Merlin Chain Becomes Bitcoin's Largest Layer 2 with $1.2B TVL and Major Ecosystem Growth

Daily Top Performer — Aave (AAVE)

The SPX index was up by 1.16%, expectations of potential Federal Reserve interest rate cuts fueled gains, despite concerns about the economy. Markets are now focused on upcoming inflation data for further clarity on interest rates. Coindesk Indices, an index measuring broader cryptocurrency market performance was up by 3.09%, with Bitcoin and Ether rising by 5.12% and 2.88%, respectively in the past 24 hours.

Today's top performer is AAVE, which surged 9.8% following the launch of a dedicated market for Ether.fi's weETH, highlighting high demand and Aave V4 features.

Aave (AAVE), founded in 2017, is a decentralized lending platform on Ethereum, allowing users to lend, borrow, and earn interest on 17 cryptocurrencies without intermediaries. It uses smart contracts, requires collateral for loans, and issues interest-accruing aTokens. Aave also offers features like instant loans. The Aave DAO has launched a dedicated market for Ether.fi's weETH liquid staking tokens. Users can now borrow stablecoins like USDC, pyUSD, and FRAX using weETH as collateral. The demand for borrowing against weETH is so high that caps are reached quickly on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, and Scroll. This new market, following Lido's and Ethena's, previews Aave V4's focus on curated, scalable markets and isolated risk, signaling a shift towards more liquid and scalable market structures.

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Talk of the Town:

Merlin Chain, the largest Bitcoin Layer 2 platform, has achieved significant milestones in just six months. With a Total Value Locked (TVL) exceeding $1.2 billion and over $16 billion in bridged transactions, Merlin Chain has become the leading hub for Bitcoin-native assets, supporting over 80% of such holders. The platform has processed 12.7 million transactions and hosts 1.9 million addresses. Merlin Chain supports over 200 dApps, has a fair $MERL token distribution, and launched a $210M Ecosystem Grant Program. Its advanced technical features include ZK-Rollup technology and multi-token staking Oracle nodes, with strong security partnerships and ongoing plans for further expansion in 2024.

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Bitcoin Spot ETF Flows:

Yesterday, the total flow for BTC Spot ETFs was $34.6 million, with a $22.8 million outflow from GBTC and a $57.4 million inflow from non-GBTC sources.

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Airdrop to Watch:

Balance Games, a Web3 gaming ecosystem backed by investors like A16z and Animoca, has launched the Pioneer Points Challenge, offering participants a chance to secure a whitelist spot for the Pioneer Badge NFT, with the campaign ending on September 16, 2024. The top 100 leaderboard, top 100 in referrals, and 200 users with 1000+ points will win whitelist spots. Additionally, points earned may also qualify participants for a potential $EPT token airdrop. Despite low odds for the whitelist, the airdrop offers another incentive to participate with minimal costs.