Recently, DeFi researcher Ignas shared his insights on X: while personally believing that the current crypto bull run is mostly driven by external macro factors, he thinks that there are several launches and upcoming crypto catalysts within the space that will serve to further ignite its internal dynamics. In his thread, he revealed some key developments about which one needs to be particularly watchful.
Monad is the first project on his list. Monad is expected to go live on its mainnet in 2024. The big question is whether Monad will be just another low-float, high-FDV alt-L1 or whether it will attract unique decentralized apps (dApps) that are not mere forks of existing projects.
Another project to keep track of is MegaETH, which is also looking to launch its mainnet by the end of 2024. This one is to be a more versatile version, not just a layer 2 solution. With claims of 100,000 transactions per second (TPS) and 1ms block times, it aims to become a new player in Ethereum’s modular scaling strategy. On the other hand, there are doubts if the company can live up to these high expectations.
Moreover, Symbiotic is expected to launch its mainnet in Q3. There’s speculation that it might outshine Eigenlayer by capturing the restaking hype with its token generation event (TGE). The Ethereum Pectra upgrade, slated for Q1 2025, is also on Ignas’s radar, particularly because of EIP-7702’s potential to streamline token approvals and its possible impact on Ethereum’s price.
Fantom’s Sonic Rebrand: Revitalizing the Crypto Narrative
Besides, the internal rebranding of Fantom to Sonic, which includes a new token ($S) and chart, could be an indicative model for other crypto projects to bring new life to their narratives and attract market appeal. Likewise, Maker’s move towards NewGovToken and NewStableToken could help clear up its complicated structure, thereby, likely, positively affecting DAI supply growth.
Igno also mentions Pudgy Penguin’s L2 platform and Sony’s Soneium launch, which, in turn, could bring about a new monetization model for the AI era. He points out Fractal Bitcoin and OP_CAT advancements as the reasons for rekindling interest in Bitcoin’s native ecosystem, while Stacks’ Nakamoto upgrade set to come through the next few days could be a major driver for more users and TVL.
Ignas finally points at Coinbase’s cbBTC launch that could be classified as a possible game-changer; this is because the management of wBTC has changed hands, and with it, some significant amounts of TVL might be locked up in it.
In addition to this, Ignas feels that if the Uniswap protocol introduced $UNI fee sharing, it would bring back real yield interests in DeFi. Ignas had even come out openly as a delegate for Uniswap DAO in support for this suggestion and called on people to delegate their $UNI tokens to him.
Related Reading | Russia Eyes Dual Crypto Exchanges and New Stablecoin Linked to RMB: Report