This Week in DeFi – May 21

To the DeFi community,

Coinbase released a new browser extension allowing Coinbase Wallet users to connect to and interact with DeFi and other web-based dapps, adding serious competition to a critical link in the crypto UX that has so far been dominated by Metamask and a few smaller players like MyEthereumWallet. Already one of the most essential services in the industry, Coinbase continues to expand rapidly and recently announced a sale of senior notes worth $1.25 billion to shore up funding after last month’s IPO.

 

Our browser extension for Coinbase Wallet is finally live!

Try it out to more easily access Defi apps and more https://t.co/1SZWXqgy2J https://t.co/VSM6sP6BX2

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) May 17, 2021

 

DeversiFi raised $5 million in a private funding round led by ParaFi Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners to bring the next iteration of the zkSTARK L2 exchange to life. While not outlined in the announcement, DeversiFi will likely use the funds to implement Phase 2 of their public roadmap, including rapid L2 withdrawals and new AMMs to strengthen their chosen L2 ecosystem.

1/ A big shout out to all the new DeversiFi community members, and supporters

Together, we’re about to show the world what it means to level up to Layer-2 ⬆️

💜 💜 💜 pic.twitter.com/HkEDhSxrjp

— DeversiFi 🥷 (@deversifi) May 18, 2021

 

Traditional accounting firm EY announced another huge investment in the blockchain and DeFi industries, unveiling new products to test and simulate the behavior of smart contracts on the Ethereum network. The rollout includes tools to test compliance and contract security, as well as continued contributions to research on zero-knowledge proofs and supply chain traceability systems.

Good first day for #ey Global Blockchain Summit. #hodltogether https://t.co/NnVs8jaO1E

— John Wolpert (@jwolpert) May 19, 2021

 

And the popular asset tracking dashboard Zapper raised $15 million in a funding round led by Framework Ventures and joined by funds representing Aston Kutcher and Mark Cuban. The added capital will be used to add additional integrations to the already robust Zapper platform in an effort to make DeFi less fragmented and early efforts to develop a revenue model for the growing DeFi tracking portal.

Announcing our $15M Series A, led by @hiFramework https://t.co/tHfpKytNOU pic.twitter.com/NcK2o1pLvT

— Zapper ⚡️ (@zapper_fi) May 17, 2021

 

So in a week where the charts show billions of dollars flowing out of DeFi and crypto markets, the smart money is investing as heavily as ever in bringing greater coordination, safety, and usability to the DeFi industry. Holding through a frightening drawdown is a rite of passage in the crypto arena, and there’s a good chance a big group of new entrants just had their first taste of the downside half of the industry’s legendary volatility.

What drives volatility? There are many factors, but the biggest factor is difficulty in assessing a fair value for the sea of digital assets that have been around just a few years, if that. For those paying attention, there is almost unfathomable value being developed among DeFi protocols, but they’re going to have to ride the bull (or bear) to see it realized. Don’t let go, and if you’re not already all-in, buy the dip! You’ll be glad you did.

Highest Yields: Fulcrum at 13.34% APY, Nexo Lend at 10% APY

Cheapest Loans: Compound at 6.06% APY, Aave at 7.24% APY

MakerDAO Updates

DAI Savings Rate: 0.00%

Base Fee: 0.00%

ETH Stability Fee: 5.50%

USDC Stability Fee: 0.00%

WBTC Stability Fee: 4.50%

Highest Yields: BlockFi at 10.00% APY, Nexo Lend at 10% APY

Cheapest Loans: Compound at 6.81% APY, dYdX at 9.46% APY

Coinbase moves onto Metamask’s turf.

BSC suffers largest exploit yet.

DeFiner is refunding gas with native tokens.

Tether is coming to the Avalanche network.

Loopring brings token launches to L2.

Total Value Locked: $66.59B (down -16.81% since last week)

DeFi Market Cap: $135.71B (up 2.32%)

DEX Weekly Volume: $41.1B (up 22.32%)

DAI Supply: 4.54B (down -6.39%)

Total DeFi Users: 2,498200 (up 5.6%)

[Owen Fernau – The Defiant] – DeFi Protocols Show Resilience in Stress Test

[Anthony Sassano – The Daily Gwei] – The Day After – The Daily Gwei #251

[Ryan Adams – Bankless] – Institutional Investors ❤️ DeFi

[Chris Powers – Dose of DeFi] – Over-collateralized lending powers DeFi’s growth

[Owen Fernau – The Defiant] – Yearn Finance Ecosystem Breakdown –– Pushing the Boundaries of Human Coordination