Finance Redefined: Maker founder proposes endgame, Singapore explores DeFi and more

The past week in the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem saw many new developments, including the rebirth of the Terra 2.0 blockchain. Meanwhile, Binance’s incubation platform Binance Labs launched a $500 million fund to support and promote Web3 adoption.

Singapore’s central bank partnered with JP Morgan to explore DeFi applications in wholesale funding markets by establishing tokenized bonds. KuCoin launched its very decentralized wallet with DeFi and nonfungible token support.

The top-100 DeFi tokens showed signs of a breakout from a month-long bearish trend, with most of the tokens showing overall gains in the past seven days.

Maker founder proposes MetaDAOs and synthetic ETH in ‘Endgame Plan’

MakerDAO co-founder Rune Christensen has issued a new monumental proposal to push the project into its final form called The Endgame Plan.

Across 3,000 words, including 35 detailed infographics, Christensen explained that the current model of governance at Maker creates a deadlock, making it difficult for the protocol to effectively process “complicated real-world financial deals” and compromising its competitiveness with financial institutions.

Binance Labs’ $500M fund to catalyze crypto, Web3 and blockchain adoption

Binance Labs, the investment arm of crypto giant Binance, launched a $500 million fund in partnership with global investors including DST Global Partners and Breyer Capital to drive innovation across the crypto, Web3 and blockchain landscape.

Binance Labs plans to allocate the latest $500 million fund to projects across various stages: incubation, early-stage and late-stage growth.

Sharing his take on accelerating the adoption of the crypto ecosystem, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao noted the importance of a connection between values, people and economies.

Singapore to explore digital asset tokenization on public chains

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has launched Project Guardian, a blockchain-based digital assets trial that will use tokenization. The project will include regulated financial institutions serving as “trust anchors,” with a pilot involving JP Morgan, DBS Bank and Marketnode, the SGX joint venture for bonds.

The Project Guardian initiative, which was announced during the Asia Tech x Singapore Summit on Tuesday, was spearheaded by Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies Heng Swee Keat. It will see MAS explore DeFi applications in wholesale funding markets by establishing a liquidity pool of tokenized bonds and deposits to execute borrowing and lending on a public blockchain-based network.

KuCoin plugs into Web3 with new decentralized wallet

Cryptocurrency trading platform KuCoin has launched a new decentralized wallet platform as interest in Web3 continues to gather steam.

KuCoin Wallet is now live for users, with the browser-based platform paving the way for a mobile application, which is still in development.

The platform plugs into the KuCoin ecosystem and features cross-blockchain integration. Users will be able to buy, sell, trade and send a variety of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Tether (USDT), in addition to other tokens.

DeFi market overview

Analytical data reveals that DeFi’s total value locked saw a trend reversal, with the value reaching above $80 billion again. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView reveals that DeFi’s top 100 tokens by market capitalization registered a week filled with volatile price action but broke out of the bearish trend over the past couple of days.

The majority of the DeFi tokens in the top-100 ranking by market cap traded in the green, Aave (AAVE) was the biggest gainer with a 10.42% surge, followed by CurveDAO (CRV) with 10%. Theta Network (THETA) registered an 8% price rise, while Chainlink (LINK) grew 7%.

The relaunched Terra 2.0 network, which was listed by major exchanges following its revival on May 28, has seen a volatile price action since then. The Terra (LUNA) price fell by 70% on the first day of its trading and currently trading at one-third of its listing price.

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us again next Friday for more stories, insights and education in this dynamically advancing space.