Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day to my fellow Americans! A couple announcements:
In 2021, I’ll be switching to a bi-weekly cadence for the deep dive aka ‘the rambling post above the links’. The Tweet/Chart of the Week, Odds and Ends + Thoughts and Prognostications will still hit your inbox every Monday evening (U.S. time) and every other week they’ll be preceded by a hot take.
I’m looking for some additional help to improve Dose of DeFi. I’m seeking a part-time analyst (think SQL or Dune wizard) and a part-time editor (DeFi experience not required, but must be crypto curious and have a way with words). Both will be 5-10 hours a week and both are paid. If you or anyone you’d know would be a fit, get in touch.
DXdao* is also looking for more contributors, specifically front-end developers with some Web3 experience. DXdao lives on-chain and has lots of exciting products in the pipeline; shoot me a message if you’re interested in contributing to a decentralized collective.
- Chris
Chart of The Week: Sushi and Uniswap battle for DEX supremacy
One of several charts from IntoTheBlock’s Lucas Outomoro in the Our Network newsletter comparing Sushiswap and Uniswap - both tokens have been on an absolute tear over the last couple weeks. The quick-moving Sushiswap battling with the heavily-backed Uniswap may be the DEX equivalent of the Compound/Aave battle, but it seems much more contentious. Sushi moves fast, but it will have to wait with bated breath until Uniswap v3 is revealed to us mortals. Still, UNI and SUSHI are cementing themselves as core DeFi infrastructure and the foundation for any DeFi portfolio. Santiment also did a side-by-side comparison last week of Sushi and UNI.
Tweet of The Week: Fixed-supply fetish evaporates, YFI launches v2 vaults
Lots of discussion over the last week in the YFI community. There is a Snapshot proposal Buyback and Build that would redirect fees towards a buyback mechanism to help fund development (as opposed to rewarding YFI stakers). More controversial is the [Proposal] Developer Incentives, which would lift the 30k YFI supply cap and mint 3k to be directed to the developer fund. It’s still a forum post but the largest YFI holder has come out in support. In DeFi (and the world), capital is abundant, so it’s not surprising to see the pendulum swing towards development teams. Messari’s Ryan Watkins has a good overview.
These discussions are leading up to the long-awaited release of Yearn’s v2 vaults. DeFi Money Managers will benefit from high gas prices and Yearn is clearly the industry leader:
Odds and Ends
Yield Protocol introduces fixed-rate loans for MakerDAO users Link
Charm, an options protocol with an AMM, launches on main net Link
Bancor v2.1 Protocol Health Report: January 2021 Link
The Defiant: Aragon faces wave of resignations Link
Perpetual Protocol 1 Month Recap Link
Electric Capital Crypto Market Map Link
SNX staking live on Optimistic Ethereum L2 Link
Thoughts and Prognostications
2021 Memo: Something of Value [Howard Marks/Oak Tree Capital]
What explains Bitcoin’s resurgence? [Nic Carter/New York Magazine]
For DeFi projects, choosing a price oracle is a tradeoff between security and up-to-date information [The Block]
AMM efficiency debate is better understood through optimal control [Tarun Chitra/Gauntlet Finance]
Social tokens and the future of media [Joon Ian Wong/The Block]
Cream Finance's Iron Bank is one of the coolest things I've seen in DeFi in a while [Kyle Samani/Multicoin]
Pseudonymous Reputation [Shreyas Hariharan]
That’s it! Feedback appreciated. Just hit reply. Written in Brooklyn in the dark doldrums of winter. I feel like there are less blog posts these days and more announcements….
Dose of DeFi is written by Chris Powers. Opinions expressed are my own. I spend most of my time contributing to DXdao*. All content is for informational purposes and is not intended as investment advice.