Market Overview

Global Staking industry small setback along the overall staking market
Avalanche gaining back staking momentum after last weeks setback
NEAR over $700M Net Staking Outflow

Highlights of the Week

LooksRare on track to take over massive userbase from OpenSea with over $20M daily trading fees being paid to stakers (954%+ APR)
Cardano launched it’s very first DeFi platform with $1M TVL
Testnet Release of the native Liquid Staking Module on Cosmos-SDK

Staking at a Glance

Staking Intelligence

Global Staking Research

A16z Publishes Web 3 Policy Proposal for World Leaders
These principles developed by, a16Z, were developed to encourage world leaders to utilize in the shaping the future of web3.
https://a16z.com/2022/01/07/how-to-build-a-better-internet-10-principles-for-world-leaders-shaping-the-future-of-web3/

Vitalik Buterin Suggests a New Fee Structure for the Ethereum Network
The Ethereum founder and PoS champion, has suggested no structure for user fees on the Ethereum network
https://ethresear.ch/t/multidimensional-eip-1559/11651

Staking Assets

OpenSea gets a worthy competitor with super decentralized NFT marketplace: LooksRare
LooksRare trading volume hits over $100 million a day after launch. Currently the platform generates around $20M fees daily, that are being distributed to $RARE stakers
https://twitter.com/LooksRareNFT/status/1480462184295858180?s=20
https://looksrare.org/rewards

AXS Dips Following Axie Infinity’s Staking Rewards Reduction
$AXS staking rewards have been reduced from 2,000,000 per month to 1,566,000 per month, according to the schedule in the whitepaper.
https://twitter.com/AxieInfinity/status/1478688703560105984?s=20

https://whitepaper.axieinfinity.com/axs/allocations-and-unlock/staking-rewards

Pocket Network Raises $10M to Expand Node Infrastructure:
Pocket Network has closed a $10 million strategic round led by Republic Capital, RockTree Capital, Arrington Capital, and C² Ventures.
https://cryptobriefing.com/pocket-network-raises-10m-expand-node-infrastructure/

As Ethereum Dominates DeFi TVL, Convex Finance becomes the 2nd largest DeFi protocol with over $20B in TVL
The protocol allows users to earn fees without locking Curve’s native tokens, a feature that has helped attract billions of dollars in capital. Stakers can convert their CRV to cvxCRV and stake the cvxCRV, which earns the usual rewards from veCRV (3crv governance fee distribution from Curve + any airdrop), plus a share of 10% of the Convex LPs’ boosted CRV earnings and CVX tokens on top of that.
https://defillama.com/protocol/curve
https://defillama.com/protocol/convex-finance
https://twitter.com/DefiMoon/status/1478535044927045634?s=20

ICE and SNOW — ICON’s Entry Into the Polkadot Ecosystem
As a Substrate-based chain, ICE will be able to plug directly into the Polkadot ecosystem as an EVM-compatible and BTP-optimized application chain
https://medium.com/helloiconworld/ice-and-snow-icons-entry-into-the-polkadot-ecosystem-515afe80c58d

BitSong Launches First Liquidity Mining Incentive Programs on Osmosis
BitSong has announced that they have launched the first incentive program for $BTSG liquidity providers on the Osmosis decentralized exchange, You can now earn rewards in $BTSG token
https://bitsongofficial.medium.com/bitsong-launches-first-liquidity-mining-incentive-programs-on-osmosis-6ea24a0502e9

Cardano ($ADA) ecosystem has launched The network’s first DeFi platform, MuesliSwap, which now has over $1 million in total value locked.
MuesliSwap is a decentralized exchange with launchpad functionalities that has also been launched on top of the Bitcoin Cash blockchain. The platform is not available on either Ethereum or the Binance Smart Chain, two of the largest DeFi platforms by total value locked.
https://defillama.com/chain/Cardano

Illuvium Team Drains sILV Uniswap Pool in Bid to Prevent Exploit Cash-Out
Illuvium has found a vulnerability in our staking contracts, and as such, the eDAO has put a temporary pause on $sILV minting. The attack vector has been closed, and luckily no funds have been compromised.
https://twitter.com/illuviumio/status/1478191824556621825?

Fantom Transactions Surge Ahead of Avalanche as DeFi Prospects Heat Up
This is occurring as opportunistic capital moves over to “yield farm” on Fantom with high returns on stablecoin deposits, analysts note.
https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/01/07/fantom-transactions-surge-ahead-of-avalanche-as-defi-prospects-heat-up/

Fantom, Harmony, And Osmosis Note Healthy DeFi TVL Growth Despite Bearish Markets
https://members.delphidigital.io/reports/fantom-ramps-up-short-term-btc-holders-in-losses-perp-markets-undecided/

Moonbeam Network Completes Launch Process and is Now Live on Polkadot
Moonbeam is the first fully operational parachain on Polkadot. Moonbeam will bring many new integrations, activity & users to light up Polkadot’s ecosystem

Orbs Network Proposes Multi-Chain Staking on Ethereum and Polygon Blockchains | CoinCodex
ORBS token holders are being asked to vote on a key proposal by the Orbs Network to introduce multi-chain staking on Ethereum and Polygon.
https://twitter.com/orbs_network/status/1480872893802336257

Elrond Foundation Acquires Crypto Payments Firm Utrust
Both platforms have tokens, and the firms said the combined community will be updated early this year on the final mechanics of the deal from a token holder perspective.
https://twitter.com/ElrondWorld/status/1480858939323559936

Polygon Stakes Claim to Fastest Zero-Knowledge Layer 2 With ‘Plonky2’ Launch
0xPolygon continues to improve #ETH speed and scalability milestones, further cementing them as the number one #Layer2 solution

https://twitter.com/0xPolygon/status/1480852879434911747
https://blog.polygon.technology/introducing-plonky2/

Kava 9 | The Kava 9 mainnet upgrade will connect Kava to the Cosmos and unlock new assets and earning opportunities with the integration of the IBC protocol
https://twitter.com/Easy2Stake/status/1480566192909729794?s=20

First Testnet release of LiquidStaking for the Cosmos staking module
https://github.com/iqlusioninc/liquidity-staking-module/releases/tag/v0.0.1…
https://liquidstaking.finance

Staking Providers

Crypto Bank Sygnum Valued at Almost $800 Million Following Latest Fundraiser
Sygnum, a digital asset technology group with a Swiss banking license and a Singapore asset management license, has raised USD 90 million in Series B funding.
https://twitter.com/sygnumofficial/status/1478976550817124353?s=20

Simply VC joining LidoFinance, as Node Operator “Simply Staking”
https://twitter.com/LidoFinance/status/1480503963988414472

Bitrue unveils new crypto staking service ‘Yield Farming Hub’
Bitrue’s new #YieldFarming hub is coming January 10th! Use $BTR to maximize your yield & farm coins at 150%+ APY.
https://twitter.com/BitrueOfficial/status/1479016768521658369

Genius Yield is announcing the launch of its accelerator program called Genius X
Genius X will advise, develop the necessary networks, provide the financial infrastructure and technological expertise to propel early-stage DeFi startups towards attaining speed, scale, and edge.
https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/129328/genius-yield-is-launching-genius-x-a-cardano-focused-accelerator-program

Just reached 1M $SOL staked in JPool, or about $136M TVL
JPool , the Stake Pool on the Solana blockchain which ensures high rewards at low-risk level, while also providing a DeFi token, has reached a TVL of 1m $SOL and becomes one of the Top 10 Projects by the TVL Growth in the Last 7 Days
https://twitter.com/JPoolSolana/status/1480524148459855874 , https://twitter.com/CryptoRank_io/status/1480500635019751428?s=20

In a joint announcement, Aave (AAVE) says it’s partnering with blockchain security outfit Fireblocks to launch the world’s first permissioned DeFi platform
The press release says that regulatory-compliant DeFi could bring trillions of dollars worth of traditional investment capital into the cryptocurrency space.
https://dailyhodl.com/2022/01/07/defi-protocol-with-over-13000000000-in-total-value-locked-launches-liquidity-pool-for-financial-institutions/

Starting January 11th, existing users and operators participating in the Marlin network by staking and running clusters can transfer their stashes over via the Arbitrum bridge
https://twitter.com/AuditOne_/status/1480910817784705024

The proposal to continue Lido’s LEGO has been shared for Q1 2022
https://research.lido.fi/t/lego-steth-integration-on-tempus/773

MyConstant Integrates Fetch.ai (FET) Mainnet to Unlock USDT Lending and Trading for FET Community
https://twitter.com/myconstantp2p/status/1480838148754067456

PSTAKE Token Sale Drives 20,000 New Token Holders
https://twitter.com/vadim_everstake/status/1480848244301258761?s=20

December was Anchor’s best month yet with over $2.6B new $UST deposits
The surge in deposits helped propel Anchor’s TVL over $10B just 9 months after launch.
https://twitter.com/anchor_protocol/status/1480732475223461888?s=20

Citadel.one Foundation proposes to include $OSMO staking to XCT incentivized program
Since the launch of the XCT Incentive program for the networks listed above, TVL on Citadel.one nodes has shown a significant uprise. They expect that adding Osmo stakers to the XCT Incentive will attract lots of new users and delegators to the Citadel.one project, and boost XCT demand and support
https://forum.citadel.one/topic/29/osmo-staking-xct-incentive-proposal

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Hot upcoming events calendar

Gamerse (LFG)
12 Jan 2022
Staking Launch
“Staking is well on track to go live on 12th January with a few upgrades”

Sidus (SIDUS)
12 Jan 2022
Round 2 Staking
https://twitter.com/galaxy_sidus/status/1477263866732027905?s=20

Clover Finance (CLV)
14 Jan 2022
Staking Launch No additional information
Clover_finance is pleased to announce that $CLV staking will be enabled from Jan 14th 2022.

A4 Finance (A4)
15 Jan 2022
Staking Launch
“There will be 3 options available: 0.2% / 0.25% / 0.3% rewarding per day

XCAD Network (XCAD)
16 Jan 2022 (or earlier)
XCAD DEX Stage 2 “Step 2 of the DEX will begin this week… Single asset staking with differing APRs & lock up times will launch…”

Sherpa (SHERPA)
15 January 2022
The #SherpaX mainnet will be launched

Safle (SAFLE)
18 Jan 2022 (or earlier)
UFI/SAFLE Staking 2.0
“UFI/SAFLE Staking 2.0,” by Jan 18th.

Polygon (MATIC)
18 Jan 2022 London Hardfork
“#EIP1559 and related EIPs will be activated on the Mainnet on 18th Jan around 3 AM ET / 8 AM UTC.”

Kava (KAVA)
19 Jan 2022
Kava 9 Mainnet Upgrade
“All systems go for the Kava 9 mainnet launch | 16:00 UTC January 19, 2022”

Fundamenta (FMTA)
20 Jan 2022
Fantom , Avax and Cronos Wallet Support “Adding wallet support to the Fantom, Avax and Cro Opera Network. Adding support for the $FMTA, $AVAX and $Cro token with staking.

Rainicorn (RAINI) 31 Jan 2022 (or earlier) NFT Staking “NFT Staking,” during January 2022.

COTI (COTI)
31 Jan 2022 (or earlier)
Treasury (Staking)
COTI releases treasury in mid-January.

FIO Protocol (FIO)
31 Jan 2022 (or earlier)
Staking Launch
“$FIO Staking launches… Buckle up & get ready to earn up to 450% Initial APR,” during January 2022.

Meme of the Week

Staking Mondays

On Monday, we spoke with Greg Osuri, Founder and CEO of Akash Network ($AKT), the world’s first decentralized and open-source cloud, taking on behemoths like AWS in the Cloud Computing Market.

This was the most-watched episode in Staking Monday’s history in terms of concurrent viewers.

Watch here!

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Weekly State of Stake #2: Can 900% Staking APR be sustainable?