Summary

Gate Research has released its latest weekly summary of hot projects, highlighting a significant growth trend in the crypto market this week, particularly in the DeFi and stablecoin sectors. Raydium’s average daily trading volume in October surpassed $1 billion, largely benefiting from the growth of the Solana MEME ecosystem. Tether is exploring expansion into the commodity trading sector, aiming to utilize USDT for commodity trade financing. Through its permissionless node operation model, Puffer has driven its Total Value Locked (TVL) up to $1.4 billion, showing strong performance. Ripple announced a global distribution partner for its RLUSD stablecoin, marking further progress in cross-border payments. Celestia launched the Shwap upgrade, enhancing the performance of its data availability network. Praxis raised $525 million, focusing on building cutting-edge tech cities. Polymarket and Base Network set new monthly records for trading and transaction volumes, further stimulating market activity.

Projects

Raydium’s Average Daily Trading Volume Surpasses $1 Billion in October
As of October 14, Raydium’s average daily trading volume has exceeded $1.017 billion, representing a month-over-month growth of 99.89% compared to the average daily trading volume in September. Its Total Value Locked (TVL) also surpassed $1.5 billion, setting a new high for the year. This growth is primarily attributed to the rapid development of the Solana MEME ecosystem.

As a leading Automated Market Maker (AMM) and liquidity provider on Solana, Raydium has become the main beneficiary of Pump.fun. When the market capitalization of tokens reaches a certain threshold, the liquidity in Pump.fun’s bonded curve automatically transfers to Raydium[1].

The correlation between Raydium’s daily trading volume and Pump.fun’s activities is also evident from the data. In September, intense competition among MEME tokens within the TRX ecosystem decreased activity on Pump.fun, reducing its daily token issuance to around 5,000 tokens. This decline also caused a significant drop in Raydium’s daily trading volume. However, activity rebounded sharply in October, with Pump.fun’s daily issuance recovering to around 15,000 tokens, and Raydium’s daily trading volume increased accordingly. The liquidity relationship between Raydium and Pump.fun reflects the synergistic effects among projects within the Solana ecosystem.

Gate Ventures and Boon Ventures to Collaborate with Movement Labs on a $20 Million Crypto Fund
Venture capital firms Gate Ventures and Boon Ventures have announced a collaboration with Movement Labs to establish a new $20 million fund activity rebounded sharply in October the Move ecosystem. This fund will invest in projects centered around the Move programming language, focusing on popular sectors such as DeFi and GameFi, with a particular emphasis on solutions for data and asset transfer interoperability between the Move and EVM ecosystems.

As part of this initiative, supported startups will receive funding and gain access to exclusive mentorship programs and hackathon events designed to accelerate innovation and market entry. This collaboration aims to speed up the growth of the Move ecosystem, helping developers and entrepreneurs better harness the potential of blockchain technology to achieve more efficient interoperability and foster innovation in decentralized applications[2].

Tether in Talks with Commodity Traders for Loans Up to $1 Billion
Tether Holdings Ltd. is exploring a new strategy to provide loans to commodity trading companies, which could signal a significant shift in the traditional financing methods for commodity trading. As the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, Tether has already used its token to circumvent dollar sanctions, particularly in countries like Russia and Venezuela. By further integrating USDT into the commodity trade market, Tether could profoundly impact on the global trading system.

The appeal of USDT lies not only in its stability as a stablecoin but also in its ability to bypass the complex procedures of traditional banking, thus speeding up payment and transaction processes. Traditional commodity trade financing relies heavily on bank-provided credit but is subject to strict regulatory constraints. However, this new trend also faces challenges. Firstly, as a cryptocurrency company, Tether does not provide audited financial statements, which may cause some large commodity trading companies to question the stability and sources of their funds. Additionally, the commodity trading sector is inherently high-risk, having seen several high-profile collapses, frauds, and scandals in recent years, which have shaken investor confidence in trade financing.

Tether’s move into the commodity trading sector highlights the significant potential applications of USDT. In the future, as the cryptocurrency market matures, stablecoins might gradually replace some traditional trade financing tools, becoming a new driving force in international trade[3][4].

Puffer’s TVL Grows to $1.4 Billion
Puffer, a leading innovator in Ethereum infrastructure, has introduced a permissionless design that allows anyone to participate in node operation without relying on traditional centralized services. With its unique hardware support, Puffer offers innovative slashing protection technology and simplifies the process for users to engage in Ethereum staking and re-staking. The platform enables individuals to run Ethereum nodes with as little as 1 ETH, significantly improving capital efficiency[5].

$PUFFER Token Economic Model: The total supply of $PUFFER tokens is 1 billion, with 40% allocated to the ecosystem and community, 1% to the Protocol Guild, and 7.5% distributed as a reward for Season 1 of the Crunchy Carrot Quest airdrop, followed by 5.5% for Season 2. Early contributors and advisors hold 20%, which will be released gradually over 3 years, with the first batch unlocking after 1 year to ensure a long-term commitment to the ecosystem’s vision. Investors hold 26%, which will also be released gradually over 3 years, with an initial unlock after 1 year, followed by linear release over the next 2 years[6]. The $PUFFER token is used for governance decisions within the Puffer ecosystem, with holders participating in voting and guiding the protocol’s future development through the vePUFFER mechanism.

On October 14, Puffer’s airdrop became claimable, and Gate.io launched trading for $PUFFER at 12:00 (UTC+0) the same day[7]. As of 06:00 (UTC+0) on October 15, Puffer’s 24-hour price surged by 95%, reaching a market cap of $61.46 million[8], while its Total Value Locked (TVL) continued to grow, hitting $1.4 billion[9]. This significant increase reflects market confidence in the Puffer ecosystem and marks its growing competitiveness in the DeFi sector. With more users joining and ongoing project innovations, Puffer is steadily expanding its influence within the crypto industry, and its future potential remains promising.

Ripple Announces Global Distribution Partners for Ripple USD
Ripple has revealed the initial trading platforms and platform partners for its upcoming RLUSD stablecoin. These include Uphold, Bitstamp, Bitso, MoonPay, Independent Reserve, CoinMENA, and Bullish. Market makers B2C2 and Keyrock will provide liquidity support for RLUSD. Additionally, Ripple has established an RLUSD advisory board featuring notable members such as former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, former JPMorgan executive David Puth, and Ripple Co-founder and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen.

As top-tier trading and payment platforms, these partners enable a rapid expansion of RLUSD’s use cases, facilitating its global distribution and adoption. Based on the composition of the advisory board, it appears that the United States could be a key target market for RLUSD. This move represents a strategic upgrade for Ripple, which has traditionally focused on cross-border payments. Integrating RLUSD into its cross-border payment network could positively impact on the industry’s approach to compliance and regulation, further advancing the progress of regulatory compliance.[10]

Celestia: Shwap Upgrade for DA Network Activated on Testnet, Mainnet Beta Expected in November
Celestia has recently completed its first upgrade for the Mainnet Beta, introducing a new feature called Shwa that significantly enhances the performance of its Data Availability (DA) network. This upgrade has been successfully activated on the Arabica and Mocha testnets, achieving a 12-fold increase in DA sampling speed while reducing storage requirements by 16.5 times. These improvements pave the way for larger block sizes and smaller nodes, marking a crucial step for the Celestia community toward achieving 1GB blocks.

The core changes brought by the Shwap upgrade include a new data block storage subsystem and a more efficient network framework, greatly optimizing the efficiency of DA sampling. The synchronization time for light nodes has been reduced from 24 hours to just 2 hours, and storage usage has been decreased by 2.66 times. Additionally, the significant improvement in data retrieval speeds has enhanced the communication capabilities of the DA network. This series of advancements lays a solid foundation for the network’s scalability and allows the core development team to focus on further optimizing the system’s security and performance.[11]

Praxis
Praxis, which describes itself as the world’s first “network state” project, recently announced a funding round of $525 million. The project aims to build a cutting-edge city that fosters the development of cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and energy sectors. The primary investors in this round include GEM Digital and Arch Lending. Praxis utilizes a tokenized physical asset-based financing model, allowing incremental capital withdrawal to support the project’s progress.[12]

The project seeks to reduce regulatory constraints by establishing “acceleration zones,” designed to speed up technological advancement. Praxis has attracted more than 14,000 global members, referred to as “Praxians,” who apply to join and are committed to driving technological progress. However, Praxis faces political and regulatory challenges, as it needs the support of various governments. Additionally, successfully implementing real estate tokenization is crucial for securing its funding. If Praxis can overcome these challenges, it could provide a new model for future city-building, but its success will depend on navigating the complex regulatory environment effectively.

Polymarket Reaches New High with Nearly $1 Billion in Monthly Trading Volume
According to data from Dune, Polymarket reached a record monthly trading volume in October 2024, surpassing $1 billion. This growth reflects an increase in active traders on the platform, rising from 80,514 last month to over 90,000.[13]

Additionally, the betting volume surrounding the 2024 U.S. presidential election has significantly increased, exceeding $2 billion. In this context, Republican candidate Donald Trump has attracted around $608 million in bets on Polymarket, with an estimated win probability of 62.3%. Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has received $405 million in bets, with a win probability of 37.5%.[14]

Base Network USDC Transfer Volume Reaches Record High, Exceeding $17.5 Billion in a Single Day
On-chain data shows that yesterday, the USDC transfer volume on the Base network reached a new record high, processing over $17.5 billion in a single day. Base has shown strong performance this year, surpassing Arbitrum for the first time with a Total Value Locked (TVL) of $2.5 billion, reflecting a growth rate of 562%. The network’s average daily transaction volume has reached 6.1 million transactions, and the trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) has grown 15-fold, driven primarily by AerodromeFi, with TVL exceeding $1.4 billion. Additionally, Base’s daily active addresses have increased 13-fold, rapidly expanding its user base. Base’s sequencer earnings have reached $51.4 million in revenue and are expected to reach $60 million by the end of the year. This growth not only propels the development of Base but also strengthens the expansion of the Optimism ecosystem.[15]

Reference：

1. Dune, https://dune.com/ilemi/solana-dex-metrics
2. Cointelegraph, https://cointelegraph.com/news/gate-ventures-movement-labs-boon-ventures-launch-crypto-fund
3. Finance yahoo, https://finance.yahoo.com/news/crypto-company-tether-talking-commodity-153511103.html
4. Blomberg, https://news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/tether-in-talks-with-commodity-traders-over-lending-its-billions
5. Gate.io, https://www.gate.io/zh/learn/articles/puffer-overview/4361
6. Puffer, https://www.puffer.fi/
7. Gate.io, https://www.gate.io/announcements/article/39792
8. Gate.io, https://www.gate.io/price/puffer-puffer
9. Dune, https://dune.com/puffer_finance/puffer
10. The block, https://www.theblock.co/post/321054/ripple-bitstamp-bitso-bullish-stablecoin
11. Celestia, https://x.com/CelestiaOrg/status/1846215427560821087
12. The Block, https://www.theblock.co/post/321268/network-state-project-praxis-secures-525-million-to-build-crypto-friendly-city
13. Polymarket, https://dune.com/rchen8/polymarket
14. Polymarket, https://polymarket.com/
15. Artemis, https://app.artemisanalytics.com/project/base?from=chains&tab=stablecoins