Arbitrum Usage Explodes, Crypto Gambling Catalysts, and More
Welcome to the first issue of the Dynamo DeFi Substack!
Despite the best efforts of regulators, on-chain metrics show that some crypto projects are still growing. My goal with this newsletter is to help you start your week, by highlighting the 7 most interesting and useful things I see in crypto.
In this issue:
Arbitrum usage explodes
Gains Network growth
Synapse revenue surge
Free mini-course on evaluating cryptos
Crypto gambling catalysts
US government debanking crypto?
Revelo Intel launch
Arbitrum On-Chain Metrics Show an Explosion in Activity
Despite market conditions, on-chain metrics on Arbitrum showed remarkable growth this week.
TVL is up 5.31% (even after the market dip of the past few days) to almost match where it was prior to Terra crashing.
Arbitrum daily transactions had their second highest day ever on February 8th, with 533K txs. The highest day was during the FTX collapse.
Arbitrum DEX volume has increased every week since the last week of December. This past week, Arbitrum DEXs processed nearly $2B of volume, a 7X increase from 6 weeks ago.
Stablecoins on Arbitrum grew 14.97% over the past 7 days, with one day featuring $38M of inflows.
Gains Network Revenue and TVL Push Higher
Since their expansion to Arbitrum, Gains Network, a perp exchange for crypto and forex, has posted strong growth in revenue and TVL.
Gains Network Revenue
Gains Network TVL
Synapse Revenue Climbs in January and February
Synapse revenue has been on a strong uptrend. From $3.6K on January 7th, it grew to $28.5K on February 7th. This is being driven in part by its status as one of the few bridges that supports Canto.
For a bonus reading on Synapse, this thread goes into more upcoming catalysts:
The DeFi Edge Releases a Free Mini-Course on How to Evaluate Crypto Protocols
Edgy of The DeFi Edge published a 35 Tweet mini-course on what he wishes he knew about evaluating crypto protocols when he started.
This thread covers everything from tokenomics to profit strategies.
Upcoming Catalysts in Crypto Gambling
Louis Cooper compiled a detailed overview of upcoming catalysts in the world of crypto gambling.
I’ve long said that gambling is one of the use-cases where crypto can provide tangible value today. Plus, building things on-chain allows for rapid experimentation and the development of casino games which have never existed before.
Operation Chokepoint 2.0 is Targeting Crypto?
Last week, Nic Carter wrote a thought-provoking article hypothesizing that the US government is undertaking a concerted effort to cut the crypto industry off from banking.
Given the SEC actions against Kraken and Paxos since this was published, this scenario and its implications are worth considering.
Revelo Intel Launches
This week, the much-anticipated Revelo Intel service launched. Revelo Intel provides deep dives on projects and easy-to-read summaries of important crypto-related podcasts, interviews, and content. I’ve already started using it to help prepare for making videos.
That’s all for this week. For more frequent content, follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
Until next time,
Patrick Scott
Dynamo DeFi