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- > Bitcoin surpasses AU $100k as memecoins explode
- > Uniswap launches native L2 “Unichain” for DeFi
- > Crypto usage and activity at its peak according to a16z report
- > ApeCoin Goes Bananas with Yuga Labs Chain Launch
Bitcoin surpasses AU $100k as memecoins explode
The crypto market enjoyed a strong fortnight, with memecoins in particular cashing in on the influx of liquidity and positive sentiment.
The possibility of a new Bitcoin all-time high before the close of 2024 has been rekindled, following a strong fortnight on the crypto markets. BTC had spent much of September treading water below US $60k, before a frantic week across spot ETFs pushed the coin back over AU $100k.
While US $70k still presents a psychological ceiling for traders, Bitcoin has gained 11% since mid-October, spurring optimism of a bull run to celebrate the 16th anniversary of Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper.
Even Gary Gensler couldn’t help but get involved in the celebrations, with the SEC Chair wishing Bitcoin a “happy sweet sixteenth.”
Meanwhile, Bitcoin was not the only coin to flourish after liquidity came rushing back into the crypto markets.
It has been a particularly productive fortnight for memecoins, with several prominent projects experiencing double-digit gains.
Leading the way is everyone’s favourite fluffy puppy, Dogecoin, which has cemented itself in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap. DOGE is up 27% over the past month, its highest price point since June earlier this year.
Pepe (20%) and Dogwifhat (42%)were other major winners, as the memecoin market saw trading volume spike by 500% over the last four weeks.
Memecoin activity tends to reflect rising bullish sentiment and the return of retail investors, which could signal a recipe for a momentous finish to 2024.
Uniswap launches native L2 “Unichain” for DeFi
Unichain will bring interoperability, lightning-fast transaction finality and increased decentralisation to the sprawling Ethereum DeFi ecosystem.
Layer-2s have been all the rage within the DeFi sector recently – almost to the point that the market is oversaturated with them. Their immense popularity has led to a swathe of new projects hitting the crypto scene in 2024, with one of the most anticipated going live for the first time earlier this month.
L2s are vital to solving a key element of the blockchain trilemma: scalability. In particular, Ethereum’s Mainnet has been bogged down with long finality times and expensive gas fees due to network congestion. So, by bundling transactions onto a secondary chain (aka the L2), DeFi users can enjoy a faster, more efficient trading experience.
And, according to Uniswap, the fastest, most efficient Layer-2 is ready for the world to enjoy.
Uniswap’s latest L2 project, Unichain, aims to bring decentralisation, scalability and interoperability to Ethereum – all bundled within one protocol.
Unichain boasts “near-instant transactions”, thanks to the introduction of “sub-blocks” that achieve finality within 250 milliseconds.
Additionally, the network will support “seamless multi-chain swapping” with the integration of Optimism’s Superchain, allowing investors to move assets across prominent L2s like Base, Unichain and more.
Uniswap’s exciting new project is yet to see a full release – although the Testnet is already available for use. The company’s press release promises the Mainnet will see the light of day before the year is out, with further developments set to take shape over the coming weeks.
The news fuelled a strong month on the market for Uniswap’s native token, UNI, which has enjoyed gains of 14%.
Crypto usage and activity at its peak according to a16z report
The latest a16z crypto report shows 220 million unique wallet addresses have interacted with a Web3 protocol since the end of 2023.
The crypto market might not be replicating the highs of 2021 – where days of absurd price hikes were the norm – but the industry is the most stable and mature it has ever been. The introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US, paired with institutional involvement in tokenisation projects like Franklin Templeton’s BUIDL, has seen engagement with the crypto sphere sky-rocket.
And according to VC giants Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), crypto usage is at an all-time high on the back of invigorating 12-month gains.
The report analysed the number of users connected to Web3 services, and found over 220 million wallet addresses had used a blockchain of some kind since the end of 2023. This represents a 300% jump in activity from the same time last year.
A16z’s market report noted that stablecoins have become a key driving force behind the industry’s recent explosion. Their research uncovered that total stablecoin transaction volume in Q2 2024 eclipsed that of Visa by a whopping 1114%.
Several other factors contributed to the positive shift in Web3 engagement. The impressive 12-month performance of Solana saw the DeFi giant responsible for nearly half of the 220 million active wallet addresses.
Additionally, the politicisation of cryptocurrency, paired with the accessibility of GameFi titles like Catizen and Hamster Kombat, resulted in millions of new investors “tapping” into the scene.
“The state of crypto has made significant strides across policy, technology, consumer adoption, and more over the past year…There were major infrastructure improvements…and there were new apps being built and used…Crypto, as an industry, has made inarguable progress over the past year.”
ApeCoin Goes Bananas with Yuga Labs Chain Launch
APE soared as much as 130% after ApeChain went live, bringing native staking and bridging to the ApeCoin ecosystem.
Yuga Labs’ ApeCoin has been, to put it bluntly, a letdown for early investors. The project, attached to the blue-chip NFT Collection Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), has gone much the way of digital collectibles since its release in April 2022. After racing to US $20 within a few weeks of its release, the value of ApeCoin has steadily declined to under US $1 – until now.
Excuse the pun – but ApeCoin (APE) has gone bananas over the past week, soaring as much as 130% before settling at a weekly price increase of 55%.
Why?
The release of ApeChain, a “L3” network associated with ApeCoin and BAYC.
ApeChain is the long-awaited DeFi interface promised to investors that will help transform ApeCoin from a fairly generic memecoin to an all-encompassing ecosystem. The protocol, built atop Ethereum scaling solution Arbitrum One, allows users to mint and trade NFTs, as well as access several under-construction decentralised apps.
Most importantly, however, is the introduction of staking.
As many projects have seen over the years, implementing a staking protocol can help with decentralisation, while also bringing value and investor interest to the network.
ApeCoin users will be able to earn passive yield on APE, ETH and several Ether-based stablecoins.
This may just be the beginning of the ApeChain ecosystem, with Yuga Labs developers promising to add more stakeable coins as the L3 evolves.
Whether the launch of ApeChain is enough to drag APE from the doldrums and back to its (and NFT’s) 2022 heights remains to be seen. But if the investor response from the past fortnight is anything to go off – the fire for digital collectibles is far from extinguished.
Ben Knight
