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Q5 2024 is finally here for Berachain. BERA’s token generation event launched today with a slew of Tier 1 CEX listings. 15.8% (79 million) of its circulating supply is being airdropped to farmers, and the token is currently trading at a $1.01 billion market cap. With a $4.6 billion FDV as of 11:30 am ET, the new network is currently worth more than Arbitrum, Optimism and Near Protocol.

Rootstock hits 80% bitcoin hash rate:

Foundry, the world’s largest bitcoin mining pool, has joined Rootstock’s mining network. The move further strengthens Rootstock’s cryptographic and economic alignment with Bitcoin. The Bitcoin sidechain is now secured by over 80% of bitcoin’s total hash rate through merge mining. 

Since launching in 2018, Rootstock has maintained zero hacks and 100% uptime, offering EVM compatibility while using BTC as the native gas token — a major differentiator from many so-called “Bitcoin L2s.” Its dapp and wallet counts have doubled in the last year as Bitcoin DeFi gains traction, according to CEO Daniel Fogg.

A new ecosystem funding effort called The Rootstock Collective looks to further expand on that growth.

Rootstock’s PowPeg bridge remains the longest-running decentralized BTC bridge. Upcoming developments, including a BitVMX-powered bridge and LayerZero integration announced earlier this week, will further expand Rootstock’s reach.

“The BitVMX Union Bridge will allow users to bridge their own BTC in a truly trustless, permissionless way — without handing over their keys. This is the next step in securing Bitcoin DeFi,” Fogg told Blockworks.

— Macauley Peterson

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SKALE, the gas-free invisible blockchain, is “Built Different” for mass adoption: high-throughput, scalable, and fair. As a network of interoperable EVM-compatible L1s, SKALE’s user experience focus has accelerated a strong ecosystem across gaming, AI, and more. Due to SKALE’s gas-free nature, blockchain can be integrated invisibly, creating accessible Web2-like experiences for users and developers.

SKALE has:

• Over 50M UAWs

• 9 Games on the Epic Games Store

• Saved Users over $9.5B on Gas Fees

Dive in to learn more.

Berachain is here

The world’s longest testnet is at an end. The Berachain L1 blockchain is officially launching its mainnet and BERA token today.

People are very excited! But that was already obvious. Berachain has attracted a ridiculous $3.1 billion in liquidity on its pre-launch liquidity platform Boyco, making Bera the 8th largest chain by TVL.

Bera’s early liquidity rush is thanks to its somewhat complex “proof-of-liquidity” (PoL) consensus mechanism. 

Here’s the gist of it:

Your average proof-of-stake (PoS) network has a general-purpose native token (e.g. ETH or SOL). 

Berachain splits that token into a dual token model:

• BERA serves as gas and a bond for validator staking. 

• BGT is an inflationary but non-transferrable governance token.

The Berachain protocol emits BGT, and validators decide which dapps receive BGT emissions. Users who interact with these dapps (e.g. providing liquidity) can earn BGT.

But why do users want to farm a non-transferrable token? Because BGT is a veTokenomics-style bribe token. 

You delegate BGT to validators, and this gives validators the governance power to direct future BGT emissions to whichever liquidity providers they like (hopefully, to the dapp you’re staking your liquidity on).

This, at its core, is what makes Berachain unique: the creation of a direct relationship between liquidity providers and block validators.

On traditional PoS chains, validators merely stake a bond (e.g. ETH/SOL) and secure the chain. On Berachain, validators are actively deciding which dapps/LPs should be rewarded with BGT for their capital provision.

Now here’s the kicker. Calling BGT “non-transferable” is a bit misleading because BGT can be irreversibly burned at a 1:1 ratio to BERA. This means market values inevitably show up in the BERA token.

In contrast to the multiyear lockups on other veTokenomics models, such as Curve’s or Aerodrome’s, Berachain lets you exit when you like. But the exit is permanent.

You can’t buy your way back in like with CRV (BGT is a soulbound token). You’d have to farm BGT all over again.

This may explain Berachain’s early liquidity rush. Bera’s tokenomics are excellent at solving the cold-start TVL problem, because validators — who are already committed participants in the ecosystem — are internalizing the risks of liquidity provision, as opposed to the traditional playbook of dapps using their own native tokens. 

But it also produces a flywheel effect that heavily privileges early participants in the Berachain ecosystem over later ones.

It may also explain why Bera has made the unusual choice to enshrine native applications — like its AMM DEX (BEX), money market (Bend) and perps DEX (Berps) at launch — as opposed to most L1s which outsource these efforts to third-party builders.

The earlier to this game you are, the bigger warchest of BGT you’ve already built, which in turns means the largest power you have to control future BGT emissions.

It’s the Curve wars all over again. Except now it’s taking place at the Berachain protocol level.

 — Donovan Choy

Binance listing premium and price impact analysis

The 0xResearch team broke down the impact of Binance spot listings on token price performance, revealing a clear pattern of post-listing repricing. Their analysis showed that tokens listed later (rather than at TGE) saw the largest impact, with a median 44% price jump on listing day and an average of 100%.

This discrepancy suggests that tokens not launched on Binance initially are often market-proven before getting listed, leading to a higher probability of significant price appreciation. By contrast, tokens that debuted on Binance at TGE saw far smaller gains, as the listing event was already priced in.

As analyst Luke Leasure explained, “If you're positioned in a token that is fortunate or lucky enough to get this catalyst, your T0 repricing is incredibly attractive. It suggests that these tokens are essentially trading at a 30-50% discount to their market value pre-listing.”

Beyond price action, the discussion expanded to the shifting dynamics of exchange listings. With Binance and Coinbase adjusting their listing strategies to be more proactive, there’s growing competition to capture emerging assets earlier. Analysts noted this trend could reshape liquidity dynamics, particularly for altcoins seeking broader market exposure.

While Binance listings remain a powerful catalyst, the data reinforces that timing matters — late-stage listings provide the strongest upside, while TGE listings — such as the BERA launch today — limit price discovery.

Permissionless IV is where the next wave of onchain innovation comes to life. Whether you're coding through a high-energy hackathon, exploring the latest dev tools, or meeting the minds shaping the space — this is where your dream ideas turn into reality.

Best of all, developers participating in the hackathon attend for free.

Brooklyn in the summer, an over $100k prize pool, and a room full of builders. You in?

📅 June 22–26 | Brooklyn, NY