Solana Support - Ethereum-based Uniswap adds Solana support in win for tackling DeFi fragmentation.
Stable Sights - Japan’s big banks join forces on stablecoins to speed corporate payments.
Binance Buyout - Binance cleared to acquire Korean crypto exchange GOPAX.
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Messari's protocol reports give you a deep dive on the foundation and state of top crypto protocols, including key metrics and notable events. See the complete list of protocol reports here and get a preview of our latest report below.
Stacks extends Bitcoin’s functionality, enabling smart contracts and DeFi secured by Bitcoin’s base layer
Despite market headwinds, Stacks saw rising DeFi TVL (+97.6% Q1, +9.2% Q2), more transactions (+68% Q2), and growing STX locked (+8.6% Q2)
Jump Crypto, BitGo, Hex Trust, Copper, and others integrated or supported sBTC and STX—strengthening compliance and liquidity
Withdrawal functionality launched in April 2025; deposit caps repeatedly filled within hours, showing strong demand for Bitcoin-native DeFi
Stellar has been a leading network for real-world asset (RWA) issuance since 2021
Over $533M in RWAs (excl. stablecoins) now live on Stellar, up 25% YoY; total RWA access (including stablecoins) exceeds $3B
RWAs on Stellar include Franklin Templeton (BENJI), WisdomTree, Ondo Finance (USDY), Mercado Bitcoin, Centrifuge, RedSwan, and Archax
Centrifuge introduced freely transferable RWAs on Stellar, enabling full DeFi composability—a critical step for onchain utility
The Optimism Superchain is a network of 34 OP Chains that account for over 50% of all L2 activity and more than 10% of all crypto activity
Optimism Superchain GDP totaled $396.5M YTD, while Optimism Collective revenue totaled $8.3M
SuperStacks incentives spanned April 16 to June 30, causing Superchain TVL to increase 54% from $3.36B to $5.17B
Morpho’s TVL increased 246.9% YTD to $1.74B as it grew in market share and launched on OP Mainnet and Unichain
Yield Basis, a new protocol by Curve founder Michael Egorov, quietly had one of the most oversubscribed token launches of the year. A 98x on Legion, with nearly $800M in total commitments for a $5M raise at a $200M FDV… and even more through Binance Wallet. Some other interesting tidbits:
$YB, the token, TGEd two days ago on October 15, 2025.
The team increased the 30M BTC cap to 150M, which filled instantly.
But, what makes this cool is (i) the addressal of impermanent loss in AMMs affecting LP profits and (ii) a potential new way of crypto fundraising.
On the fundraising side: Legion, the launch platform, rethinks token public sales by replacing the usual model with a theoretical merit-based framework. Each participant receives a Legion Score based on (i) onchain activity, (ii) development contributions, and (iii) community engagement, which determines the percentage of the sale they can access. A capped portion of tokens is reserved for high-scoring users, while the remaining are sold to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. In partnership with Kraken, Legion layers this merit system on top of a compliant, KYC-first infrastructure, making it more transparent and retail-accessible vs the typical closed-door raise.
On the tech side: Yield Basis, the first protocol launched through this framework, re-engineers AMM mechanics to “fix” impermanent loss, the reality when LPs underperform simple holding when asset prices fluctuate. Traditional AMMs follow the xy = k curve, meaning LP value grows sublinearly with the underlying asset (√p instead of p). Yield Basis introduces 2x leveraged liquidity, keeping the LP’s value proportional to the asset’s price.
And guess what.
Simulations across six years of BTC/USD data show average returns of ~20% APR, peaking at 60% during high-volatility periods and stabilizing ~9% in calm markets… all post fees.
How?
The protocol integrates Curve’s crvUSD as a rebalancing subsidy, routing half of stablecoin interest income toward offsetting leverage costs. This converts volatility (normally the source of IL) into a profit driver. It’s a very elegant application of Curve’s CryptoSwap model, turning rebalancing into a yield-generating.
Have fun,
Whynonah