Shalini Nagarajan

Following a treasury drain caused by the Multichain hack, Fantom&#8217;s decentralized exchange (DEX) SpiritSwap is ceasing operations.



Multichain <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/multichain-anyswap-exploit">suspended its services</a> in July after facing unauthorized withdrawals over $130 million. The cross-chain router protocol stated that all funds and server access were <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/multichain-founder-family-arrested">under the custody of Chinese police</a> and CEO Zhaojun, who is allegedly detained in China.



SpiritSwap, which launched in April 2021, told users on Discord this week that due to its exposure to Multichain, it can no longer cover regular development expenses, operational salaries or marketing costs.



SpiritSwap enables token swaps on the Fantom network. Transaction fees are shared with liquidity providers and used to buy SPIRIT tokens, which are then distributed to inSPIRIT holders.



The team is currently seeking someone to take over responsibilities. But if they cannot find a successor by Sept. 1, SpiritSwap will shut down.



“Unless we can find a team, the winding down process will happen automatically, as the treasury has run out of funds to cover the necessary operational costs. SpiritSwap will remain operational until 1st of September, offering every member of our community the chance to safely remove their liquidity,” an administrator who goes by the name Nzaru said on Discord.



Nzaru noted that even if the team wanted to continue, the protocol would inevitably shut down as essential expenses like domain and GitHub fees would remain unpaid.



That stands in stark contrast to Ethereum DEX protocol <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/uniswap">Uniswap</a>, which is immutable on-chain and will function for as long as <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/Ethereum">Ethereum</a> itself does, and cannot be shut down.



However, some users voiced concerns on Telegram, stating they couldn&#8217;t withdraw their liquidity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Multichain CEO’s access to cloud servers allegedly restricted</h2>



A Multichain team member previously told Blockworks that the tokens affected by the sizable withdrawals lacked collateral, leaving impacted users with no immediate solution.



The member further disclosed that Zhaojun couldn&#8217;t execute the withdrawals independently, as the police control access to the cloud server account.



“His computer and password that has access to the cloud server platform are controlled by the police,” the member told Blockworks via Telegram.



The team member further indicated that they have no current plans to reimburse users for the unauthorized withdrawals.



“The users who hold assets minted by Multichain protocol on Fantom…will be affected because the assets they are holding have no collateral now,” they said.



The Multichain team hasn&#8217;t directly communicated with the Chinese officials holding Zhaojun, though their attorney is in touch. They are waiting for the investigation&#8217;s conclusion to begin legal actions and resolve the issue.



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Multichain bridge woes spell end for Fantom-based DEX

Sebastian Sinclair

They say a rising tide lifts all boats.



That certainly rings true for the altcoin market over the last 30 days, courtesy of strong momentum from leading majors like bitcoin and ether.



Ether’s dominance has inched up ever-so-slightly over 30 days to 17.8% while crypto assets such as <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/sol">solana</a>, <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/doge">dogecoin</a>, <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/xrp">XRP</a> and <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/ada">cardano</a> have seen a small decline of less than 1%.



Total market capitalization is now up 33% from $839 billion to $1.1 trillion since the new year, while the total value locked (TVL) in <a href="https://blockworks.co/category/defi">DeFi</a> has jumped 30% from $50 billion to $65 billion, DeFiLlama <a href="https://defillama.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a> show.



Of the top 50 altcoins with a market value above $200 million that Blockworks analyzed, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/aptos-surge-mirrors-ripple-bull-run">aptos</a>, whose reported market cap tops $2.7 billion, remains the sector&#8217;s largest gainer this year.



Up more than <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/apt">350% over 30 days</a>, the protocol previously dubbed as an “<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/aptos-not-out-to-kill">Ethereum Killer</a>” has roughly <a href="https://tokenterminal.com/terminal/projects/aptos" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">50-60 active developers</a> — similar to non-Ethereum smart contract platforms such as Cosmos, but with far less established dapps and a TVL of <a href="https://defillama.com/chain/Aptos" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$61.3 million</a>.



Skepticism from analysts centers around the true value of its <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/issue/30389460">circulating supply</a> and eye-popping fully-diluted valuation just north of $17 billion — which puts it as the sixth most valuable cryptoasset (excluding stablecoins) on an FDV basis.



For the token to justify its market value, a few things need to happen: grow its user base and liquidity, according to a spokesperson at Asia-based crypto services firm First Digital.



“Aptos investor unlocks are not set to begin until [October] this year, I believe, and the extreme negative positioning precipitated a massive short-squeeze. This pushed the price up quickly,” they said.



Still, many other altcoins with a market cap above $200 million have experienced considerable growth year-to-date. Layer-1 protocol Fantom’s native token <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/ftm">FTM</a>, for instance, has almost quadrupled in value — up 180% YTD, while DeFi protocol Injective (<a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/injective">INJ</a>) closely follows suit at 174%.



And let’s not forget Ethereum rollups <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/Optimism">Optimism</a> and <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/Arbitrum">Arbitrum</a> whose transactions now exceed that of the Ethereum mainnet alongside both platforms witnessing an uptick in <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/arbitrum-optimism-exceed-ethereum">daily active users</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Ether is “world’s best-performing asset”</h2>



But what’s driving the value of the altcoin market, and where are traders expecting prices to go next?



The rally in digital assets has been “broad-based,” with several altcoins — which were oversold in the December bloodbath of liquidations and year-end selling — having bounced back, BitOoda told Blockworks in an email.



When looking at the major bellwether crypto assets, ether is up 34% YTD to bitcoin’s 40% rise.



“This is counterintuitive, as ether has historically acted more as an altcoin and outperformed bitcoin during rallies,” a BitOoda spokesperson said. “One explanation for ETH’s underperformance could be the potential upcoming sell pressure overhang from staking withdrawal unlocks.”



That may be true this year, but when looking over a larger timeframe, the story appears different.



Analysis conducted by Galaxy Digital and <a href="https://www.galaxy.com/research/insights/top-stories-of-the-week-1-27-23/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published</a> last week found ether to be the world’s best-performing asset over a number of timeframes when viewing from a total return and risk-adjusted return lens.



The research took into account the seven, five and three-year returns as well as 2022 performances and a COVID low (March 2020) to present.



“Across every single time frame, except 5 years, ether is the best-performing asset against equity indices, major tech stocks, bonds, commodities and really anything else,” Galaxy said.



That’s despite industry windfalls last year, including several major bankruptcies, contagion woes and ecosystem failures that rocked prices across the board.



According to Australian digital asset trading and custody infrastructure firm Zerocap, altcoins largely act as high-beta assets to ether and their prices have been positively correlated with ether’s performance in recent weeks.



Arbitrum and Optimism have shown growth in on-chain metrics but are less stable in downward trends compared to ether, according to Zerocap analyst Sam Holman.



Their integration into crypto infrastructure is allowing for easier access to new apps on alternative chains, compared to non-EVM chains, due to their rapid growth and addressing the complexity of bridges and lack of liquidity, Holman said.&nbsp;



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
“This trend is expected to continue if the market remains strong.”
</blockquote>



A <a href="https://www.jpmorgan.com/solutions/cib/markets/etrading-trends" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recent survey</a> of 835 institutional traders conducted by JPMorgan found crypto, commodities and credit are likely to have the biggest increases in electronic trading volumes over the coming year. 



Asked what percentage of their trading volumes would be through e-trading channels, the traders predict crypto will top the list, and have a 2% greater impact on those volumes than commodities.



That’s incongruous considering JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon recently called bitcoin a &#8220;<a href="https://twitter.com/SquawkCNBC/status/1616039056961323008" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hyped up fraud</a>&#8221; and “pet rock” on CNBC’s Squawk Box during a sideline interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.



Despite perennial skepticism from the head of the world’s largest multinational bank, the performance of ether and bitcoin continue to drive the entire digital asset market forward.



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Where’s the Non-Bitcoin Market Headed Over Coming Months?

Andre Cronje, a long-serving figure in the DeFi space, says the Fantom blockchain project he advises is cash-flow positive, earning more than $10 million in annual revenue.



Cronje shared a blog post on Monday that claims the Fantom team maintains more than $300 million in assets without specifying how much is considered liquid. “We are still scaling up,” Cronje said.



Fantom&#8217;s <a href="https://andrecronje.medium.com/fantom-an-inside-financial-peak-at-being-a-crypto-company-323d29fb5e81" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a> treasury, as yet unproven on-chain, is made up of around 450 million FTM ($85.7 million). There’s also $100 million in stablecoins and $100 million in undisclosed cryptocurrencies, as well as $50 million in non-crypto assets, per Cronje’s post.



Fantom is a layer-1 blockchain compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machine (and Ethereum dapps). The network competes with the likes of Solana, Avalanche and Polygon for Ethereum’s market dominance.



Cronje&#8217;s blog works to reassure investors the Fantom Foundation&#8217;s solvency while detailing its financial history. The non-profit firm, which currently employs over <a href="https://rocketreach.co/fantom-foundation-profile_b457b6c7fca4bc38" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">40 staff</a> according to RocketReach, has an annual salary burn rate of $7 million. Cronje expects Fantom’s coffers to last for another 30 years without touching its FTM stash.&nbsp;



DeFi strategies are currently bringing in $6 million per year for the Foundation, said Cronje, revenue it uses to buy its own FTM tokens. Yield farming on Compound and Synthetix were cited as previous plays.



Transaction fees alongside validator and delegate earnings brings Fantom&#8217;s total yearly revenue beyond the $10 million mark, although that figure excludes capital gains tax and appears based on FTM&#8217;s current valuation.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Cronje returns to Fantom as it struggles to maintain growth</h3>



Cronje’s re-emergence comes as Fantom’s native asset flounders along with much of the crypto space. FTM is down more than 90% year to date, dropping from $2.25 to less than $0.20. FTM&#8217;s market cap is now less than $500 million, ranked 73rd by <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/fantom/historical_data#panel" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CoinGecko</a>.



Cronje is a prolific DeFi developer, credited with creating projects such as Yearn Finance, SushiSwap and Cream V2. He deactivated his Twitter account after declaring <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/defi-star-developer-andre-cronje-calls-it-quits" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">departure</a> from the crypto space in March — about two months after the pseudonymous CFO for DeFi collective Frog Nation, Sifu, was <a href="https://curve.substack.com/p/january-27-2022-sifu-not-safu-" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">outed</a> as <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/11/the-strange-tale-of-quadriga-gerald-cotten" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">QuadrigaCX</a> co-founder Michael Patryn. 



Cronje, while heralded for his commitment to the core tenets of decentralized finance, has faced <a href="https://thedefiant.io/andre-cronje-yearn-finance-quits-defi-fantom" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">criticism</a> for launching crypto projects only to leave them abruptly. On <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andre-cronje/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LinkedIn</a>, the South African-native has been listed as an “architect” at Fantom Foundation for the past month, having made his unofficial comeback in late October. Blockworks has reached out for comment.



But Fantom&#8217;s total value locked is suffering even more than its token price — just $424 million is staked inside Fantom DeFi protocols, down from more than $8 billion in March, a 95% reduction, per <a href="https://defillama.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DeFiLlama</a>.



For scale, there’s $23.5 billion locked in Ethereum&#8217;s DeFi apps and more than $5.25 billion in BNB Chain&#8217;s, with the former losing about 70% of its TVL since March.



Fantom initially raised $40 million in a June 2018 token sale, Cronje said, which mostly brought in ether worth between $450 and $700 at the time (now valued at close to $1,200).&nbsp;The project was left with just $5 million in operational capital, however, having sold its ether for US dollars at significantly less than its raise value.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-flourish wp-block-embed-flourish"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/11978459/embed#?secret=UGBm50UfET" data-secret="UGBm50UfET" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="575" width="700"></iframe>
</div><figcaption>Fantom and Solana&#8217;s native tokens have practically tracked each other over the past three years (toggle linear and logarithmic scale at the top of the chart)</figcaption></figure>



Cronje said the Fantom Foundation was earning more than $1 million per week by February 2021. The crypto market was roaring back then: DeFi tokens were surging, bitcoin was approaching $60,000 for the first time and yield farming was still lucrative.



In the same month, the project sold 81.5 million FTM to Sam Bankman-Fried’s now-bankrupt trading unit Alameda Research for nearly $35 million ($0.428831 per token), as well as an additional 10.4 million FTM to Blocktower for $5 million.&nbsp;FTM is now worth less than half of that price.



Cronje said Alameda sought further participation but Fantom opted against it. He also said the team declined to pay $300 million to an unnamed exchange for a listing and $100 million to an NFT marketplace for integration.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Fantom prefers to buy FTM over selling it</h3>



Fantom now opts to buy its own token rather than exchange it for partnerships, integrations or crypto exchange listings, according to Cronje. 



He claimed that unlike most of Fantom’s competitors, its foundation owns a relatively small amount of FTM’s supply — at launch less than 3%. 



On the other hand, Messari <a href="https://messari.io/asset/fantom/profile/launch-and-initial-token-distribution" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">indicates</a> Fantom&#8217;s founders, team and advisors collectively garnered roughly 20% of the token supply, more-or-less in line with <a href="https://messari.io/asset/avalanche/profile/launch-and-initial-token-distribution" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Avalanche</a> and <a href="https://messari.io/asset/solana/profile/launch-and-initial-token-distribution" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Solana</a>. Polygon&#8217;s team however <a href="https://messari.io/asset/polygon/profile/launch-and-initial-token-distribution" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">kept</a> almost 42% of the initial supply, per Messari.



In any case, based on Cronje’s blog post, Fantom’s FTM stash now equals around 18% of the circulating supply.&nbsp;And despite recording $50 million in losses throughout the Terra-inspired market chaos in May, Cronje appears confident the project can weather the bear market.



“If your entire revenue model is selling your token, you are doing a disservice to yourself, your blockchain, and your supporters,” Cronje said. “If [DeFi] didn’t exist, we would likely not be operational today. I believe the same is true for many companies out there.”



“Crypto is dead. Long live crypto.”



David Canellis contributed reporting.



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Cronje Says DeFi Saved Fantom: ‘We Are Cash Flow Positive’

Jack Kubinec

<div id="highlights-block_62bf46e463b31" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The companies assert no funds were stolen, though they cannot tell for sure</li>
 <li>The hack comes as Polygon announced a partnership with Meta to bring NFTs to Facebook</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



A hacker produced a phishing pop-up on Polygon and Fantom this morning warning users their funds were at risk and urging them to enter their private account keys.&nbsp;



The hacker accessed Polygon and Fantom’s remote procedure call (RPC) interfaces through the Web3 infrastructure platform Ankr by tricking a third party domain name system (DNS) provider into giving the hacker access to Polygon and Fantom’s domains.



Ankr’s DNS is hosted on a web service named Gandi, and its customer support has a section for clients who want to change the administrator’s email for a domain.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/1o_R5kAc11QEYSiJNBjnVw8H47zLNZwxe6yLZgnvQBcc_s_X2ZYYZjkAM5UrsuYD_Nt0IPLrT2iV6cjO2-aJby895yT0tzUKO1XZvn5sGPZTw7vuFb3LlHIB5_maJPr40CCpRLZONbepryvVA5c" alt="" width="492" height="160"/><figcaption>Customer service communication at Gandi | Source: Ankr</figcaption></figure></div>


Posing as an Ankr employee, the hacker sent Gandi a fake identity card and convinced the platform’s customer support service to change the email address for the domain registrar account from Ankr’s to the hacker’s Hotmail account.



Ankr is “still trying to understand what [Gandi] accepted as proof for this change,” Peter Stewart, integration manager at Ankr, said.



Ankr was able to regain control of the DNS within six hours of the attack. Sources at Polygon and Ankr told Blockworks that no user funds were compromised, but also conceded they cannot conclusively determine whether any users fell victim to the phishing attack.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Attention please, attack on <a href="https://twitter.com/0xPolygon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@0xPolygon</a> is ongoing right now! Users see an RPC error asking users to urgently reset their seed on polygonapp net (looks like this is wether DNS hijack or a form of a supply chain attack). Just a scam popup to bring you to a page to put your seed. <a href="https://t.co/fZxtlkKeDN">pic.twitter.com/fZxtlkKeDN</a>&mdash; CIA Officer (@officer_cia) <a href="https://twitter.com/officer_cia/status/1542829400143568897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



“DNS is unfortunately still a centralized point of failure in the internet,” Ankr co-founder Ryan Fang told Blockworks via Telegram.&nbsp;



Fang said Ankr will continue to work with Gandi, but it will ask its DNS providers to use two-factor authentication moving forward.



The phishing attack comes as Polygon announced a partnership with Meta to bring NFTs to Facebook — and as NFT (non-fungible token) sales reach their lowest point in a year, according to the blockchain research platform Dune.



“It was a third party outage that does not affect Polygon in any way. Meta is not using that third party either,” <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mudit4/?originalSubdomain=in" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mudit Gupta</a>, chief information security officer at Polygon, told Blockworks.



Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



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Hacker Posed as Ankr Employee To Phish Polygon and Fantom Users

<div id="highlights-block_62255a45a7abd" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Shortly following an announcement by former colleague and developer Anton Nell, crypto prices on project associated with Cronje fell sharply</li>
 <li>No reason for the pair&#8217;s apparent departure from the DeFi sector was given.</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Multiple tokens associated with crypto developer Andre Cronje representing governance in projects and apps in DeFi fell sharply over the weekend following an announcement the South African plans to quit the space for good.



According to a <a href="https://twitter.com/AntonNellCrypto/status/1500405473337565191?s=20&amp;t=T4sILi6HPb-X0nMzU6Tgxw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweet</a> on Saturday by Cronje&#8217;s colleague and former senior solutions architect for the Fantom Foundation, Anton Nell — speaking on Cronje&#8217;s behalf — the pair have decided to stop contributing to the &#8220;defi/crypto space&#8221; and related projects.



No reason for their apparent departure from the DeFi (decentralized finance) sector was given. It is unclear if the pair intend to continue contributing to projects outside DeFi. Cronje deleted his Twitter account last week and updated his <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andre-cronje/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LinkedIn</a> to reflect he was no longer working at Fantom.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Andre and I have decided that we are closing the chapter of contibuting to the defi/crypto space. There are around ~25 apps and services that we are terminating on 03 April 2022. 1/3&mdash; Anton Nell (@AntonNellCrypto) <a href="https://twitter.com/AntonNellCrypto/status/1500405473337565191?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Of the 25 projects, Nell said the most notable ones are related to Yearn Finance, Keep3r Network, Multichain.xyz, smart contract protocol exchange Solidly, Chainlist and Bribe Crv Finance. Some projects will apparently be carried on by other people, Nell added.



Front-end services for most of the projects are expected to end by April 3 while their open source code and smart contracts will allow others to fill the void left by Cronje, according to a new message on multiple websites affiliated with the prolific developer, such as <a href="https://yearn.fi/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yearn.fi</a>.



<a href="https://yearn.finance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yearn.Finance</a>, for instance — the protocol&#8217;s main entry point — continues unabated. A leading pseudonymous developer for <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-yearn-finance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yearn</a> who goes by the name Banteg was <a href="https://twitter.com/bantg/status/1500416805659201537" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">quick to note on Twitter</a> that Cronje has not contributed to the project for &#8220;over a year.&#8221;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Toxic DeFi culture?</h3>



In 2020, Cronje told <a href="https://decrypt.co/37995/exclusive-yfi-andre-cronje-broke-quitting-defi" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Decrypt</a> he was on the edge of quitting crypto, citing a &#8220;toxic&#8221; DeFi community as his primary reason. Those comments came five months after Cronje&#8217;s departure from&nbsp;Yearn, known as iEarn Finance at the time.



While the announcement is reminiscent of those made by Cronje in the past, Nell said this time was markedly different and definite.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">&#8220;Unlike previous &#8216;building in defi sucks&#8217; rage-quits, this is not a knee-jerk reaction to the hate received from releasing a project, but a decision that has been coming for a while now,&#8221; Nell said in a follow-up tweet.</blockquote>



Immediately following the announcement on Twitter, dozens of native tokens linked to projects and apps associated with or founded by Nell and Cronje began to fall. Fantom&#8217;s token (FTM), to which Cronje held a technical adivsory role at for three years, has fallen 17.5%. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="533" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FTM-1024x533.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-18231" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FTM-1024x533.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FTM-1024x533.jpg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FTM-1024x533.jpg?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FTM-1024x533.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FTM-1024x533.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FTM-1024x533.jpg?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FTM-1024x533.jpg?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FTM-1024x533.jpg?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FTM-1024x533.jpg?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FTM-1024x533.jpg?w=50 50w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>FTM begins to fall immediately following announcement from Nell</figcaption></figure>



The Fantom Foundation pointed to its large team to minimize the impact of Cronje&#8217;s move.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">We&#39;re extremely grateful to Andre for all he did for crypto as a whole. However, Fantom isn&#39;t and never was a one man team. There are 40+ people working at Fantom.&mdash; Fantom Foundation (@FantomFDN) <a href="https://twitter.com/FantomFDN/status/1500425879322771457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Keeper Network&#8217;s token (Keep3r) suffered greater losses and has fallen 35% while Yearn Finance&#8217;s token (YFI) fell 12.6% before recovering slightly — down 8.6%. All other tokens mentioned in the tweet have followed a similar pattern.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Leading by example</h3>



Cronje has had a prolific career in crypto. According to his LinkedIn page, Cronje has held numerous positions within the community including technology head at the Fusion Foundation, tech analyst at Lemniscap and code reviewer at news outlet Crypto Briefing. He has also developed and contributed to numerous DeFi projects including Yearn Finance, Curve Finance and Fantom.



One source speaking under condition of anonymity and a former colleague of Cronje told Blockworks on Sunday he was impressed by the developer&#8217;s &#8220;inspiring work&#8221; who led by example.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">&#8220;Andre is an impressive deep thinker with big questions,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;He is an important and positive influence&#8230;his departure will have an impact.&#8221; </blockquote>



Blockworks&#8217; source also added that the crypto market, in general, tends to overreact to events such as these and that the projects outlined in Nell&#8217;s tweet still have &#8220;exceptional&#8221; people working there.



&#8220;They&#8217;ll still kick massive goals,&#8221; the source said.



Blockworks attempted to contact Cronje but did not receive a reply by press time.



Macauley Peterson contributed reporting for this story.



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DeFi Star Developer Andre Cronje Calls it Quits

Sam Martin

<div id="highlights-block_60c9fc7f1690b" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Fantom ($FTM) climbs 35% in one day as its total value locked explodes higher</li>
 <li>Bitcoin retreats to $54,000 after a strong run</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Markets Wrap Highlights</h3>



<ul><li>Bitcoin is consolidating near $54,000 after a strong rally. On-chain fundamentals indicate further upside remains over the coming months.</li><li>Dog coins back in the spotlight</li><li>EIP-1559 adoption stalls</li><li>Stablecoins remain a hot topic </li><li>Voting for proposal 128 to enable inter-blockchain communication between Cosmos and Terra is live. </li><li>Fantom takes off in a huge way</li></ul>



Latest in Macro:



<ul><li>S&amp;P 500: 4,399, +.83%</li><li>NASDAQ: 14,654, +1.05%</li><li>Gold: $1,755, -.49%</li><li>WTI Crude Oil: $78.87, +1.85%</li><li>10-Year Treasury: 1.58%, +.056%</li></ul>



Latest in Crypto:



<ul><li>BTC: $54,168, -1.84%</li><li>ETH: $3,617, +.78%</li><li>ETH/BTC: .0667, +3.29%</li><li>BTC.D: 43.78%, -2.85%</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Bitcoin</h3>



Bitcoin is consolidating, hovering around $54,000 after the impressive run-up the past week. The long-term narrative remains intact, with long-term holders (LTHs) holding strong. As seen in the graph below, when the LTH supply shock ratio touches the upper end of the range, the price goes up over the coming months. History does not always repeat, but it often rhymes. All there is to do is wait for the price to catch up to the fundamental on-chain data. LTHs set the price.



&#8220;As far as the markets in general go, we&#8217;re getting close to all-time highs in both bitcoin and ether. There&#8217;s energy in the air from VCs, Institutions, and the ETF-watching crowd,&#8221; Hans Hauge, Head of Quant Strategy at Ikigai told Blockworks. &#8220;At the same time, the S&amp;P 500 seems to have stabilized and is recovering quickly. Notably, retail interest in crypto is quite low right now, with the exception of NFTs. What we&#8217;ve seen in the past is that once the ball gets really rolling it doesn&#8217;t top out until retail has FOMOd in. I think the next 3-6 months could be very exciting.&#8221; 



Andrew Yang, former presidential candidate and founder of the Forward Party, <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1445977888331870208?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">took to twitter</a> to express his views on cryptocurrencies. &#8220;Rule of thumb &#8211; when faced with a trillion-dollar industry that could define the future try not to screw it up&#8221;. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="576" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LTH-supply-shock-1-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-9104" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LTH-supply-shock-1-1024x576.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LTH-supply-shock-1-1024x576.jpg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LTH-supply-shock-1-1024x576.jpg?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LTH-supply-shock-1-1024x576.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LTH-supply-shock-1-1024x576.jpg?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LTH-supply-shock-1-1024x576.jpg?w=464 464w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LTH-supply-shock-1-1024x576.jpg?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LTH-supply-shock-1-1024x576.jpg?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LTH-supply-shock-1-1024x576.jpg?w=1920 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Source: Glassnode / @WClementelll</figcaption></figure>



The entire crypto market looks ready to take another leg higher. There is a massive cup and handle pattern playing out as we try and break the neckline resistance, as seen on the chart below of the total crypto market capitalization. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="496" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Cup-Handle-1-1024x496.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-9100" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Cup-Handle-1-1024x496.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Cup-Handle-1-1024x496.jpg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Cup-Handle-1-1024x496.jpg?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Cup-Handle-1-1024x496.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Cup-Handle-1-1024x496.jpg?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Cup-Handle-1-1024x496.jpg?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Cup-Handle-1-1024x496.jpg?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Cup-Handle-1-1024x496.jpg?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Cup-Handle-1-1024x496.jpg?w=1776 1776w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Source: @galaxyBTC</figcaption></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Ethereum</h3>



The price of ether is unchanged, hovering near $3,600. While there isn&#8217;t much action in ether price, perpetual funding rates are positive across the board. This indicates that many traders are anxious to take a long position. Another metric that says traders are bullish is the put:call ratio, which currently sits at .443. 



Shiba Inu, an ERC-20 token equivalent of Dogecoin, is up a whopping 300% over the last 7-days, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-07/shiba-inu-now-12th-biggest-crypto-after-367-rise-in-just-a-week" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to Bloomberg</a>. Despite being a meme coin and having no utility, it has climbed to the 20th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization with a value of $9.1 billion. 



Type 2, or EIP-1559 enabled transactions, have stabilized at roughly 50% of total volume settled on the Ethereum protocol. Since the tail end of August, there has not been much increase in EIP-1559 adoption.



<a href="https://finbold.com/german-auto-company-becomes-the-first-in-eu-to-finance-cars-on-ethereum-blockchain/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">A German auto dealership aims</a> to use Ethereum based smart contracts to reimagine the way people purchase or lease cars. The idea is to reduce the amount of documentation for themselves and their clients. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="715" height="437" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EIP1559-type-TX.png" alt="" class="wp-image-9111" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EIP1559-type-TX.png?w=715 715w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EIP1559-type-TX.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EIP1559-type-TX.png?w=420 420w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EIP1559-type-TX.png?w=427 427w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EIP1559-type-TX.png?w=358 358w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EIP1559-type-TX.png?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 715px) 100vw, 715px" /><figcaption>Source: Blocknative.com</figcaption></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)</h3>



Gaming guilds Yield Guild Games and Merit Circle (no token available for trade) <a href="https://medium.com/yield-guild-games/yield-guild-games-partners-with-gaming-guild-merit-circle-to-expand-the-play-to-earn-movement-b2792dacfbba" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced a partnership</a> earlier today.



 &#8220;YGG has made an investment of $175,000 in the guild and will be working together to help shape the play-to-earn ecosystem. Through this collaborative guild partnership, Merit Circle and YGG can host events, lend assets to each other, make investments, and pursue various projects to benefit both communities,&#8221; the article stated. &#8220;As of date, Merit Circle has impacted various communities through its scholarship program in the Philippines, Venezuela, Africa, and Nigeria.&#8221; Trading data from <a href="https://opensea.io/rankings" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenSea</a> and <a href="https://solanalysis.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Solanalysis</a> of some of the top Solana and Ethereum projects can be found in the chart below:



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="336" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.35-PM-1024x336.png" alt="" class="wp-image-9113" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.35-PM-1024x336.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.35-PM-1024x336.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.35-PM-1024x336.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.35-PM-1024x336.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.35-PM-1024x336.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.35-PM-1024x336.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.35-PM-1024x336.png?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.35-PM-1024x336.png?w=1246 1246w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Top Ethereum Projects</figcaption></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="288" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.05-PM-1024x288.png" alt="" class="wp-image-9114" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.05-PM-1024x288.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.05-PM-1024x288.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.05-PM-1024x288.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.05-PM-1024x288.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.05-PM-1024x288.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.05-PM-1024x288.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.05-PM-1024x288.png?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-3.32.05-PM-1024x288.png?w=1233 1233w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Top Solana Projects </figcaption></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">DeFi and Stablecoins</h3>



<ul><li>&#8220;If the value of Tether comes in essence from people’s confidence in the value of Bitcoin — could a strong wind blow the whole thing over?&#8221; Bloomberg opinion columnist <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-10-07/matt-levine-s-money-stuff-looking-for-tether-s-money" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Matt Levine said in an article about Tether.</a></li><li>MoneyGram customers can soon convert cash to USDC, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/moneygram-customers-can-now-convert-cash-to-usdc/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blockworks reported.</a></li><li>An anonymous wallet holder locked $54 million of $WBTC in a Maker vault in order to mint $20 million of dai. To see more details of the transaction, check out <a href="https://oasis.app/25977" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Oasis</a>. </li><li>Proposal 128 to enable cosmos inter-blockchain communication transfers on Terra is <a href="https://station.terra.money/proposal/128" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">live for voting.</a></li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Fantom</h3>



Total value locked (TVL) on Fantom surged over the last 24 hours to $6.67 billion, an increase of 183%. This put Fantom in the top-5 for TVL amongst Layer-1 chains. When looking at the Market Cap/TVL metric, Fantom has the lowest multiple of the top 5: sitting at just .71. This could mean that Fantom has some more room to run. 



<a href="https://geist.finance/markets" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Geist Finance</a>, a peer-to-peer borrowing and lending platform akin to compound or Aave, launched yesterday. 40% of its eponymous Geist token supply is allocated to lenders and borrowers through its liquidity mining program, hence the rapid growth in TVL. Michael Chen, the former CMO of the Fantom Foundation, committed Fantom incentives to Geist, allowing borrowers and lenders to earn Fantom in return for staking their Geist.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="286" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/L1-TVL-1024x286.png" alt="" class="wp-image-9117" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/L1-TVL-1024x286.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/L1-TVL-1024x286.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/L1-TVL-1024x286.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/L1-TVL-1024x286.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/L1-TVL-1024x286.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/L1-TVL-1024x286.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/L1-TVL-1024x286.png?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/L1-TVL-1024x286.png?w=1032 1032w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Source: Defi Llama</figcaption></figure>



Billions of dollars have been bridged in the past 24 hours alone, according to <a href="https://app.uniwhales.io/fantom/bridge-tracker" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Uniwhales</a>. <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/fantom/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fantom</a> was most recently trading at $1.89. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="422" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-4.17.21-PM-1024x422.png" alt="" class="wp-image-9118" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-4.17.21-PM-1024x422.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-4.17.21-PM-1024x422.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-4.17.21-PM-1024x422.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-4.17.21-PM-1024x422.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-4.17.21-PM-1024x422.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-4.17.21-PM-1024x422.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-4.17.21-PM-1024x422.png?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-4.17.21-PM-1024x422.png?w=1077 1077w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Source: app.uniwhales.io</figcaption></figure>



That is all for today, folks. Let&#8217;s do this again at the same time tomorrow. 



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