Decentralized finance (DeFi) was the talk of the town in early 2021, but it has since taken a back seat to more appealing sectors like nonfungible tokens (NFTs), memecoins and blockchain gaming. Now that cross-chain bridges and interoperability have allowed for the easier migration of assets to competing chains, a new class of DeFi protocols is arising to challenge those left from 2021. Here’s a look at three DeFi projects that have launched on some of the up-and-coming layer-1 blockchain networks, catching the eye of the crypto community. VVS Finance VVS Finance is the largest DeFi protocol on the Cronos …

Ethereum (ETH) and decentralized finance (DeFi) are undergoing a seismic shift as the transition to Eth2 and a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism is helping to increase the value proposition for the network which has historically has been plagued with scaling issues and high transaction costs. Alongside this transition has been the introduction of liquid staking, which is helping to add utility to DeFi and giving investors the option to do more with their assets than just lock them up indefinitely. Liquid staking could also help investors build more capital efficient portfolios. One protocol that has benefited from the shift toward liquid …

With blockchain networks and their relevant decentralized applications (DApps) growing at a rapid pace, there comes the question of interoperability. If a user on Ethereum (ETH) wants to use a DApp on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), there’s no fast, cheap way to do so. Instead, the process is expensive, time-consuming, and inaccessible to new cryptocurrencies. Considering the blockchain space is meant to be one that’s open and accessible to all, its current lack of interoperability is a massive barrier standing in the way of widespread adoption. Fortunately, there are crypto projects that recognize the importance of cross-chain interaction and …

One of the most significant transitions to occur for the cryptocurrency ecosystem since the launch of Bitcoin (BTC) has been the increasing dominance of proof-of-stake (PoS) protocols over the proof-of-work (PoW) model, primarily due to energy requirements of the PoW model and growing concern over its environmental impact. As more projects launch or transition to the PoS model, a new class of protocols have emerged that are focused on offering liquid staking options that allow token holders to tap into the value held in their staked tokens while still earning a yield for locking their assets on the network. pStake …

Analysts and pundits will scramble to find some angle to explain intra-day price action whenever important economic numbers are published and this practice is commonplace in the crypto sector. When the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 7.5% increase in the consumer price index (CPI) on Feb. 10, traders rushed to find some connection to the crypto price action. However, historical correlation data shows investors should actually closely scrutinize whether there is even a relation between Bitcoin (BTC) and major economic indicators. General investment advice would suggest that traders ignore the intraday movements, especially considering that most assets …

The ongoing drama between two projects built on the Cardano (ADA) blockchain escalated across multiple social media platforms Monday, much to the dismay of the ADA community. The issues began in April when accelerator program CardStarter announced it would launch its own decentralized exchange or DEX. Shortly thereafter, its founders incentivized investors to provide liquidity for the project on Uniswap in exchange for native CSWAP tokens. The platform's developers landed an agreement with a third-party DEX called SundaeSwap sometime later, marketing the deal as a "merger" last June. As per the agreement, CardStarter would no longer develop its promised DEX, …

Fees.wtf is a simple service that shows Ether (ETH) users their lifetime spend on Ethereum blockchain transactions by measuring gas. You plug in your wallet address on their website and they tell me how much gas you spent. The project released their token, WTF, in an airdrop Friday at midnight. Essentially, users would be able to claim WTF tokens as well as a “Rekt” NFT for 0.01 ETH. The Rekt NFT grants lifetime access to the pro version of fees.wtf. According to their Discord announcement, the initial launch would offer 100 million of WTF and the “circulating supply will be …

Launched in 2019, Bifrost has been focusing on developing a parachain for liquidity’s staking. Tyrone Pan, Bifrost product manager, talked to Cointelegraph about liquidity release solutions and why they are important for efficient and secure staking. What’s staking liquidity and why did you decide to take your company in that direction? Nowadays, the proof-of-concept (PoC) consensus mechanism is dominating the blockchain world. Most proof-of-stake (PoS) public chains require validators or full nodes in the network to stake part of the token, ensuring that the blockchain can operate safely. According to the Staking Rewards data, the average staking rate of PoS …

Decentralized finance (DeFi) liquidity provider WOO Network has secured additional funds in a Series A funding round. Incubated by quantitative trading heavyweight Kronos Research, WOO Network has pocketed an additional $12 million strategic investment in a a Series A+ funding round led by Binance Labs. The fresh funding, announced by Binance Labs on Tuesday, builds upon WOO Network’s $30 million Series A funding round. WOO Network is known for adding liquidity to tens of institutions, exchanges, trading teams, wallets and decentralized applications. DYDX, Matcha, ParaSwap, 1inch and DODO are the primary protocols supported by the DeFi platform. WOO claims to …

Rocket Pool, a decentralized Ethereum 2.0 staking platform has surpassed $350 million worth of total value locked (TVL) within five weeks of its official launch. The project aims to remove the barriers to entry for Eth2 stakers and node operators. It allows any user to run a node for 16 ETH ($59,000), which is half of the 32 ETH ($119,000) required in the Eth2 deposit contract. Users with as little as 0.01 ETH can also stake their funds and receive yield. According to data from DefiLlama, Rocket Pool has surged up the decentralized finance (DeFi) staking platform rankings to sit …

The growth of the stablecoin sector within crypto has been one of the most impactful developments of 2021. In particular, stablecoins became integral to the expanding decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem as their total value eclipsed $162 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. One project that has seen its token price surge thanks to its focus on stablecoins and the Curve Finance (CRV) ecosystem is Convex Finance (CVX), a protocol that aims to help users boost CRV staking to maximize yields. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since hitting a low of $18.79 on Dec. 4, the price of CVX …

In glad tidings for an orange Christmas, Bitcoin (BTC) supply is drying up to lows not seen for years. In a recent tweet by CryptoRank, just 6.3% of the total Bitcoin supply, or 1.3 million BTC, is held on cryptocurrency exchanges. The decreasing supply is nothing new, trending down since the Bitcoin halving in 2020 when the BTC block reward was cut in two. BTC availability on exchanges followed suit, slowly trending down over the past year. Exchange wallets accounted for 9.5% of the BTC supply in October 2020, just before the 2020 Christmas all-time highs, and 7.3% in July …