The slew of blockchains released over the past year has left most DeFi denizens apathetic to new launches. There was Aptos, Sei, and Sui, not to mention about half a dozen new Ethereum layer 2s.
Celestia, another contender, just announced it's ready to join the fray.
If you've been an active user on one of Ethereum's many layer 2 networks, you may still be eligible for an airdrop of its TIA token if you haven't been paying attention to Celestia.
Token Airdrops have proven themselves as a great way to bootstrap users and liquidity - look no further than the top layer 2 Arbitrum. Celestia has a better shot than most because it concentrates on something unique: modularity.
In contrast to just one blockchain doing everything, Celestia uses interconnected modules that are each responsible for specific functions.
Celestia said this specialization offers breakthroughs in scalability, flexibility, and interoperability. The arrest of Su Zhu, who was arrested last week by Three Arrows Capital, offers a few lessons.
Among them: Go on a soul-searching trip to Bali and then spinning up another crypto business isn't enough to shirk responsibility for the collapse of your $3 billion trading firm.
Zhu's arrest in Singapore had a substantial impact on his latest venture, OPNX, a crypto exchange that allows users to buy and sell debt claims for FTX, Voyager, and Three Arrows Capital. It's true, OX crashed over 44% on the news and shows little sign of recovery.
On the bright side, those who lost money lending to Three Arrows Capital may have a better chance at getting some of it back now, Zhu is being forced to cooperate with liquidators.
Singapore authorities have also issued an arrest warrant for Kyle Davies, the other co-founder of Three Arrows. He was last seen in Dubai last night, where he planned to open a restaurant focusing on chicken-based cuisine.
Lastly, Avan-Nomayo wrote up another story about DAO rage quitting, this time at Jade Protocol.
Rage quitting among DeFi protocols is becoming more common.
There are dozen of DAOs who raised funds, often by selling tokens, trying to make something work, but failed. tokenholders are now voting to dissolve what's left to recoup some of their losses.
I expect the DAO rage to continue. There are still many DAOs in similar positions, and with increased competition for a declining pool of blockchain-based liquidity, it's going to get harder for many projects to justify burning investors' cash.
As long as token holders have the motivation to keep their team members accountable, tokenholders will continue to hold them accountable.
In 2023, crypto projects have airdropped users a whopping $2.2 billion worth of tokens.
Airdrops have not only become a way for projects to acquire users and cut out middlemen, but also to efficiently decentralise ownership.
Banteg, the developer behind Yearn Finance, has created a heat map of over 2.1 billion native Ether transfers.
Underneath the noise are transfer patterns that visualise liquidation cascades and likely Sybil attacks over the past seven years of Ethereum activity.
The purple hue of Banteg's chart makes it more mesmerizing, and shows how, with the right approach, data doesn't have to be soulless and dry - it can be beautiful, too.
FTX's bankruptcy case entered a new stage last week, when the courts gave the defunct exchange the go-ahead to liquidate its crypto holdings.
But former customers are increasingly worried that FTX's new management may try to claw back funds from those who exited the exchange in the 90 days before its collapse.
While the precedent set in the liquidation of crypto lender BlockFi may be protected by those who withdrew less than $250,000 or are based outside the US, it is possible that the precedent established in BlockFi may protect those who withdrew less than $250,000.
Tim Craig, a DeFi Correspondent at DL News, is based in Edinburgh. Tim holds over $1,500 in Ether, Swell staked Ether, Redacted Cartel, and GMX. He also holds an insignificant amount in NFTs.