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Welcome back to 0xResearch – quick hitting alpha for the crypto degens. Here's what we got for you today:
BTC adoption and inflation
Lens Network scaling plan
Web3 social
CT threadooors: Euler and Liquity lay out their v2s
Bitcoin boosted up over 5% on the heels of US inflation data, which came in line with estimates and rising hopes that the Fed’s hawkish days are behind it. But one soft month (April) does not a trend make, so we’ll have to wait and see how much inflation is really cooling.
At any rate, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq saw a gap-up open to new record highs.
Ether is relatively lethargic, up only 3.2%. Meanwhile, SOL sprouted some 7%.
Bitcoin’s move follows news yesterday that the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) added roughly $160 million in BTC via BlackRock and Grayscale funds in the first quarter. The SWIB manages north of $150 billion in assets for various state trusts, including the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS), so while small in relative terms, the investment further solidifies the narrative of bitcoin as a mainstream asset class.
Lens on the move
Lens Network, which has been playing second fiddle to Farcaster of late, is seeking to scale and differentiate itself as the social home for crypto natives.
In a very infra/tech-focused announcement Tuesday, the Avara-built protocol previewed its move to a zkSync validium this summer.
Pitched as a three-stage plan (Seed, Grow, Bloom), the team at Avara and Matter Labs — builders of the ZK Stack that will be used — outlined a scaling roadmap for Lens Network that they say provides “infinite scaling.”
Initially, the chain will batch transactions to Ethereum just like zkSync Era, but later it will employ a dedicated DA layer before finally transitioning to a volition.
The volition phase combines the speed and cost savings of an offchain DA layer with the security of a zk rollup posting data to Ethereum.
For instance, financial transactions can use the zk route, while non-financial transactions (think following or posting a comment that doesn’t require the same level of security) can make use of the validium’s offchain DA.
One open question: What will the existing users on the Polygon PoS chain opt to do? Lens has no plans to incentivize them to migrate to the new version.
More points anyone?
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Lens user monetization:
Lens Network is fundamentally about putting social media users back in control of their data, and that includes the opportunity to monetize the content they generate.
The chief way of doing that today is through a mechanism called “collects,” whereby consumers pay for individual pieces of content.
Avara CEO Stani Kulechov touted this feature in a call with Blockworks, noting that April saw an average monetizing user rake in over $2,000. This was not a typical month, as the data from a Lens-focused Dune dashboard shows. However, average payments for collect transactions have typically been around $2-$5 over the past three months.
It’s also hard these days to gauge activity trends in many Web3 dapps without a token, as some non-negligible percentage of users are likely hoping for an airdrop.
Lens seems to be taking an “if you build it, they will come approach” by focusing on building out the tech stack to accommodate millions of users.
By easing users’ UX pain, Lens is setting up to go the distance in the burgeoning Web3 social space.
The Across protocol emerges as a dominant bridge within the Ethereum and L2 ecosystem, settling notable volumes with low latency, low fees and no slippage. The protocol’s architecture is based on intents, a deviation from many of its competitors' designs of “lock-and-mint” or “message-passing.” The recent v3 upgrade dramatically expands the scope of transaction types that can be settled through Across, enabling a higher degree of cross-chain interoperability and chain abstraction.
Compute DePINs are one of the best positioned verticals in crypto for mass adoption as AI compute demand has exposed structural inefficiencies in the cloud computing and leading-edge compute markets. These structural inefficiencies could last for years, as concentrated and technically complex supply chains are moving too slowly to meet the insatiable demand for compute as the step function growth in demand for AI compute sustains.
Industry watchers are split on whether a prospective issuer could pursue legal action in the case of a denial.
The fund giant will ultimately offer a bitcoin ETF, the founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals says.
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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.
