendants in a class action lawsuit filed in Miami due to their association with the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The plaintiffs claim that these investment firms are responsible for "aiding and abetting" FTX's fraud. The plaintiffs pointed out that the FTX cryptocurrency exchange violated multiple securities laws and misappropriated customer funds, while the defendants claimed they had completed due diligence. (Source link)
7. Saddle Finance to Cease Operations and Liquidate Funds; Hundred Finance to Shut Down and Distribute Treasury Assets
The Ethereum-based stablecoin trading platform Saddle Finance is ceasing operations and will liquidate funds to distribute to investors. Saddle's founder, Sunil Srivatsa, proposed on Tuesday to liquidate its treasury's ARB tokens and airdrop the proceeds to holders of Saddle's SDL and veSDL tokens. It is currently unclear how much funding is in the Saddle treasury. Sunil Srivatsa stated that the previous Curve hacking incident reminded the Saddle team of the ever-present threat of exploitable vulnerabilities, and the protocol's developers need to exit the project by September 30, 2023.
The cross-chain lending protocol Hundred Finance tweeted that it would cease protocol operations based on the results of the "April attack incident handling plan" community vote. Other contents of the proposal include distributing treasury assets to victims, publicly auctioning held NFTs, and distributing funds. Previously, Hundred Finance was hacked on Optimism, with estimated losses of about $7 million.
8. Data
- ETH staking amount exceeds 27.12 million, setting a new record
- Huobi platform saw a net outflow of $140 million in the past week
- The official price of the Solana phone Saga dropped from $1,000 to $599
- Funding for Web3 games surged to $297 million in July, with 63% allocated for infrastructure development
- Total locked value of Ethereum Layer 2 is $10.52 billion, with a 7-day decline of 0.66%
- Aave's native stablecoin GHO issuance surpassed 18 million, with a 74% increase in the past week
- CRV inflation rate will decrease by 15.9% today, with daily release amount reduced to approximately 448,000
- FTX-related addresses deposited 1,580 WBTC into Bitfine, approximately $46.5 million
"What Great Articles Are Worth Reading This Week (8.7-8.13)"
For venture capital firms, the number of investments is one of the important metrics for measuring their activity, while leading investments are a core element in assessing their financial strength and conviction, crucial for driving project development. In this article, RootData will compile statistics on the number of investments and leading investments made by venture capital firms this year based on its database to help readers better understand the current state of crypto venture capital.
2. "The Stablecoin Landscape is Stirring Again: Unveiling Payment Giant Paypal's New Member PYUSD"
As the first compliant stablecoin issued by a "non-crypto" company, the emergence of PYUSD holds significant symbolic meaning. It represents the traditional financial industry's further exploration of cryptocurrencies and signifies a notable shift in corporate attitudes toward stablecoins, suggesting an increasing acceptance of regulatory policies.
Bringing U.S. Treasury bonds on-chain is no easy task. We might start by looking at the most representative and relatively easier-to-standardize U.S. Treasury bonds to understand the process and real-world obstacles of achieving RWA, as well as how players in this track are innovating to lower user entry barriers and increase liquidity.
4. "Bankless Co-Founder: Crypto is Entering its Last Cycle Before Maturity"
If you look closely, you'll notice some signs indicating that cryptocurrencies are entering their last market cycle, after which they will enter a long-term era of maturity, stability, and growth.
One perspective in the crypto space suggests that "the next cycle will be the last cycle." This has been mentioned before, and I do not intend to make a definitive prediction. I am merely connecting some points in the crypto space that point to a new phase in the crypto market after the bear market ends. Now, let's delve deeper.
5. "Interview with Paradigm's Research Director: How Will DeFi 2.0 Change Everything?"
Dan emphasized the importance of research on decentralized trading, particularly how to reduce value leakage from the system. He mentioned three main types of MEV: EIP-559 burning, hedging and rebalancing losses, and price changes before and after trades.
To achieve simplicity, seamlessness, and complete abstraction, the Lightning Network still has a long way to go. There are still many edge cases, and non-custodial users have not yet enjoyed the ultimate user experience. However, many issues have already been resolved, and more will be addressed in the coming years. Since the lightning has arrived, how far can the thunder be?
7. "Overview of the 2023 Korea Blockchain Week (KBW) Official and Peripheral Events (9.1-9.10)"
The 6th Korea Blockchain Week (KBW) will be held in early September in Seoul, South Korea. As one of Asia's most influential blockchain events, in addition to the three main activities, Web3 projects, investment institutions, media, and others have organized dozens of peripheral activities in Seoul, including hackathons, lightning talks, and panel discussions. ChainCatcher has compiled all the activities currently disclosed by the official sources.
The original article comes from Crypto Leaks, an investigative company that exposes scandals in the crypto industry. Their first two cases were about the price manipulation of ICP by capital and malicious short-selling. This article focuses on the fallen "white knight" SBF. Crypto Leaks believes that the ICP token was clearly manipulated before and after its listing based on the market doubts and conditions at that time. As the "spokesperson" for Solana, which was extremely popular in 2021, SBF had both the motive and the ability to destroy the largest competitor, the IC network (however, there is no substantial evidence, and there will not be in the future). The publication date was June 9, 2022, and FTX's collapse occurred in November 2022. The translator made slight edits.
9. ["The CEO of 'Fat Penguin' Writes a Long Article: Six Key Points for NFT Development"]
On August 5, Twitter KOL Gary posted that investors should realize that the commercial expansion of PFP NFTs will only help project parties generate revenue but will not bring any benefits to holders, and therefore PFPs should not be viewed as stocks.
In response, Luca Netz, CEO of the NFT project "Fat Penguin" (Pudgy Penguins), published a long article to refute this. In the article, Luca Netz systematically elaborated on the importance of brand commercialization for the development of NFT projects from six perspectives, including explaining through a "funnel" model how profits will ultimately flow to NFT holders and using supply and demand relationships to explain why some blue-chip NFT projects may gradually go to zero.
