This Week In DeFi – January 6

This week, SushiSwap explores new tokenomics, Vauld rejects Nexo's final acquisition proposal, TON launches a data sharing solution and a judge rules that customer funds belong to Celsius.

Jan 6

To the DeFi community,

This week, SushiSwap has announced that it will deprecate its Kashi lending platform and MISO token launchpad, due to poor design and a lack of resources.

The company will phase out contributions to these offerings in the first quarter of 2023 and focus solely on its core decentralized exchange, which has $390 million in total value locked.

SushiSwap is also in the process of designing new tokenomics, in an effort to boost liquidity and decentralization. The new proposed model involves time-lock tiers for emission-based rewards, as well as a token-burning mechanism.

SushiSwap @SushiSwap

🔮 Something exciting is brewing at Sushi 🍣... Want the inside scoop on Sushi’s new proposed tokenomics? 🎧 Listen to the full recording here 🔗

Jared Grey @jaredgrey

https://t.co/VEFLJCMQRS

Crypto lending firm Vauld has rejected rival Nexo's latest acquisition proposal due to concerns about Nexo's financial health and other issues. Vauld's committee of creditors (COC) also rejected the proposal.

Nexo's offer did not contain significant changes from its previous proposal, and Vauld continues to seek answers from Nexo regarding the company’s financial health and how it will treat claims from Vauld’s US-based creditors, following its recently-announced exit from the US market.

dhruv gupta | TechnicalAnalyst ₿ | Traveller 🗺 @Dhruvforreal

Two major concerns from vauld and users. - No comment from nexo on financial (solvency due deligence) - fair treatment for U.S creditors @Nexo @AntoniNexo @Kalin_M7 Waiting for your AMA, and waiting for your reply on these to specific questions.

The TON Foundation has launched a decentralized file sharing and data storage solution called TON Storage, which allows users to transfer encrypted and backed up data files of any size on the TON blockchain network.

It functions similarly to peer-to-peer file sharing using torrents, but offers financial incentives to node operators on the network for hosting files for a set period of time.

TON Storage aims to increase the accessibility of the TON network and grow the ecosystem by allowing anyone to become a node operator and receive payments for hosting files, even with just one node. TON-secured sites can also be hosted on the network.

CoinDesk @CoinDesk

.@Ton_blockchain's new storage product will enable users to exchange files of any size while providing financial incentives to node operators to host files for users. By Asa Sanon-Jules and @shauryamalwa.

trib.alBlockchain Project TON Enters Crypto Storage MarketThe TON Foundation aims to solve large-scale data storage problems with the new project.

A US Chief Bankruptcy Judge ruled that more than $4bn in cryptocurrencies deposited in the "Earn Accounts" of the bankrupt crypto lender Celsius do not belong to the customers who made the deposits, but rather to the company's estate.

The assets, worth an estimated $4.2bn as of July 2022, were held in 600,000 Earn accounts. The Judge argued that the company's terms of use, which the vast majority of Earn customers agreed to, meant that the deposited crypto became Celsius' property, making the customers unsecured creditors.

Layah Heilpern @LayahHeilpern

Just in: The Celsius judge rules customers gave up legal rights to their crypto by using the platform. This is 100% correct. It hurts but it’s fact. When you leave your assets on a centralised platform they do not belong to you! Take self custody. It’s not hard.

The beginning of 2023 is already driving home the popular adage, “not your keys, not your coins,” as a US judge rules $4 billion of customer assets the property of Celsius due to its terms of use.

On top of other centralized platforms attempting to reach resolutions with their customers, Nexo is also finding itself under some scrutiny following Vauld’s acquisition offer rejection – could the platform be in trouble?

On the real DeFi side of things, protocols appear to be refining their economic models, as SushiSwap and Convex attempt to revamp tokenomics and/or incentives. What we are seeing appears to be a sharpening of decentralized protocols, as projects improve their efficiency and effectiveness for longevity to get through the bear market.

Ethereum staking platforms are also seeing rallies in token prices, as the Shanghai upgrade and enabling of ETH withdrawals becomes a more certain reality in the near future.