Kraken, a prominent crypto exchange, announced its decision to close its NFT marketplace by February 27, 2025. This move comes as the company aims to reallocate resources towards other business ventures. Despite a recent uptick in NFT transaction volumes, the industry has faced a downturn over the past five months. Kraken's marketplace, operational since November 2022, will cease listing, bidding, or selling activities after November 27, 2024, though users can still withdraw assets. This strategic shift highlights Kraken's focus on developing new products and services.

Rumpel Labs, a decentralized tokenization platform, has seen a remarkable surge in its total value locked (TVL) since its launch in September. According to DefiLlama, the Ethereum-based application now boasts $46 million in TVL, marking a 760% increase over the past month.

Rumpel facilitates the tokenization of off-chain loyalty points, enabling their trade on decentralized secondary markets. This innovation aims to enhance the dynamics of the points market by allowing price discovery through blockchain tokenization.

The platform supports popular Ethereum projects like Ethena and Symbiotic, with Wrapped eETH (WEETH) comprising the majority of deposits.

Uniswap Labs has announced a $15.5 million bug bounty program ahead of the anticipated launch of Uniswap v4, marking a significant evolution in the Uniswap Protocol. Originally set for Q3 2024, the launch is now expected by the end of this year. The bounty, described as the largest in history, targets critical vulnerabilities in the v4 core contracts, with plans to expand to periphery contracts soon. Uniswap v4 aims to transform the protocol into a developer platform, offering new market structures and cost savings for liquidity providers and swappers. The codebase has undergone extensive audits by leading firms.

Talus Network, a provider of AI training infrastructure for decentralized finance (DeFi) and other blockchain applications, has successfully raised $6 million in a strategic funding round led by Polychain Capital. This latest investment values the company at $150 million. The funding round also saw participation from Foresight Ventures, Animoca Brands, and other notable investors.

The capital will be used to enhance the Talus ecosystem, focusing on blockchain infrastructure Protochain and the Nexus framework for developing autonomous AI agents. Talus also plans to introduce an AI-powered dating app on the blockchain.

Cardano's leading DeFi applications, Liqwid and Lenfi, have experienced a significant surge in total value locked (TVL), increasing by over 300% in the past month, as reported by DefiLlama. Liqwid, the largest DeFi app on the Cardano network, reached a record $177 million in TVL, marking a 38% rise in just the past week.

This growth is attributed to the recent appreciation in ADA, Cardano's native cryptocurrency, which has outperformed Bitcoin recently. The positive sentiment is partly due to Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson's discussions with US lawmakers on crypto regulation.

ADA's prominence as a key asset in Cardano's lending platforms has been crucial to this TVL growth.

Pump.fun, a platform enabling users to create custom tokens for potential listing on Raydium, has suspended its live streaming feature following incidents of misuse. The decision came after a Pudgy Penguins project manager, Beau, highlighted a disturbing event where a user threatened self-harm if a token did not reach a specific market cap. In response, Pump.fun removed coin images, descriptions, and comments to curb platform abuse. The company emphasized its commitment to user safety and announced the indefinite pause of live streaming until adequate moderation measures are in place.

OpenTrade, a blockchain platform enabling asset managers to create yield-bearing lending products, has secured $4 million in an extended funding round led by AlbionVC, with participation from a16z Crypto and CMCC Global. This capital injection aims to accelerate OpenTrade's growth and expand its product offerings. Built on Circle, the firm behind USDC, OpenTrade addresses the market demand for stablecoin yield products by providing a seamless infrastructure for partners. The company also plans to enhance client success systems for FinTechs and neobanks, ensuring smooth integration and onboarding.

Ripple has announced the launch of the first tokenised money market fund on the XRP Ledger, in collaboration with UK-based investment company Abrdn and digital asset exchange Archax. This initiative is part of XRPL's strategy to become a leading platform for real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation and institutional DeFi. Ripple plans to tokenise $5 million of Abrdn's Lux fund, marking a significant step towards operational cost savings and settlement efficiencies. The move aligns with forecasts predicting the real-world tokenisation market could reach $16 trillion by 2030.

Avalanche has unveiled its Avalanche9000 testnet, marking the largest upgrade since its mainnet debut in September 2020. This significant update introduces technical enhancements aimed at reducing chain deployment costs by 99.9%, according to a company press release.

Key features include the ACP-77 proposal, enhancing flexibility for Avalanche Layer 1 validators, and the ACO-125, which cuts the base fee by 96%, simplifying customization and maintenance. Additionally, the upgrade supports Interchain Messaging, promoting interoperability among Layer 1s.

The network currently supports over 500 Layer 1s, hosting diverse applications from gaming to payment solutions.

Kai Finance, a leveraged yield platform on the Sui blockchain, has experienced a significant increase in its total value locked (TVL), rising over 2,200% in the past month to reach $12.7 million as of November 25, according to DefiLlama data. Starting with $1 million in TVL at the beginning of November, Kai has emerged as a top performer in the DeFi sector, particularly on the Sui blockchain.

The platform offers investors opportunities to earn passive income through Single Asset Vaults or Leveraged LP Vaults, utilizing strategies across DeFi applications on Sui. The most deposited tokens include SUI, USDT, USDC, and Wrapped USDC, with SUI's share increasing from $120,000 to over $4.8 million. USDT deposits have grown from $700,000 to nearly $4.4 million, while USDC has surged from zero to over $3 million.

Kai recorded its highest daily inflows on November 22, with over $2.2 million deposited. USDT leads with a high annual percentage yield (APY) of nearly 20%, attracting investors seeking higher returns than traditional banks. USDC offers an APY of nearly 14%.

In addition to single token vaults, Kai provides LP vaults with up to 10x leverage, offering returns exceeding 300%. The SUI-USDC pool, for instance, has an APR between 122% and 312%, despite having only about $1,300 in TVL. The USDT-USDC LP vault is the largest, with over $5 million in TVL, offering up to 97% annual returns with maximum leverage, appealing to investors due to the stability of USDT and USDC.

Stellar, a longstanding layer 1 blockchain with smart contract capabilities, has achieved a new milestone in its decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. According to DefiLlama, Stellar's total value locked (TVL) in decentralized applications reached $61 million on November 24, marking a 150% increase from mid-November's $24 million. This growth is attributed to Stellar's decentralized exchanges, a lending app, and a stablecoin project, all benefiting from the recent 400% surge in XLM, Stellar's native cryptocurrency. Stellar's performance is notable amid the broader crypto market's bullish trends.

Sky Mavis, the developer behind the prominent NFT game Axie Infinity, has announced a strategic layoff of 21% of its workforce, impacting approximately 50 employees. This decision aligns with the company's long-term growth strategy, focusing on core product development, including the expansion of the Ronin Network, Mavis Marketplace, and a new Axie Infinity game. Co-founder Nguyen Thanh Trung clarified that financial constraints did not drive this move. The company aims to capitalize on emerging crypto-friendly policies and anticipates significant innovation in utility-driven Web3 projects.

Aptos, a layer-1 blockchain, has announced the integration of Circle's USDC stablecoin and Stripe to enhance its DeFi ecosystem and global payment capabilities. Circle will incorporate Aptos into its cross-chain transfer protocol (CCTP), facilitating seamless USDC movement across blockchains. This integration aims to strengthen Aptos' connection with decentralized finance applications. Additionally, Stripe's involvement is expected to improve crypto on-ramp services, enabling direct conversion of fiat currencies into USDC via Aptos-enabled wallets. This strategic move highlights Aptos' commitment to expanding its market reach and enhancing global fund flows with stablecoins.

Digital Currency Group (DCG) has announced the launch of Yuma, a new subsidiary aimed at supporting startups and projects on the Bittensor network. Bittensor is a decentralized open network for creating, training, and accessing AI models. DCG founder Barry Silbert will lead Yuma as CEO, leveraging his experience in digital assets to foster decentralized AI development.

Yuma will provide capital, infrastructure, and technical resources to projects, having already assisted startups like Sturdy and Infinite Games. This initiative underscores DCG's commitment to advancing decentralized intelligence as an economic catalyst and equitable digital ecosystem.

Valantis Labs, a modular decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol, has successfully raised $7.5 million across pre-seed and seed funding rounds. The pre-seed round, led by Cyber Fund and Kraken Ventures, closed at a $20 million valuation, while the seed round, led by SevenX Ventures, valued the protocol at $40 million. Additional investors include Semantic Ventures, Figment Capital, and Robot Ventures, with angel investors Anthony Sassano and Sandeep Nailwal participating.

Valantis offers a modular framework for developers to build DEXes using composable modules, distinguishing itself from Uniswap's hook-based customization. The protocol's first modular DEX, HOT-AMM, has already facilitated over $50 million in trading volume.

OpenLayer, a Web3 startup founded by former Robinhood employees, has successfully raised $5 million in a seed round. The funding was led by a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator, with participation from Geometry, IOSG Ventures, Spartan Group, and LongHash Ventures, alongside undisclosed angel investors. OpenLayer aims to decentralize data access by allowing users to earn points through data contribution and validation via a Chrome extension. This data can then be utilized by app developers for AI model training and user targeting, contingent on user consent. The initiative addresses the current AI industry's data access challenges.

DeSyn Protocol, a decentralized asset management and restaking platform, has reached a significant milestone with its total value locked (TVL) surpassing $1 billion, according to DefiLlama data. This marks a substantial increase from $220 million in mid-September, positioning DeSyn among the top 40 DeFi applications by TVL.

The protocol offers diversified passive income opportunities across eight major blockchains, with Bitlayer contributing a third of its TVL. DeSyn's product offerings include Simple Deposit, Liquid Fund, and Basis Trading pools, catering to various investor strategies. The recent surge in TVL underscores the platform's growing influence in the DeFi sector.

Sky's USDS Stablecoin Expands to Solana

Sky, previously known as Maker, has announced the deployment of its USDS stablecoin on the Solana blockchain, marking a significant shift from its Ethereum exclusivity since 2014. This move is part of a broader trend among stablecoin issuers, including PayPal's PYUSD, to leverage Solana's high processing speed and low transaction costs.

To foster adoption, Sky has entered liquidity incentive agreements with Solana-based DeFi platforms such as Jupiter, Orca, Kamino, and Drift, distributing over 300,000 USDS weekly. This expansion reflects the growing stablecoin market, with global transaction volumes exceeding $22 trillion.

Euler, an Ethereum-based lending protocol, is experiencing a resurgence after a prolonged period of inactivity. The protocol's total value locked (TVL) in its version 2, launched in August, reached a record $77.3 million on November 18, as reported by DefiLlama.

Beginning the month at $14 million, Euler's TVL has increased by over 500% in the past month, marking it as a top-performing decentralized application (dapp) on Ethereum and within the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.

Despite past challenges, including a significant hacking incident, the launch of Euler v2 has revitalized the platform, now holding more than 99% of its TVL.

Goldman Sachs is advancing its blockchain strategy by developing a platform for large financial institutions to create, trade, and settle financial instruments like bonds and cash. This initiative includes a partnership with Trade Markets to explore new digital use cases. Additionally, Goldman aims to facilitate secondary transactions in privately held digital companies and plans to resume Bitcoin-backed lending. Mathew McDermott, Global Head of Digital Assets, revealed plans to spin out the digital asset unit within 12 to 18 months, pending regulatory approval. This move aligns with industry trends, as other major banks like JPMorgan are also expanding into blockchain-based businesses.