Introduction
In this recap of the crypto world, we will explore the events and news that had the most significant impact in the past week of April 3. Our focus will be on the following developments:
- PancakeSwap V3 Launch
- LayerZero’s $3 Billion Valuation
- Gucci x Yuga Labs
- OpenSea launches OpenSea Pro
- FedNow: What is the Goal with CBDC
PancakeSwap V3 Launch
PancakeSwap, a popular decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, has recently launched version 3 of its Automated Market Maker (AMM) platform on BNB Chain and Ethereum. The platform, which serves over 1.5 million unique users and accounts for over $2.5 billion of total value locked, has introduced several new features to its upgraded platform.
Enhanced capital efficiency is one of the critical aspects of the upgrade. In the previous version of PancakeSwap, liquidity providers’ assets were distributed uniformly along the price curve of trading pairs. However, this approach could have been more efficient, given that assets typically trade within specific ranges. PancakeSwap’s latest upgrade allows liquidity providers to concentrate their capital on smaller price ranges, resulting in higher fee earnings from the same amount of deposits.
V3 of PancakeSwap also allows liquidity providers to select a custom price range to provide liquidity, allowing specific control over capital investments to higher volume trading ranges. The platform boasts four new trading fee tiers from 0.01%, 0.05%, 0.25%, and 1%, which is a change from V2’s standard of 0.25%. PancakeSwap expects asset pairs to be drawn to tiers where incentives for Liquidity Providers (LPs) and traders align, which is an effort to balance between traders targeting the lowest fees while still incentivizing L.P.s.
Furthermore, the platform has also revealed two upcoming features. The first is a trading rewards program that incentivizes traders with exclusive benefits. The second is a position manager feature that aims to improve the user experience when depositing tokens as liquidity. Both these features are still in development and are expected to be introduced soon. Read more on this here.
LayerZero’s $3 Billion Valuation
LayerZero Labs, a Vancouver-based blockchain infrastructure provider, has raised $120 million in a recent funding round to increase its headcount and expand its reach into the Asia-Pacific region. The company is best known for its cross-chain messaging protocol, which creates asset bridges between blockchain networks, where it functions like the internet’s TCP/IP messaging protocol.
LayerZero Labs previously raised $135 million in March 2022 and has reached a $3 billion valuation with over 33 investors participating in the latest funding round. Prominent investors from both within and outside the crypto space, including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, BOND, Circle Ventures, Christie’s, OpenSea Ventures, and Samsung Next, are backing the LayerZero protocol.
The company’s vision is to create a multichain environment where applications can best use each network’s unique benefits. According to Ryan Zarick, the company’s co-founder and chief technology officer, the protocol can facilitate this vision by enabling applications to utilize Solana’s speed, Ethereum’s security, and Arweave’s cost-effective file storage in a single application without any complexities for users. He further stated, “The days of choosing one chain to build on are over; the future is omnichain applications.”
The LayerZero Labs funding round is a rare nine-figure deal during a crypto bear market that has seen investments in the industry slow down. However, infrastructure-focused projects like LayerZero have proven to be resilient in its effort while maneuvering this challenging market. Read more on this here.
Gucci x Yuga Labs
Gucci, the renowned luxury fashion brand, partnered with Yuga Labs to bring its unique style into the metaverse. For this partnership, Gucci has designed a limited-edition pendant for Yuga Labs’ Otherside metaverse. The Koda Pendant was released as a digital collectible (NFT) and will be made available to be claimed as a physical item by the holders. The chain will be 50 centimeters long and come with a Koda-shaped pendant, with each piece engraved with “G.G.” and inscribed with a unique edition number on the back.
The Koda Pendant was dropped on April 6 for Koda or Vessel NFT holders, and there were only 3,333 physical pendants available for sale at 450 ApeCoin each. Once the NFTs were purchased, their Koda or Vessel NFT metadata was updated with a Koda Pendant trait, resulting in a physical update to the token’s associated character.
This partnership between Gucci and Yuga Labs is aimed at “pushing the boundaries at the intersection of fashion, entertainment, and gaming.” According to a report, the two brands have signed a multiyear partnership to explore collaborative opportunities between Web3 fashion and entertainment. This launch marks the first chapter of this collaboration, with both brands remaining excited about what comes next. Read more on this here.
OpenSea launches OpenSea Pro
OpenSea has unveiled OpenSea Pro, a more advanced version of its standard platform that offers a suite of features targeted toward professional NFT traders. The new platform features more robust trading tools, including progressive orders, powerful inventory management, instant sales, and live cross-marketplace data, among others. OpenSea Pro also offers more flexibility when searching for NFT listings and managing inventory of digital assets, as well as aggregation of open NFT collection offers across marketplaces.
The move is part of OpenSea’s efforts to compete with rival Blur, which has been gaining serious traction in the NFT marketplace space. OpenSea Pro is a rebranded and expanded version of Gem V2, a powerful NFT marketplace aggregator that OpenSea acquired in April 2022 to attract “more experienced pro users.”
While some have celebrated the launch of OpenSea Pro, not everyone is thrilled about the move. Some community members have criticized the launch, arguing that OpenSea still needs to innovate and that the platform is becoming more about trading tools than art and artists. However, OpenSea’s move towards more advanced trading tools and more comprehensive aggregation of NFT collection offers across marketplaces could help solidify its position as a leading NFT marketplace.
OpenSea Pro currently offers zero marketplace fees, and plans for NFT-based trading rewards are in the works. It remains to be seen how OpenSea’s move will impact the competition between OpenSea and Blur in the NFT marketplace space. However, the marketplace war is headed toward more improvements within the space.
FedNow: What is the Goal with CBDCs
Digital economies have become the future of the financial world, and governments and regulators across the globe have started recognizing their potential to drive economic growth and financial inclusion. In line with this, the United States Federal Reserve (FED) has been working for over seven years to realize its digital economy vision. And finally, FED has announced the launch of its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), FedNow, which is scheduled to be introduced in July.
The launch of the real-time payments network in July will be a significant catalyst for growth in instant payments, according to the Federal Reserve. The Federal network will be available to every bank and credit union in the country, although interoperability of the new systems is still an unknown factor. The Federal Reserve claims that its FedNow digital payments service is faster and better than traditional banking.
Despite the announcement, several prominent figures have voiced their concerns over CBDCs, arguing that a government-issued CBDC would usurp the private sector and threaten citizens’ privacy and core freedoms. U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated in a tweet, “While cash transactions are anonymous, a CBDC will allow the government to watch all our private financial affairs.”
Kennedy is not alone in his opposition to CBDCs. The Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, has also expressed his concerns. DeSantis, whom many expect to enter the 2024 presidential race, has stated that “the central bank digital currency is all about surveilling Americans and controlling the behavior of Americans.”
It remains to be seen if the U.S. government will reconsider its stance on CBDCs. For now, the launch is scheduled for just a few months away, with the Fed limiting its CBDC to interbank transactions.
