By now, it’s clear that the future is multichain and omnichain. For example, L2 Beat now tracks nearly 60 active networks, with TVL having increased 5x over the past year alone.

The Maker Protocol is governed by the MakerDAO and is responsible for the creation and management of the DAI stablecoin. DAI is a decentralized stablecoin pegged to the US dollar and is backed by collateral assets that are locked in smart contracts. To gain a better understanding of decentralized stablecoins, see this blog post.

What Lido has done for Ethereum staking yield, Ethena is doing for the funding rate.

Not only are stablecoins a leading use case driving crypto adoption around the world, but they’re a great medium for onramping funds onchain. For users located in the USA, the ability to move dollars onchain for free via Coinbase’s L2 is a killer feature. Why would you onramp any other way?

Unlike fiat-backed stablecoins, these tokens are often managed by decentralized protocols, relying on overcollateralization to maintain price stability. If that sounds confusing to you, keep reading.

As of September 2022, Ethereum is now a proof of stake network, which reduced its energy usage and carbon footprint by 99.99%. Under this design, node operators (humans) will run validator client software on dedicated hardware devices. In turn, validators (software) are responsible for correctly proposing or attesting to new blocks that get added to the chain. To run a successful validator, node operators must deploy and maintain both a consensus client and an execution client.

Since launching in late-2022, Nike’s .SWOOSH platform has experimented with new ways to distribute digital ownership across its customer base at scale. In the process, thousands of users have interacted onchain in order to collect virtual wearables that have utility both online and offline.

Recently, I’ve started to look into some exciting projects that are pushing the boundaries of stablecoin design. For example, Ethena Labs is working on a synthetic dollar that preserves its peg by maintaing an equivalent short position on its LST assets.

Ethereum could become the bedrock of a new internet-native financial network, with its staking yield serving as a permissionless savings rate for anyone around the world.