Author: Gryphsis Academy

Market and Industry Snapshot:

Layer 2 Overview:

Last week, Layer 2 showed an upward trend except for zkSync Era and Starknet, with Base experiencing the most significant decline of 3.33%, while zkSync Era grew by 5.09%. Protocols like XY Finance, DODO, Harvest Finance, ICHI, and StarkDeFi demonstrated notable TVL growth percentages.

LSD Sector Overview:

In the LSD sector, both Ethereum deposits and total withdrawals saw slight increases. In terms of market share, blue-chip LSDs experienced declines, with swETH showing the most significant drop of 17.09% this week.

RWA Sector Overview:

Last week, the market capitalization of global real-world assets decreased by 4.91%, but the 24-hour trading volume saw a significant increase of 126.58%. The tokenized treasury saw a slight decline, while the value of tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds increased by 1.89%. Notable growth tokens include $DETF, $MZERO, and $RIO. Tokens like $TOKEN, $CTC, and $BRTR experienced significant losses.

Main Topics

Macroeconomic Overview:

• US Stock V.S. Crypto

Major Events This Week:

• SEC has posted the final Bitcoin ETF application filings.

Weekly Protocol Recommendation:

• SolMash

Weekly VC Investment Focus:

• PowerPod($1M)
• BracketX($2M)
• EZswap($1M)

Twitter Alpha:

• @Haylesdefi on RWA
• @0xAndrewMoh on Cakepie
• @0xDefiLeo on Sui
• @0xAndrewMoh on Sei
• @wist_defi on Metis

Macroeconomic Overview

This week, the stock market showed weaker fluctuations compared to the crypto industry, with SPX and NASDAQ increasing by 1.51% and decreasing by 3.09%, respectively. In the coming week, major events to watch include the 10-year Treasury auction, core CPI, initial jobless claims, federal budget balance, and GDP.

Major Events This Week

SEC Releases Final Bitcoin ETF Application Filings

The U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) seems poised for launch, as the exchanges set to list have submitted amended filings, expecting the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to approve them in the coming days.

Amended 19b-4 filings from representatives like BlackRock, Grayscale, Fidelity, and other issuers have joined last month's amended S-1 filings, addressing feedback from the SEC. There are over a dozen applicants hoping to launch the first spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S., and multiple issuers are likely to be approved simultaneously.

Two individuals from different issuers told CoinDesk on Thursday that their companies expect to receive approval sometime next week. One person mentioned that submitting amendments does not guarantee approval but expressed optimism. The final deadline for SEC action on at least one application is January 10, indicating that the regulator may approve all suitable final applications before that date.

Grayscale spokesperson Jennifer Rosenthal stated in a release, "This is an important step in upgrading GBTC to a spot Bitcoin ETF," referring to the company's desire to convert its Bitcoin trust into an ETF. "At Grayscale, we continue to work with the SEC, and once we receive regulatory approval, we will be ready to operate GBTC as an ETF." Earlier this Friday, Bloomberg reported that SEC commissioners "are expected to vote on the trading rule submissions next week." Before the ETF launch, the regulator needs to approve the 19b-4 and S-1 filings.

https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/01/05/final-bitcoin-etf-application-filings-get-posted-by-major-us-exchanges/

Weekly Protocol Recommendation

Welcome to our weekly protocol segment—here, we focus on protocols making waves in the crypto space. This week, we selected SolMash, a Launch Pad platform spanning the BRC ecosystem and the SOL ecosystem.

SolMash is a native inscription Launch Pad on Solana, focused on bringing BRC-20 inscriptions and ordinals to the Solana ecosystem. Projects will be able to easily and quickly launch inscriptions and connect with KOLs and communities for success. SolMash is not just an inscription minting platform; it aims to create a new launch model that provides retail investors with the same advantages typically reserved for institutional investors and encourages projects to think long-term.

The first launch project on SolMash, SoBit, gained significant attention, with the $SOBB whitelist achieving a maximum return of 20,000U for a 200U investment. Many $mash token issuances on SolMash will be combined with SoBit's token $SOBB.

Its native token, $MASH, is the governance token of the protocol, with a supply cap of 100M. $MASH will serve as the governance token for the platform, with a total supply of 100 million $MASH. The protocol divides $MASH into three distinct rounds: staking round, whitelist round, and "HonestPool" round, with a total issuance fund of $570,000 expected to be raised from the community.

• 57% public issuance (30% whitelist, 17% HonestPool, 10% staking pool)
• 3% staking pool rewards
• 16% treasury
• 12% private donations
• 7% liquidity
• 5% team locked for 6 months and linear unlocking over 18 months

Round 1: Staking Round

This round will start on January 6, 2024, at 14:00 UTC, aiming to raise $100,000. Community members can stake $SOBB to earn $MASH, utilizing a dynamic allocation system that adjusts the allocation of $MASH based on the final total staked $SOBB to ensure fair distribution. At the end of the staking period, the system will automatically deduct the corresponding amount of $SOBB from stakers in exchange for $MASH whitelist, consistent with the designated whitelist quota of the staking pool. The allocation formula is: {individual staking amount} / {total pool staking amount} * {current allocation amount}.

For example, if User A stakes $10,000 of $SOBB in a $1,000,000 pool, their allocation would be {10,000}/{1,000,000} * 1,000,000 = $10,000 of $MASH.

Round 2: Whitelist Round

The whitelist round is scheduled to start on January 8, 2024, at 08:00 UTC and end at 14:00 UTC. The goal for this round is to raise $300,000 within the time frame. In this round, whitelisted donors will purchase tickets representing their position. Each ticket represents 10,000 $MASH. This round will offer $30,000,000 of $MASH.

Additionally, community members will be able to use $SOBB to purchase whitelist tickets. In the total token amount for this round, 22 million $MASH will be allocated to influencers and whales who will significantly enhance project visibility, as well as early community builders. The remainder will be allocated to ambassadors, active community members, marketing campaign winners, and others.

Round 3: Honest Pool Round

This round will begin on January 8, 2024, at 08:00 UTC and end at 14:00 UTC. The aim is to raise $170,000 through $SOBB or $SOL, with a total of 17 million $MASH available. Participants in the Honest Pool have no quantity or amount restrictions. From all entries, 1,700 lucky winners will be randomly selected using a trusted VRF Oracle, with each winner receiving one ticket. If the mining pool does not reach its allocation limit by the end, the remaining allocation will enter the Honest Pool and be distributed in the same manner.

Regardless of whether users are selected as winners, an additional 10% fee will not be refunded. All fees collected will be used for DEX liquidity. The lottery process ensures fairness and transparency, and the handling fees help prevent large account registrations from monopolizing winning slots, ensuring all participants have a fair chance.

SolMash is born with a golden spoon, deeply collaborating with SoBit, founded by Solana's founder & OKX's Ming Nai; as the first Fair Launch platform in the Solana ecosystem, it is backed by the Solana ecosystem; with endorsements from Europe and America, and an American team, it is most likely to attract Silicon Valley's hot money for new coins. Overall, SolMash stands out as a new infrastructure platform in the Solana ecosystem, carrying Solana's ambitions.

Our Insights

The inscription craze is spreading from the Bitcoin ecosystem to other chains, and Solana, with its stable system performance, has not only become the leading ecosystem in the DePIN sector but is also standing out among various on-chain ecosystems due to SOL's strong performance and meme sentiment, becoming the most promising new battlefield in the inscription sector.

On the other hand, active users in the Solana ecosystem are reaching new highs. As of December 25, 2023, the number of monthly active addresses on the Solana network surpassed 15.6 million, an increase of about 50% from November, exceeding 15.2 million in January 2023, with 6.8 million new addresses added in December 2023, higher than 6.6 million in May of the same year.

Although the Solana ecosystem has seen significant growth in this wave, there have not been any inscription projects with sustained value on Solana, primarily due to a lack of infrastructure capable of building a value foundation for inscription assets. From the development trends in the inscription sector, the infrastructure track will become the core of the next wave of inscriptions, and some early inscription facilities have already achieved good market performance, such as MultiBit, which has surpassed a market value of $200 million, allowing many investors to gain over a hundredfold returns; the cross-chain bridge SoBit linking the Solana ecosystem with BRC20 assets saw its $SOBB token rise over 300 times shortly after its "Fair Launch." Additionally, similar projects like Turtsat have also shown remarkable performance and are considered "golden shovels" in the early development of the inscription LaunchPad field.

The Solana inscription infrastructure sector is still in a window period, so projects like Solmash that initiate inscription asset launch versions also have the potential to become a golden shovel on Solana, presenting enormous opportunities and the potential to grow into a billion-dollar inscription market. Therefore, there are high expectations for the upcoming "Fair Launch" of the $mash token, with a general belief that its market performance, closely related to $SOBB, is likely to start at over a hundredfold.

Weekly VC Investment Focus

Welcome to our weekly investment focus, where we reveal the most significant venture capital dynamics in the crypto space. Each week, we will highlight the protocols that have received the most funding.

PowerPod

PowerPod is a shared electric vehicle charging network that enables users to charge intelligently and use their charging stations more efficiently. Each participant receives positive incentives and brings greater value to the network through technological advancements. At its core, PowerPod aims to provide a reliable and easily accessible charging network for electric vehicles at various locations.

https://x.com/PowerPod_People/status/1742848343615693306?s=20

BracketX

Bracket Labs' mission is to democratize financial products and introduce on-chain innovative products in volatile trading. Team members have extensive backgrounds in both the cryptocurrency and traditional finance sectors, having worked for several well-known companies, including D.E Shaw, Merrill, Barclays, Bloomberg, Consensys, and DeerCreek.

https://x.com/Bracket_Labs_/status/1743096399540179368?s=20

EZswap

EZ Swap is an NFT DEX and inscription marketplace. By leveraging automated market maker (AMM) mechanisms, EZ Swap provides a seamless and efficient trading environment directly integrated with games. This not only revolutionizes the trading and utilization of gaming assets but also opens new avenues for gamers and developers, enhancing the overall gaming experience.

https://x.com/Alexpfeth/status/1743046882253754426?s=20

Protocol Events

dYdX publishes post-mortem on $9 million November attack

Huobi Korea shuts down platform citing business difficulties

Klaytn onboards gold RWA DeFi platform

Orbit Chain's hacked funds 'remain unmoved' following $81 million exploit

Radiant Capital reportedly hacked for $4.5 million worth of ETH

Industry Updates

South Korea proposes ban on credit card payments for crypto

Nasdaq to meet with SEC today to discuss spot bitcoin ETFs: Source

Coinbase shares slip 20% into the new year as price of bitcoin seesaws

Crypto phishing attacks drained nearly $300 million in 2023: Scam Sniffer

Crypto exchange volume cracks $1 trillion for first time since late 2022

Twitter Alpha

There is a wealth of Alpha in crypto Twitter, but navigating through thousands of tweet threads can be challenging. Each week, we spend hours researching to curate insightful threads and compile a weekly selection for you. Let's dive in!

https://x.com/Haylesdefi/status/1742867779970023592?s=20

https://x.com/0xAndrewMoh/status/1743079550396067996?s=20

https://x.com/0xDefiLeo/status/1743038523605971247?s=20

https://x.com/0xAndrewMoh/status/1742852174215090661?s=20

https://x.com/wist_defi/status/1742926230364840268?s=20

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