DeFi

August 22, 2021

The Flip Side 🥞

One of Binance Smart Chain’s largest decentralized exchanges is bulking up in the competition for traders. In July 2021, PancakeSwap was the third-most visited crypto exchange in the world. They came up short of only two exchanges: Binance and Coinbase. 

PancakeSwap, which appreciated significant growth in Q1, is even starting to catch up with some of the most recognizable DEXes and lending platforms in terms of volume and total value locked (TVL). TVL is one way to measure the amount of user adoption in a DeFi protocol, because it measures how much money that investors are storing in a protocol or platform. 

The world’s largest DEX by volume, Uniswap, posted roughly $7 billion in TVL as of this writing. PancakeSwap posted $5.9 billion. For volume, which measures how much money is being traded on the platform, PancakeSwap posted $712 million in the trailing 24-hour period. Uniswap posted just over a billion between their v2 and v3 platforms. 🦄🦄

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Technically Speaking – November 17, 2023

November 17, 2023

The two exchanges are getting closer and closer in terms of meaningful figures. However, Uniswap and PancakeSwap are worlds away from each other in terms of market cap.

Uniswap trades at nearly 4x the market capitalization of PancakeSwap. That difference can speak to two factors: the awareness that investors have of Uniswap and investors’ preference for Ethereum. After all, Binance Smart Chain is run by one of the more controversial players in the world of crypto.

However, as the bull market gets back on its feet? $CAKE.X might be in a better position to run than its overpriced ETH-based competitor, $UNI.X, which is worth over 3x more than it manages in TVL. 

$CAKE.X is down over 50% from its April highs, but up from $0.62 on Jan. 1. Today, it’s worth $22.93. 🥞🥞🥞

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November 23, 2023

Technically Speaking – November 17, 2023

This Technically Speaking article is long as we review some of the various charts we’ve looked at over the past four to six weeks. 

Included in today’s Technically Speaking are: Chainlink, Uniswap, Monero, and Ethereum.

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Crypto

November 22, 2023

Zhao Waves Farewell to Binance CEO Role in a $4.3 Billion DOJ Deal

In November 2022, FTX collapsed, and Sam Bankman-Fried’s road to ruin began. The crypto market at the time was already on a route, down -66% from its August 2021 all-time highs. 📺

CZs tweet in November 2022 triggered another wipeout in crypto, with the total market cap dropping -27.5% over seventeen days, extending the total loss from the all-time high to -76%. 

In one year, two things: tried SBF and found him guilty. Then they pulled off a somewhat less dramatic but nonetheless major takedown (via massive fines and settlement) of Binance and its now former CEO, CZ. 

According to the presser released by the DOJ, here’s a quick rundown of what went down:

  • Binance Pleads Guilty: Binance Holdings Limited pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering, unlicensed money transmitting, and sanctions violations.
  • Historic Penalty: Binance agreed to pay over $4 billion to resolve the Justice Department’s investigation, marking one of the largest corporate penalties in U.S. history.
  • CEO’s Guilty Plea: Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s CEO, also pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and resigned as CEO.
  • Coordinated Resolutions: The plea is part of coordinated resolutions with the Department of Treasury’s FinCEN, OFAC, and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
  • Attorney General’s Statement: Attorney General Merrick B. Garland emphasized that Binance’s rise was partly due to its criminal activities and stressed the consequences of using technology to break the law.
  • Treasury Secretary’s Remarks: Janet L. Yellen highlighted Binance’s willful legal failures, allowing money to flow to terrorists and other criminals through its platform.
  • Deputy Attorney General’s Warning: Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco warned crypto and DeFi companies about the importance of complying with U.S. law.
  • Intentional Violations: Binance and Zhao willfully violated anti-money laundering and sanctions laws, threatening U.S. financial systems and national security.
  • Binance’s Growth Strategy: Binance prioritized growth and profits over compliance, knowingly operating without anti-money laundering safeguards and allowing illegal transactions.
  • Forfeiture and Fine: Binance agreed to forfeit $2.51 billion and pay a criminal fine of $1.81 billion, totaling a financial penalty of $4.31 billion. They also agreed to retain an independent compliance monitor for three years and enhance their anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance programs.
  • Zhao’s Role: Zhao admitted to prioritizing Binance’s growth over compliance, causing illegal transactions, and failing to implement effective anti-money laundering protocols. 📻

A few hours after the Binance and CZ news came out, Coinbase’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, took to X:

From the perspective of gaining, keeping, and acquiring the US crypto customer base, Coinbase is sitting pretty nicely right now. 

Update

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DeFi

November 29, 2023

KyberSwap: Negotiating With A Ghost

The hacker behind the $47 million heist from KyberSwap ($KNC) has hinted at a possible deal with the victims. 🕵️

The anonymous cyber bandit, who made headlines last week for the massive exploit, embedded a message in an $ETH transaction on November 28. They promised to unveil details about a “treaty” by November 30.

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DeFi

January 31, 2024

JUP JUMPED

Jupiter successfully airdropped its native token, JUP, making it one of the largest token airdrops on the Solana blockchain. 

The DeFi “market maker,” rewarded its early supporters with ~$700M in tokens. As the airdrop dropped, JUP jumped from $0.41 to $0.72, sending the token’s diluted market cap above $6B.

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July 26, 2023

yearn Yearns To Be Hacked

In a bold move, Yearn Finance ($YFI) has thrown down the gauntlet to hackers. “We want you to hack us,” they’ve declared, opening up almost all permissioned functions on their vault. 🎯

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DeFi

June 4, 2023

Crypto 101: Understanding the Risks of Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs)

Like every technology, DEXs come with their unique set of risks. Let’s dive into some of the most prevalent ones.

Smart Contract Risk 📜

One of the most significant risks when dealing with DEXs revolves around smart contracts. These programmable transactions run the entire DEX infrastructure. If there’s a bug in the smart contract code, it might be exploited and lead to substantial losses. Make sure you’re using a DEX that has undergone rigorous smart contract audits to mitigate this risk.

The DAO hack is a classic example of a vulnerability in a smart contract. The Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) was a form of investor-directed venture capital fund, but a bug in its smart contract was exploited by a hacker who siphoned off a third of the DAO’s funds (around $50 million at the time).

Impermanent Loss 🔄

As a liquidity provider in a DEX, you could face what’s known as ‘impermanent loss’. This occurs when the price of your deposited tokens diverges. The larger the divergence, the more you stand to lose. The loss only becomes “permanent” if the prices don’t return to their original state by the time you withdraw your liquidity.

Price Slippage 📉

High market volatility can lead to price slippage on DEXs. Slippage refers to the difference between the expected price of a trade and the price at which it’s executed. While some slippage is common, large amounts can lead to unfavorable trade outcomes.

If you were trying to trade a large amount of a low-liquidity token on a DEX, you could experience severe price slippage. For instance, if you attempted to sell 10,000 tokens of a small project, your sell order could significantly impact the price, causing you to receive less than you anticipated.

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