Happy Friday! Binance Bytes is an initiative by the Research team to provide a quick round-up of the week.
Highlights đ§”:
1/ On December 18, 2024, the U.S. Federal Reserve reduced the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 4.25%â4.5%, marking the third rate cut this year. The Fed signaled a more cautious approach for 2025, projecting only two additional rate cuts next year, down from the previously expected four.
2/ Ethena, a DeFi protocol with a market cap of US$6 billion, launched USDtb, a new stablecoin backed primarily by BlackRock's BUIDL tokenized money market fund. USDtb aims to stabilize Ethena's yield-generating USDe token during bearish crypto markets. Ethena's native token, ENA, has rallied in response to the launch. Ethena's USDe stablecoin has quickly risen in the market, contributing to the recent all-time high in total stablecoin supply.
3/ Avalanche released its largest-ever update, Avalanche9000, introducing a 96% reduction in C-Chain transaction fees and simplifying the deployment of additional blockchains within the Avalanche ecosystem (called Layer-1 blockchains, previously known as Avalanche Subnets), including a significant reduction in the cost of deployment (up to 99%). The combination of lower network fees and easier deployment of more Avalanche chains is expected to drive user growth and transaction activity within the Avalanche ecosystem, which has over 50 subnets. Avalanche recently raised US$250 million in a token sale to VCs, focusing on expanding its presence in gaming and real-world assets (RWAs).
