According to CryptoPotato, Ethereum and its Layer 2 scaling solution, Polygon, have attracted the most new users in the first quarter of 2024. The two blockchain platforms have seen the highest cumulative new users among observed EVM chains since the start of the year. Polygon has gained 12.3 million new users, while Ethereum has added 13.4 million. This accounts for approximately 70% of new users across all observed chains as of March 27. Arbitrum followed with 4.7 million new users during the same period.

Despite Ethereum and Polygon's extensive history compared to most EVM chains, their growth in new user volume was only 298.3% and 359.7%, respectively, between January and March 2024. This places them in the middle of the pack among all observed chains. DeFi has been the primary catalyst for new user expansion across various chains this year. Ethereum leads with a cumulative $1 billion in trade volume, with its busiest trading day recorded on March 5, when figures exceeded $428 million.

While DeFi trading activity on Optimism and Arbitrum experienced slight declines in the past week, overall, DeFi activity has displayed a consistent upward trajectory. This contrasts with the erratic market fluctuations experienced throughout much of 2023. Despite lagging significantly behind Ethereum and Polygon in acquiring new users, Arbitrum secured a strong second position in terms of new user trading volume, amassing $9.5 billion since the start of 2024.

New users’ engagement in NFT activity has shown mixed patterns, with the two largest chains experiencing contrasting trends. While Polygon’s new user NFT trading activity has consistently decreased since the start of the year, activity on Ethereum and Base has steadily risen. Ethereum and Polygon have maintained the highest USD volume of NFT transactions since the beginning of the year. Ethereum’s daily volume has remained consistently above $1 million since January 1st, whereas Polygon’s peaked in early January at over $6 million before declining to less than $500,000.

According to BlockBeats, Ether.fi, a decentralized finance protocol, has announced that the total amount of Ether (ETH) staked in its protocol has reached one million. The milestone was achieved on April 4th, 2024, marking a significant achievement for the protocol.

Ether.fi is a platform that allows users to stake their ETH and earn rewards. The one million ETH staked indicates a high level of trust and participation from the community in the protocol. This milestone is a testament to the growing popularity and acceptance of decentralized finance protocols.

The staking of ETH in such protocols is a way for users to earn passive income while contributing to the security and functionality of the network. The more ETH that is staked, the more secure the network becomes. This milestone of one million staked ETH is a positive sign for the future of Ether.fi and the broader decentralized finance sector.

According to BlockBeats, Ethereum liquidity staking protocol Ether.fi has seen an inflow of 398,559 ETH in the past month, according to data from Dune. Meanwhile, Renzo experienced an inflow of 283,520 ETH during the same period. In contrast, the well-established Ethereum liquidity staking protocol Lido saw an outflow of 274,368 ETH.

These figures indicate a shift in the Ethereum staking landscape, with newer protocols like Ether.fi and Renzo gaining traction among users. The reasons behind this shift are not clear, but it could be attributed to various factors such as competitive staking rewards, user-friendly interfaces, or innovative features offered by these newer platforms.

As the Ethereum ecosystem continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how these trends develop and whether established protocols like Lido can maintain their market share in the face of increasing competition from newer entrants.

According to Blockworks, following the successful implementation of Ethereum's Dencun upgrade, which significantly reduced gas fees on many layer-2s, the layer-2 ecosystem has become a focal point for funding announcements. Layer-2 infrastructure startup Espresso recently announced a $28 million Series B funding round led by a16z crypto, with participation from various layer-2-related firms such as Polygon, StarkWare, and Arbitrum developer Offchain Labs. Espresso is primarily known for developing a shared sequencer for layer-2s, which allows rollups to order and process transactions through a shared marketplace instead of their own execution environments, potentially increasing interoperability between layer-2s.

In addition to Espresso, two other layer-2 projects announced significant funding rounds. Morph, a consumer-centric blockchain project, raised $20 million in seed funding led by Dragonfly, with participation from Pantera, Foresight Ventures, and The Spartan Group. Meanwhile, the developer behind privacy-focused layer-2 TEN (The Encrypted Network) raised $9 million in a funding round led by R3.

As crypto prices continue to rise, derivatives exchanges, where traders can speculate on future crypto asset prices, are gaining popularity. Rails, a self-custody-focused perpetuals exchange, emerged from stealth mode with $6.2 million in seed funding from investors including Slow Ventures, Round13 Capital, CMCC Global, and Quantstamp. Additionally, institution-focused derivatives infrastructure startup Kemet announced $5 million in funding led by Further Ventures.

Other notable fundraises in the crypto space include zero-knowledge infrastructure developer Succinct's $55 million Series A led by Paradigm, real-world asset tokenization startup MANTRA's $11 million funding round led by MENA-based Shorooq Partners, and Sonarverse's $7 million funding round led by BlockTower Capital for an on-chain data platform aimed at institutional investors.

According to Foresight News, Galaxy Research Vice President Christine Kim summarized the 130th Ethereum Core Developer Consensus (ACDE) conference call. This week, developers discussed unfinished work projects related to the Dencun upgrade, proposals for the Pectra upgrade, and improvements to the Ethereum consensus layer. The developers agreed to include EIP 7251 in Pectra, increase MAX_EFFECTIVE_Balance, and continue to explore the possibility of including EIP 7547 (inclusion list) in the upgrade.

According to Foresight News, data from Dune Analytics shows that the total amount of Ethereum staked on the Beacon Chain has reached 31,955,654 ETH, accounting for 26.64% of the total supply. Among this, the staking share of liquidity staking protocol Lido stands at 30.50%. Additionally, since the Shanghai upgrade, there has been a net inflow of 13,787,261 ETH.

Oobit and VeChain partner, integrating VET for sustainable mobile NFC crypto payments.

Groundbreaking collaboration for mainstream adoption and positive societal impact.

Oobit’s Tap & Pay now supports VET, fostering crypto use at 100M+ retailers.

In a significant stride toward mainstream crypto adoption, Oobit, a prominent mobile payment app, has teamed up with VeChain to integrate the VeChain Token (VET) into its platform. This collaboration paves the way for a new era of sustainable everyday payments, aligning with VeChain’s commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives.

Announcing our partnership and integration with mobile payments platform, @oobit – make purchases in $VET via your mobile phone's NFC.On Monday 11 March we'll host an X Space to meet the team and discuss the platform's functions, plans and features. Feel free to bring questions… pic.twitter.com/mpSctMIVJe

— vechain (@vechainofficial) March 6, 2024

Oobit’s announcement marks the inclusion of VET in its Tap & Pay feature, enabling users to seamlessly incorporate digital assets for their daily transactions. This strategic move not only signifies a technological breakthrough but also underscores a tangible effort to integrate blockchain technology into positive societal impacts.

With 72.7 billion VET out of the total 85.9 billion in circulation, users can now leverage VET for everyday purchases using Oobit’s mobile Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. The partnership coincides with VeChain’s innovative ‘X-2-Earn’ model, introducing VeBetterDAO, a platform rewarding users with $B3TR for engaging with sustainability-focused decentralized applications.

The strategic alliance aligns seamlessly with VeChain’s ‘Blockchain Biosphere’ concept, outlined in the ‘Web3 for Better’ whitepaper. This concept illustrates how blockchain ecosystems can effectively address sustainability challenges across various industries.

Oobit, following a successful Series A funding round securing $25 million, solidifies its position as a pivotal player in advancing cryptocurrency adoption for payments. Notable investors, including Tether and Solana’s Co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, have supported Oobit’s expansion, making VET the sixth token listed on the platform.

The initial launch of Oobit’s Tap & Pay feature will commence in Europe, initially catering to Android users. Crypto holders will be able to make payments at over 100 million retailers globally where Visa and Mastercard are accepted, further promoting the practical use of cryptocurrencies in everyday transactions.

VeChain’s integration of VET into everyday payments through Oobit not only promotes mass adoption but also encourages users to actively participate in sustainable crypto technology. This partnership mirrors the global shift toward ESG principles, particularly in regions like Europe, where stringent regulations, such as MiCa, mandate transparency achievable only through blockchain technology.

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According to CoinDesk, a trader seemingly spent nearly $9 million on Thursday to purchase dogwifhat (WIF), one of Solana's most-viral meme coins that netted millions of dollars for early investors in December. The purchases were made over three transactions worth $6.25 million, $1.78 million, and $893,000, according to blockchain data tied to a Solana wallet address. However, placing such a large trade order on a relatively low-liquidity pool appears to have resulted in financial disaster: The buyer ended up purchasing WIF at as high as $3 as prices spiked immediately, before prices plunged back down to 15 cents, leaving the trader with a slippage loss of over $5.7 million. Slippage refers to the difference between the expected price at which a trade is placed and the actual price at which the trade occurs.

Some market watchers have termed the trade a possible 'marketing stunt,' one that could have drawn attention to WIF as prices took a hit in recent weeks. WIF is up 50% in the past 24 hours on the buying pressure, data from DEXScreener shows. Traders exchanged $35 million on decentralized exchanges alone, and the token has a market capitalization of over $200 million. The meme coin turned out to be one of the biggest hits in the Solana ecosystem recently, alongside bonk (BONK) and other tokens, as a meme coin frenzy occurred on the blockchain in December. The significant hype it drew created a lottery of sorts for early buyers, as some turned $1,000 worth of SOL into millions of dollars as prices quickly and suddenly climbed.