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- 🟣 tBTC joins EigenLayer
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Welcome back to 0xResearch. Here's what we’ve got for you today:
Bitcoin DeFi: Staking tBTC
Chart: FOMC rate decision
Degen: WalletConnect token
CT: BTC / S&P correlation
tBTC, a decentralized alternative to wrapped bitcoin on Ethereum, is now possible to stake via EigenLayer.
Threshold Network has made very modest inroads into the market share of WBTC on Ethereum. The latest integration into EigenLayer, announced today, positions tBTC as the first bitcoin-linked asset to join the Ethereum-based restaking protocol. This collaboration allows tBTC holders to stake their bitcoin and earn rewards, much like holders of ether LSTs have been doing all year.
WBTC staking has already been possible via the rival restaking and shared security framework Symbiotic, which uses frontends provided by Mellow Finance and Ether.fi / Veda Protocol.
But EigenLayer's adoption of tBTC highlights bitcoin's evolving role in DeFi, according to Threshold Network contributor MacLane Wilkison. He called the move “a major shift towards maximizing the full earning power of bitcoin for users.”
Brandon Curtis, director of research at Eigen Labs, said adding tBTC is also set to benefit the EigenLayer ecosystem by "broadening the scope of assets that can contribute to securing decentralized networks and providing greater optionality and utility for AVSs and restakers.”
Matt Luongo, a key figure behind the Threshold DAO and venture studio Thesis, stressed the importance of bringing new bitcoin holders into DeFi. "What Ordinals did last year [was to show] that something on Bitcoin [layer-1] could bring Ethereum and Solana users,” Luongo told Blockworks. “We've got the numbers and in our polling, we've seen [that] almost 75% of Ordinals users were first on Ethereum and Solana, and actually it was their first time touching Bitcoin L1 — that to me was kind of shocking and a big user change.”
While there is potential for bitcoin to expand beyond its traditional role as a store of value, Luongo cites projects like tBTC as key to bringing “bitcoin holders who are kind of net new to the crypto-native space to do things onchain.”
Bitcoin DeFi is expected to gain momentum via layer-2 solutions. Integrations like Mezo and Acre already enable Babylon liquid staking, which serves a similar role as EigenLayer restaked bitcoin in bootstrapping security for proof-of-stake networks.
The challenge, according to Luongo, lies in creating a seamless experience for Bitcoin holders that can compete with the well-understood ETF wrapper, thus letting users interact with new protocols without sacrificing the security of self-custody.
“To get someone who's bought what they think is bitcoin through their brokerage, and then to get them to self custody, I'm not sure how to do that,” Luongo said. “I don't want bitcoin to just be an asset that nation states have to care about — and I'm very proud that we've gotten that far — but this is supposed to be about self custody and self-determination.”
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Will it be 25 or 50bps?
The FOMC’s September meeting is underway and market watchers are eagerly awaiting the outcome, to be released tomorrow ahead of the regular press conference featuring Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
A cut of some kind is virtually certain, but for the first time in a while, there’s some uncertainty as to the size of the interest rate move. A larger 50bps cut is the slight favorite as of Tuesday at 11:00 am ET.
Fun fact: There’s no actual rule that says that only 25 or 50 basis points are the options. Technically, the Fed could split the difference and go for 37.5! While amusing, most analysts don’t think the FOMC wants to have to explain anything that could properly be labeled as “unprecedented.” Markets like certainty.
— Macauley Peterson
WalletConnect Inc. has rebranded to Reown, the company announced today. The move comes in tandem with its creation of the WalletConnect Network, which will soon launch an airdrop.
The planned airdrop of WCT tokens will unfold in stages and requires registration, which begins on Sept. 24. Following in the footsteps of SAFE and EIGEN, the new governance token will be non-transferable at first “to ensure optimal network performance for all of its contributors and community members,” according to a blog post. Transferability will be enabled by a governance process.
An “initial supply” of 1 billion includes 18.5% earmarked for airdrops over four “seasons.” The airdrop will target users of WalletConnect alongside wallets, dapps, nodes, software development kits and related communities.
Distribution of the season one tokens is expected to take place on Oct. 11.
— Macauley Peterson
Vertex has established itself as a formidable player in the perps DEX landscape. Its innovative hybrid orderbook AMM design, coupled with the groundbreaking Vertex Edge technology, has allowed it to capture a respectable market share and expand across multiple EVM chains efficiently.
Hivemapper’s HONEY rewards have been impressively capital efficient. Given the map market’s multi-billion dollar size, the upcoming Bee Dashcam and Hivemapper’s relatively low HONEY emissions, we believe onchain net burn of the HONEY token is foreseeable.
The ARB token is at all-time lows in terms of both price and public sentiment. At the same time, market share across key performance indicators remains strong and increased monetization via TimeBoost is around the corner.
0xResearch readers and listeners are asking a crucial question: What lies ahead for the Cosmos ecosystem?
At Permissionless, hear from leading voices in Cosmos on the future of the network.
Plus, tying up the loose ends of crypto’s bankruptcies,
The team behind the planned NYC private club gave NFT purchasers a “reasonable expectation of profit,” the SEC alleged.
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The insights, views and outlooks presented in the report are not to be taken as financial advice. Blockworks Research analysts are not registered broker/dealers or financial advisors. Blockworks Research analysts may hold assets mentioned in this report, further outlined in the Firm’s Financial Disclosures.