Today in DeFi - Curve zkSync, Catnip Exchange, Off Blue, Hegic v888 Launches
Curve zkSync Testnet
Curve Finance has unveiled a testnet on zkSync from Matter Labs. While ZKRollups have existed for a while for simple transactions, zkSync allows for smart contract functionality as well. The tradeoff for developers is having to port contracts to Zinc, a separate language from Solidity.
Today in DeFi is sponsored by Zapper - the Dashboard for DeFi.
Zapper lets you manage your DeFi assets and liabilities in one simple interface. It integrates with popular yield farms, DEXes and lending platforms, letting you zap in and out of farming opportunities easily.
Try it today at Zapper.Fi
Catnip Exchange
Catnip has just launched - a prediction market front end for Augur, powered by Balancer on the backend. With a Uniswap-like experience, it makes it easy to trade prediction market tokens.
Currently it supports yTrump and nTrump tokens we reported on before, as well as DAI swaps into and out of them. Check it out at catnip.exchange .
Off Blue
Off Blue, a short lived, cryptic NFT project, has just called it quits. Off Blue was created by Blue Kirby, a Yearn Finance hype man who ended up quitting after accidentally shilling a smart contract which ended up being exploited for millions of dollars.
After resigning from his position, Blue Kirby started promoting Off Blue, a cryptic NFT project. It raised around $800,000 on few details. As this may have been an illegal offering, Rarible shut down the Off Blue account. After details came out suggesting malicious intent for the funds, users doxxed Blue Kirby.
After the doxx and bad PR, in a turn of events reminiscent of the Sushiswap Saga, Off Blue returned the funds, and has shut down.
Hegic V888 Launches
Hegic Options, a mildly-controversial AMM powered options exchange, has just launched its latest v888 release. The new release adds WBTC options and “bidirectional pools”.
Unlike traditional options exchanges which have fixed term options contracts, Hegic uses a pooled liquidity model, similar to Compound Finance. This means buyers and sellers don’t have to be directly matched, but can buy and sell into a pool. The best explanation of Hegic Finance online can be found here.
Hegic’s model is quite revolutionary, but also has ran into multiple issues. Before using or LPing on the platform, I recommend understanding both the platform and its history.
Disclaimer: Projects or tokens mentioned in this newsletter are often experimental or unaudited. Do your own diligence before using or buying anything mentioned.