Research Summary
The report discusses the success of Solana’s debut smartphone, the Saga, driven by an airdrop of BONK, a leading Solana memecoin. It also covers S&P Global Ratings’ new stablecoin stability assessment and the timeline for Ethereum’s Cancun/Deneb upgrade on public testnets. The report concludes with charts showing the fight for a majority share of DAI collateral between real-world assets and on-chain assets.
Key Takeaways
Solana’s Mobile Success
- Solana’s Saga Smartphone: The Saga, Solana’s debut smartphone, sold out its initial 20,000-unit stock, driven by an included airdrop of BONK, a leading Solana memecoin. The phone’s success is seen as a step towards disrupting the mobile phone industry and forcing other manufacturers to introduce phones with crypto-native functionalities.
Stablecoin Stability Assessment
- S&P Global Ratings: The credit rating agency introduced its stablecoin stability assessment, an analytical risk framework to evaluate a stablecoin’s ability to maintain its dollar peg. The assessment grades eight leading fiat-backed and crypto-collateralized stablecoins on a 1 to 5 scale, with 1 being ‘very strong’ and 5 being ‘weak’.
Ethereum’s Upgrade Timeline
- Cancun/Deneb Upgrade: Ethereum core developers agreed on a tentative timeline for the activation of the Cancun/Deneb upgrade on public testnets. The upgrade is expected to bring cost-savings to Layer-2 rollups (L2s), but its activation on the mainnet is likely to be delayed due to unresolved bugs in the Prysm client.
DAI Collateral
- Real World Assets vs Onchain Assets: Real world assets (RWAs) and onchain assets are competing for a majority share of DAI collateral. On December 15, 2023, onchain assets became the more popular collateral source for DAI, backing 51.2% of supply as of December 21, 2023.
Other News
- Various Developments: The report also mentions various other developments, including a court freezing $1 billion in assets of Three Arrows Capital founders, Phantom adding support for Bitcoin, Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens, and China pledging to boost NFT and decentralized application development despite a crypto trading ban.
Actionable Insights
- Monitor Solana’s Mobile Progress: Keep an eye on Solana’s progress in the mobile phone industry, especially the user base of the Saga smartphone and the development of crypto-incentivized apps.
- Understand Stablecoin Ratings: Familiarize yourself with S&P Global Ratings’ stablecoin stability assessment and its implications for the use of various stablecoins.
- Follow Ethereum’s Upgrade: Stay updated on the timeline and progress of Ethereum’s Cancun/Deneb upgrade, and understand its potential impact on Layer-2 rollups.
- Track DAI Collateral Trends: Monitor the competition between real world assets and onchain assets for a majority share of DAI collateral, and understand the factors driving these trends.
- Stay Informed on Crypto Developments: Keep abreast of various developments in the crypto world, including legal actions, support for new tokens, and policy changes in different countries.
