According to Gate.io, as of 12:00 on August 16, the top trending tokens over the past 24 hours, based on significant gains and a market cap exceeding $50 million, are as follows[5]:
MakerDAO Approves Proposal to Reduce WBTC Collateral Cap
In the August 13th Gate Research daily report, we discussed MakerDAO’s proposal to reduce the WBTC (Wrapped Bitcoin) collateral cap, voted on August 12th. Today, the proposal officially passed, and the maximum collateral caps for the WBTC-A, WBTC-B, and WBTC-C core vaults within MakerDAO will be reduced from $500 million, $250 million, and $500 million to zero. Additionally, SparkLend will prohibit borrowing against WBTC and reduce the WBTC loan collateral ratio from 74% to 0%.
As we analyzed in a previous report, MakerDAO proposed eliminating WBTC from its collateral vaults due to concerns over the transparency and decentralization of WBTC following a transfer of control. The proposal aims to mitigate the risks associated with the changes in custody and limit MakerDAO’s exposure to WBTC.[6]
The approval of this proposal by MakerDAO is an effective measure to mitigate potential risks for the platform itself. However, for other protocols and projects that involve WBTC, the gradual unwinding of WBTC collateral following MakerDAO’s decision could introduce certain liquidity risks. It is crucial to closely monitor how other key applications of WBTC, such as AAVE (with $2.141 billion in exposure) and Compound (with $254 million in exposure), respond to this development. If large-scale liquidations of WBTC collateral occur, the market could face liquidity withdrawals amounting to billions of dollars, potentially triggering a chain reaction of liquidity risks and de-pegging events.[7]
As shown in the chart, WBTC dominates the market for BTC-pegged assets on Ethereum with a 98.8% market share. If protocols like MakerDAO close their WBTC exposure, it could open up new market opportunities for other BTC-pegged assets, such as tBTC, which is currently operational. Additionally, Coinbase has announced on X (formerly Twitter) that it plans to launch a product similar to WBTC, called cbBTC. [8]These developments suggest a significant potential for new Ethereum-based BTC asset solutions to gain traction in the market.
Pump.fun Copycats Proliferate as Meme Launch Platforms Become a Hot Business
Pump.fun, a low-barrier meme coin launch platform, has attracted a large user base eager to “mint coins with one click.” In the past few months, the number of tokens on Pump.fun has surged to over 1.7 million. However, only a mere 0.002% of these tokens (41 in total) have managed to maintain a market capitalization above $1 million for more than a few weeks. [9]Despite this, Pump.fun has generated substantial revenue by charging transaction fees, earning $6.18 million in the past week alone a new all-time high.
The simplicity of the business model has attracted more entrepreneurs to enter the meme launch platform space. As early as May, the meme launcher We.Rich, based on the Base chain, was launched. Following that, the data tool DEX Screener introduced Moonshot, another meme launch product. On the BNB Chain, platforms like Four.Meme, a fair launch platform for meme coins, and flap.sh, a SocialFi token launch platform, have also emerged. On August 13, TRON founder Justin Sun announced on X the launch of Sunpump.fun on the TRON network, sparking even wider discussion.
Although many protocols have introduced interfaces and product logic similar to Pump.fun, with some degree of innovation, none have yet produced standout projects. As shown in the chart, Pump.fun accounts for nearly 40% or more of the daily new meme coins launched across platforms. [10]Given Pump.fun’s first-mover advantage, mature operating model, thriving meme culture within the Solana ecosystem, and active community, it is highly likely that Pump.fun will continue to maintain its leading position in the short to medium term.
Liquidations, Funding Rates, and Long-Short Ratio
As of 19:00 UTC on August 15, the total liquidation volume for BTC contracts across the network was approximately $30.521 million. Of this, long contract liquidations accounted for about $22.779 million, while short contract liquidations totaled $12.742 million. The weighted funding rate for BTC positions was -0.0074%, and for ETH positions, it was -0.0067%.[11]
Based on the data and the chart, BTC and ETH have experienced multiple shifts in long-short sentiment over the past 24 hours. On the 15th, the market was predominantly bearish, with the long-short ratio mostly below 1.0. However, on the 16th, there was a noticeable shift towards bullish sentiment for both BTC and ETH, with the long-short ratio exceeding 1.1 at certain points. This indicates that the market is currently in a phase of volatility. Despite this, the funding rates suggest that the market is still primarily driven by bearish sentiment.
Top 3 DeFi Protocols by TVL Growth
Rapid growth in Total Value Locked (TVL) often indicates strong investor interest in a protocol and the emergence of new DeFi products. Below are the top 3 fastest-growing DeFi protocols among those with a TVL exceeding $50 million:[12]
Fear and Greed Index
Over the past three days, the BTC Fear and Greed Index (FGI) has hovered around 30, indicating persistently low market sentiment. It’s important to note that periods of fear often coincide with selling pressure and price declines. However, such times of fear can also lead to the formation of short-term market bottoms, presenting potential buying opportunities.[14]
U.S. Stock Market Rebound: Tech and Blockchain Stocks Rise Together
On August 15, U.S. stock markets continued their upward trend, with the Nasdaq gaining 2% and the S&P 500 rising by 1.3%. Blockchain-related stocks performed particularly well, with MicroStrategy up 1.20% and Hut 8 surging by 6.20%, reflecting positive investor sentiment towards digital assets and related companies.[14]
According to RootData, the Web3 sector saw five funding rounds in the past 24 hours, raising a total of $95 million across AI, DeFi, and security sectors:[12]
CrunchDAO
Overview: CrunchDAO is an AI research community composed of data scientists, offering AI researchers the opportunity to participate in distributed machine learning competitions. CRNCH token holders enjoy governance rights and other privileges within CrunchDAO.
The seed round raised $3.5 million, led by Multicoin Capital with participation from Factor Capital.
Chaos Labs
Overview: Chaos Labs is a New York-based crypto startup specializing in on-chain risk management tools.
The Series A funding round raised $55 million, led by Haun Ventures with participation from F-Prime Capital and others. This funding comes as Chaos Labs expands its platform to meet the growing demand for automated risk management in the DeFi sector.
Orderly Network
Overview: Orderly Network is a liquidity platform built on the Near protocol, enabling peer-to-peer trading through smart contracts and offering users risk management and shared asset pools.
The company completed a $5 million strategic funding round, with investors including OKX Ventures and Nomad Capital. The funds will be used to enhance its on-chain liquidity infrastructure and develop new DeFi products.
Pichi Finance
Pichi Finance is a decentralized points trading protocol that allows users to trade points earned from different protocols, such as Eigenlayer and Kelp DAO, before a Token Generation Event (TGE). Users can create an NFT wallet to store tokens earned through points (such as Pendle YT) and trade these points by selling the NFT wallet once points have accumulated.[15]
Airdrop Date: August 19, 2024 (UTC +0)
Token Distribution: Pichi Finance has announced the tokenomics for its PCH token, with a total supply of 1 billion tokens. The initial circulating supply will be 125.5 million tokens. The distribution is as follows: 5% of the total supply will be airdropped to the community, 18% allocated to the team, 20% to investors, 15% to the ecosystem, and 7% to partners.
Grass
Grass is an AI web-crawling project built on the Solana network. The team recently announced that with the conclusion of Epoch 7, they are taking a snapshot that will be used to determine eligibility for an upcoming airdrop. User engagement with the network, weighted by Epoch, will serve as the basis for rewards. In the coming weeks, more details on how to check airdrop eligibility and additional tokenomics information will be provided.
Airdrop Date: To be announced
Token Distribution: Few details about the token distribution have been released so far, but Grass has indicated that network participation will serve as the baseline for rewards, with distribution weighted by Epoch. This suggests that long-term contributors may enjoy a multiplier on their allocations.[16]
Reference:
Gate Research
Gate Research is a comprehensive blockchain and crypto research platform, providing readers with in-depth content, including technical analysis, hot insights, market reviews, industry research, trend forecasts, and macroeconomic policy analysis.
Click the Link to learn more
Disclaimer
Investing in the cryptocurrency market involves high risk, and it is recommended that users conduct independent research and fully understand the nature of the assets and products they are purchasing before making any investment decisions. Gate.io is not responsible for any losses or damages caused by such investment decisions.
According to Gate.io, as of 12:00 on August 16, the top trending tokens over the past 24 hours, based on significant gains and a market cap exceeding $50 million, are as follows[5]:
MakerDAO Approves Proposal to Reduce WBTC Collateral Cap
In the August 13th Gate Research daily report, we discussed MakerDAO’s proposal to reduce the WBTC (Wrapped Bitcoin) collateral cap, voted on August 12th. Today, the proposal officially passed, and the maximum collateral caps for the WBTC-A, WBTC-B, and WBTC-C core vaults within MakerDAO will be reduced from $500 million, $250 million, and $500 million to zero. Additionally, SparkLend will prohibit borrowing against WBTC and reduce the WBTC loan collateral ratio from 74% to 0%.
As we analyzed in a previous report, MakerDAO proposed eliminating WBTC from its collateral vaults due to concerns over the transparency and decentralization of WBTC following a transfer of control. The proposal aims to mitigate the risks associated with the changes in custody and limit MakerDAO’s exposure to WBTC.[6]
The approval of this proposal by MakerDAO is an effective measure to mitigate potential risks for the platform itself. However, for other protocols and projects that involve WBTC, the gradual unwinding of WBTC collateral following MakerDAO’s decision could introduce certain liquidity risks. It is crucial to closely monitor how other key applications of WBTC, such as AAVE (with $2.141 billion in exposure) and Compound (with $254 million in exposure), respond to this development. If large-scale liquidations of WBTC collateral occur, the market could face liquidity withdrawals amounting to billions of dollars, potentially triggering a chain reaction of liquidity risks and de-pegging events.[7]
As shown in the chart, WBTC dominates the market for BTC-pegged assets on Ethereum with a 98.8% market share. If protocols like MakerDAO close their WBTC exposure, it could open up new market opportunities for other BTC-pegged assets, such as tBTC, which is currently operational. Additionally, Coinbase has announced on X (formerly Twitter) that it plans to launch a product similar to WBTC, called cbBTC. [8]These developments suggest a significant potential for new Ethereum-based BTC asset solutions to gain traction in the market.
Pump.fun Copycats Proliferate as Meme Launch Platforms Become a Hot Business
Pump.fun, a low-barrier meme coin launch platform, has attracted a large user base eager to “mint coins with one click.” In the past few months, the number of tokens on Pump.fun has surged to over 1.7 million. However, only a mere 0.002% of these tokens (41 in total) have managed to maintain a market capitalization above $1 million for more than a few weeks. [9]Despite this, Pump.fun has generated substantial revenue by charging transaction fees, earning $6.18 million in the past week alone a new all-time high.
The simplicity of the business model has attracted more entrepreneurs to enter the meme launch platform space. As early as May, the meme launcher We.Rich, based on the Base chain, was launched. Following that, the data tool DEX Screener introduced Moonshot, another meme launch product. On the BNB Chain, platforms like Four.Meme, a fair launch platform for meme coins, and flap.sh, a SocialFi token launch platform, have also emerged. On August 13, TRON founder Justin Sun announced on X the launch of Sunpump.fun on the TRON network, sparking even wider discussion.
Although many protocols have introduced interfaces and product logic similar to Pump.fun, with some degree of innovation, none have yet produced standout projects. As shown in the chart, Pump.fun accounts for nearly 40% or more of the daily new meme coins launched across platforms. [10]Given Pump.fun’s first-mover advantage, mature operating model, thriving meme culture within the Solana ecosystem, and active community, it is highly likely that Pump.fun will continue to maintain its leading position in the short to medium term.
Liquidations, Funding Rates, and Long-Short Ratio
As of 19:00 UTC on August 15, the total liquidation volume for BTC contracts across the network was approximately $30.521 million. Of this, long contract liquidations accounted for about $22.779 million, while short contract liquidations totaled $12.742 million. The weighted funding rate for BTC positions was -0.0074%, and for ETH positions, it was -0.0067%.[11]
Based on the data and the chart, BTC and ETH have experienced multiple shifts in long-short sentiment over the past 24 hours. On the 15th, the market was predominantly bearish, with the long-short ratio mostly below 1.0. However, on the 16th, there was a noticeable shift towards bullish sentiment for both BTC and ETH, with the long-short ratio exceeding 1.1 at certain points. This indicates that the market is currently in a phase of volatility. Despite this, the funding rates suggest that the market is still primarily driven by bearish sentiment.
Top 3 DeFi Protocols by TVL Growth
Rapid growth in Total Value Locked (TVL) often indicates strong investor interest in a protocol and the emergence of new DeFi products. Below are the top 3 fastest-growing DeFi protocols among those with a TVL exceeding $50 million:[12]
Fear and Greed Index
Over the past three days, the BTC Fear and Greed Index (FGI) has hovered around 30, indicating persistently low market sentiment. It’s important to note that periods of fear often coincide with selling pressure and price declines. However, such times of fear can also lead to the formation of short-term market bottoms, presenting potential buying opportunities.[14]
U.S. Stock Market Rebound: Tech and Blockchain Stocks Rise Together
On August 15, U.S. stock markets continued their upward trend, with the Nasdaq gaining 2% and the S&P 500 rising by 1.3%. Blockchain-related stocks performed particularly well, with MicroStrategy up 1.20% and Hut 8 surging by 6.20%, reflecting positive investor sentiment towards digital assets and related companies.[14]
According to RootData, the Web3 sector saw five funding rounds in the past 24 hours, raising a total of $95 million across AI, DeFi, and security sectors:[12]
CrunchDAO
Overview: CrunchDAO is an AI research community composed of data scientists, offering AI researchers the opportunity to participate in distributed machine learning competitions. CRNCH token holders enjoy governance rights and other privileges within CrunchDAO.
The seed round raised $3.5 million, led by Multicoin Capital with participation from Factor Capital.
Chaos Labs
Overview: Chaos Labs is a New York-based crypto startup specializing in on-chain risk management tools.
The Series A funding round raised $55 million, led by Haun Ventures with participation from F-Prime Capital and others. This funding comes as Chaos Labs expands its platform to meet the growing demand for automated risk management in the DeFi sector.
Orderly Network
Overview: Orderly Network is a liquidity platform built on the Near protocol, enabling peer-to-peer trading through smart contracts and offering users risk management and shared asset pools.
The company completed a $5 million strategic funding round, with investors including OKX Ventures and Nomad Capital. The funds will be used to enhance its on-chain liquidity infrastructure and develop new DeFi products.
Pichi Finance
Pichi Finance is a decentralized points trading protocol that allows users to trade points earned from different protocols, such as Eigenlayer and Kelp DAO, before a Token Generation Event (TGE). Users can create an NFT wallet to store tokens earned through points (such as Pendle YT) and trade these points by selling the NFT wallet once points have accumulated.[15]
Airdrop Date: August 19, 2024 (UTC +0)
Token Distribution: Pichi Finance has announced the tokenomics for its PCH token, with a total supply of 1 billion tokens. The initial circulating supply will be 125.5 million tokens. The distribution is as follows: 5% of the total supply will be airdropped to the community, 18% allocated to the team, 20% to investors, 15% to the ecosystem, and 7% to partners.
Grass
Grass is an AI web-crawling project built on the Solana network. The team recently announced that with the conclusion of Epoch 7, they are taking a snapshot that will be used to determine eligibility for an upcoming airdrop. User engagement with the network, weighted by Epoch, will serve as the basis for rewards. In the coming weeks, more details on how to check airdrop eligibility and additional tokenomics information will be provided.
Airdrop Date: To be announced
Token Distribution: Few details about the token distribution have been released so far, but Grass has indicated that network participation will serve as the baseline for rewards, with distribution weighted by Epoch. This suggests that long-term contributors may enjoy a multiplier on their allocations.[16]
Reference:
Gate Research
Gate Research is a comprehensive blockchain and crypto research platform, providing readers with in-depth content, including technical analysis, hot insights, market reviews, industry research, trend forecasts, and macroeconomic policy analysis.
Click the Link to learn more
Disclaimer
Investing in the cryptocurrency market involves high risk, and it is recommended that users conduct independent research and fully understand the nature of the assets and products they are purchasing before making any investment decisions. Gate.io is not responsible for any losses or damages caused by such investment decisions.