Unexpectedly, the Aptos blockchain has shown a consistent upward trend in daily active addresses, indicating steady growth in its user base.

I see Aptos more and more frequently in my timeline, so the sentiment might be changing.

As you already know, Chain Abstraction is a hot take.

Here’s my in-depth research on Socket Protocol, a new entrant of the unified UX race with great odds of being at the frontier of ChA.

Have a look!

The Short-Term Holder cohort, representing fresh market demand, is absorbing most of the current market pressure, with their unrealized losses steadily increasing in recent months.

However, these losses, relative to the market cap, haven't yet reached levels indicative of a full-scale bear market and resemble the turbulent period of 2019 instead.

There’s never too much of data. New research compilation:

General
➖ CoinShares: Digital Asset Bi-Weekly Digest
➖ Binance: Web3: The Household Name in the Making
➖ Binance: Blockchain Payments: A Fresh Start
➖ Cointelegraph: Could centralization be the silent killer of AI and cloud innovation?
➖ Galaxy: Weekly Top Stories - 8/30

Market
➖ Cryptorank: Meme Coins Summer: Trends and Insights
➖ Coinbase: Interpreting Token Inflation
➖ Coinbase: Weekly: Divergence
➖ Glassnode: Short-Term Holder Stress
➖ Galaxy: Fed’s Shifting Focus and the Road to Rate Reductions

Blockchains & networks
➖ 4pillars: One Way to Illuminate the Future: Polymarket

Tokens & currencies
➖ CoinMarketCap: What Is DOGS? Telegram’s Native Dog Meme Coin

GameFi & NFTs
➖ CoinGecko: Magic Eden Marks 6th Month as Top Marketplace With 37% Share
➖ Footprint: IVS Crypto 2024 Recap: Insights From Industry Leaders on Web3 Gaming

Out of 80 L2s and L3s on L2Beat only 7 have more 24h TPS than Ethereum.

They are:
• Xai (gaming L3)
• Base (general-purpose L2)
• Gravity (Orbit Stack chain by @Galxe)
• Taiko (general-purpose L2)
• Arbitrum (general-purpose L2)
• Apex (gaming L3)
• Playnance (gaming L3)

The best reminder that crypto is 90% speculation and 10% tech ↓

Among the top 30 protocols by monthly fees, stablecoin issuers and trading platfroms account for nearly 70% of the fees.

On the infrastructure side, only Bloxroute (MEV), MetaMask, DexScreener, and Across make it to the top 30 list.

The Sell-Side Risk Ratio has dropped into the lower band, indicating that most coins transacted on-chain are close to their original acquisition price.

This points to a saturation of profit and loss-taking activities within the current price range. Historically, this situation precedes periods of heightened volatility, just watch the charts closely.

Don't give up, legends.

I know that many of you are overwhelmed by the CT noise and shitposting.

That’s why I’ve compiled a list of 20 great newsletters to subscribe to, each offering some good insights.

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Most Ethereum L2s still use Ethereum as a DA layer.

Some highlights of alternative DA (AltDA) usage:

• Mantle uses MantleDA (an improved version of EigenDA).

• Celestia is adopted by Manta Pacific, Derive, Aevo, Karak, Orderly, and more.

• Metis posts data to MEMO (a decentralized storage solution).

• Fraxtal utilizes FraxtalDA.

• Gravity, ImmutableX, Reya, Sorare, and others post data off-chain, with a Data Availability Committee (DAC) responsible for its protection and supply.

Will this distribution of power remain in one year?

Whoa, there's definitely something wrong with Taiko's on-chain cost optimization.

Almost $3M in 90 days.
┐(ಥ ͜ʖಥ)┌

Btw, Merlin is now the largest Bitcoin sidechain by BTC locked, with over 9,000 BTC.

Next is Core with 5,500 BTC, followed by Lightning with more than 5,000 BTC. Bitlayer rounds out the top four with over 4,400 BTC.

On-chain trading activity has continued to decline, with the 7-day rolling volumes for DEXes on both Ethereum and Solana reaching levels last seen in February.

🥲

Since Ethereum's transition to PoS after The Merge, its price has lagged 44% behind Bitcoin.

Following the Dencun upgrade, the situation has worsened.
The ETH/BTC price has dropped to 0.0425, its lowest since April 2021.

Key reasons in my new thread.

The Bitcoin Sharpe ratio (short-term) is now in the green zone, suggesting limited short-term downtrend potential.

Well, at least some good news here.

You love my weekly research compilation, right?
Here’s more from this week.

General
➖ Binance: Monthly Market Insights - September 2024
➖ ConsenSys: 86% of Web3 Professionals Are Confident about The Future of Web3
➖ Glassnode: A Network Overview
➖ Galaxy: Ethereum All Core Developers Consensus Call #141 Writeup
➖ Galaxy: Weekly Top Stories - 9/6

Market
➖ Crypto.com: Asset Allocation With Crypto
➖ Coinbase: Weekly: Much Ado About Nothing

DeFi
➖ Cryptorank: Future of Prediction Markets After Elections
➖ Crypto.com: Decentralised Perpetuals Market

Blockchains & networks
➖ 4pillars: Taiko - The True Ethereum L2

Tokens & currencies
➖ 4pillars: Bonk: Beyond Meme, Into Culture
➖ CoinGecko: State of Stablecoins: 2024

GameFi & NFTs
➖ CoinGecko: Magic Eden Marks 6th Month as Top Marketplace With 37% Share

If I were to rank L2s by conviction, the list would be:

1 Arbitrum: Controls 40% of L2 TVL, has many active users, nearly the same number of MAUs as Ethereum, and features strong DeFi.

2 Mantle: Possesses Web3’s second-largest treasury, boasts good user retention, has the highest percentage of tokens in circulation across L2s, with the upcoming COOK spin-off and native DeFi products like mETH gaining traction.

3 Optimism: Features the OP Superchain thesis but has decreased user activity compared to Arbitrum, despite a comparable FDV.

4 Base: Exhibits high transaction activity, mostly associated with memecoins, which tend to have a very short life cycle.

5 Linea: Shows average metrics with ongoing airdrop activity. Although the initial excitement has waned, Consensys might deliver something noteworthy.

6 ZKSync & Scroll: ZKSync has good tech and developer activity, though a poorly executed airdrop led to decreased user activity. Scroll has seen a good influx of users farming the airdrop, but its long-term sustainability is doubtful.

7 Blast & Starknet: No comment necessary; the data speaks for itself.

The red market is the ultimate stress test for protocols, exposing where the real users are.

Here's my big research on the state of Ethereum L2s, packed with visuals and on-chain data insights ↓

Link to my Substack article

Delphi Digital has reviewed their 2023 predictions regarding the L2 wars. You can read about how the situation and expert opinions have evolved in their latest thread.

This complements my recent research on Ethereum L2 solutions.