Degen Edition 2 - unshETH
Since the Beacon Chain launch in Dec 2020, Ethereum users could stake bundles of 32 ETH to secure the network in exchange for priority fee rewards. While these staked ETH[1] are ‘productive,’ many have opted against staking given its operational complexity and illiquidity. Liquid staking projects solve for this by managing validator uptime and offering liquid staking derivatives (LSDs) to stakers. However, most of LSDs today are congregated amongst the top few protocols. Lido, Coinbase and Rocket Pool occupy 95% of LSD market share, compromising on the decentralization ethos of crypto.
Given the myriad of LSDs coming onto market, DeFi protocols are also faced with the challenge of integrating multiple LSDs on their platforms. This generates friction for the developers and to end users who want exposure to an aggregate of staked ETH yields instead of periodically swapping between LSDs in search of the best yields. As a result of these pain points, we believe there is a market demand for an LSD aggregator to solve for this. Similar to how Wrapped Ethereum ($WETH) and Wrapped Bitcoin ($WBTC) serve as the bedrock of ETH and BTC in DeFi, unshETH can be the equivalent for staked versions of ETH.
Figure: ET...Reports you may have missed
FIGURE: PEPE CROSSING BRIDGES TO EXPLORE ALTERNATE LAYER 1S / LAYER 2S Although ETH remains the dominant Layer 1 for most on-chain activity, alternate Layer 1s have demonstrated product-market fit throughout the bull market run of ‘20/’21. Solana (SOL -1.07% ) emerged as the ‘high-throughput chain’ focused on complex DeFi / gaming, BNB Chain (BNB) offers easy fiat on/off-ramps through Binance CEX, while Avalanche (AVAX) and Cosmos (ATOM 7.52% ) are building application-specific blockchains...
FIGURE: GHO LAUNCHING AMIDST THE BLOWUPS AROUND IT Seeing the CeFi realm blowing up around us, it is perhaps pertinent to reflect and hammer the lessons into our collective crypto consciousness. Drawing from CeFi, DeFi and Everything in Between, it is clear now that Celsius, BlockFi, and Voyager Digital function as ‘CeDeFi,’ similarly to TradFi banking entities and are prone to the same weaknesses such as position opacity and human...
