DeFi Enclave's Chronicles #4
Pyth, Vertex, ALGB, Deciding where to stake stables, Symbiosis, IntentX
In this episode:
Voyager's Observations - personal reflections and insights on DeFi and Beyond
Voyager's Vault - Detailed Report on My Investment Moves
DeFi Survivor's Bookshelf - Handpicked must-read threads and articles
DeFi Projects Radar - detailed survey of projects news and developments
Alpha Whispers - unexplored DeFi territory, proceed at your own risk
Voyager's Observations
The craziest thing for me this week was the Pyth airdrop. I received about 16k tokens on my main account and 4k each on two old accounts.
I'm not a multi-accounter; I just try to change my main account periodically, which I use for various tasks related to airdrops and testing different DeFi projects. I do this because high activity in a wallet increases the risk that I might click something wrong, and one day it could be emptied.
In the end, I sold 20k tokens for about $0.30 each, and now, of course, I'm experiencing FOMO because since then the price has only risen and is now $0.48. But it helps to think that these were free tokens anyway, and I should be grateful for that.
The remaining 4k tokens I will probably keep now, as the project is not just a one-day wonder.
I sold all VRTX tokens (about 9k) for $0.28 each, and I don't have FOMO about these tokens.
I've written several times why this project turned from very attractive to unattractive for investment for me. I might be wrong, but Vertex now strongly reminds me of Level Finance at the beginning of its journey.
I assume that the project will have good metrics, but this will only be due to incentives, and gradually the market will fail to cope with the token's inflation and will slowly but surely decline.
I was banned from the Dyson Finance Discord for criticizing their methods of creating fake activity in their Discord and unclear criteria for their Membership Program.
Although they unbanned me a couple of days later, asking me to engage in constructive discussion next time, I'm now skipping the project. Being silenced and prohibited from expressing an opinion inconvenient for the project is a big red flag for me.
Voyager's Vault
Once a month at the beginning, I make a snapshot of my portfolio with proportions and P/L.
You can check October snapshot here
Today, I will share some updates on my positions.
ALGB
Algebra finally began its revaluation, growing by 50% in a few days. Those who read my previous posts understood that buying ALGB was an obvious decision. Firstly, the volume of trades on all DEXs increased, and secondly, Algebra changed its tokenomics on November 24th, now redirecting even more funds to buybacks. One didn't need to be a genius to understand what this would lead to.
I managed to buy some additional tokens into my portfolio before this rapid growth.
MVD
Just today, I bought some more MVD after the token unexpectedly fell by 18%.
"Funds are SAFU," as they say; it's just that someone sold their tokens, and MVD has limited liquidity.
There are no fundamental reasons for the token to fall so much. The lower the price, the higher the dividends.
So it’s a good opportunity to buy more.
Stables
Deciding where to allocate the main portion of my stablecoins was a challenging decision for me. Previously, these funds were in Radiant, but now there are frightening interest rates for loans there, and Loop has stopped working. I didn't want to keep my stablecoins at a mere 5% yield.
The thing is, when you need to place a small amount of cash temporarily, it's straightforward. But when you need to place the core of your portfolio, you start to see risks that you don't consider in other cases.
The obvious choice for me would have been Penpie, but my risk management doesn't allow me to add more money there. I need to diversify across different platforms.
The choice was between these platforms:
Digit.xyz
Radpie
Mozaic
Camelot (stables farm)
Silo Finance
Digit.xyz is a brand-new platform on Optimism by Ethos Reserve team. It has an excellent structure for long-term staking. But where there are high returns, there are also risks. The Digit platform is a layer on top of the Reaper protocol, which creates complex strategies on top of less known lending platforms (even if they are forks of well-known projects), however, this setup hasn't been time-tested yet. However, I decided to invest a small part there to keep a closer eye on the project's development.
Radpie - I was pleasantly surprised to find that Radpie automatically adjusts the level of looping depending on the total yield, and stops looping altogether when the rates are not favorable. However, I don't like that the RDNT rewards must be vested for three months or sold at a discount, plus the low lending rates make it even worse than just lending on Radiant.
Mozaic was suddenly chosen as a contender, but I was concerned when their vault suddenly started offering a 24% yield. After investigating, I found out that the Stargate vault in the Fantom network suddenly had a high yield, and Mozaic's AI shifted all funds to Fantom. I was under the impression that their strategy was primarily about diversifying across multiple vaults and stablecoins. The sudden shift of all funds to one stablecoin in the semi-alive Fantom network didn't appeal to me, so I passed on it.
Camelot - the yield on stable pairs is very low here. Yes, you can lock it for half a year and boost it with xGRAIL tokens to get about an additional 8%, but I'm not a fan of locks, and I don't have extra GRAIL tokens. Plus, Campie is launching soon, and I might invest there.
Silo Finance is currently offering good rates due to ARB incentives, and their pools are isolated from each other. I don't know about the future, but as long as they offer a good yield, and I consider 10-12% APY on stables good, I will stake there. The ARB tokens received will be liquidated to buy more BIFI.
DeFi Survivor's Bookshelf
Recovering Funds with HackedWalletRecovery Tool by @officer_cia
What You Need to Know About Timeless Finance by Revelo Intel
IntentX: The 0 to 1 Innovation for Derivative DEXs by
DeFi Projects Radar
Alpha Whispers
Symbiosis is a highly underrated project that develops impressively but has poor marketing and a not-so-great tokenomics.
Technically, their bridge outperforms all others I know, including Stargate, Orbiter, Bungee, and Jumper. It seems you can transfer almost anything to any supported chain, and it supports a lot of them. Whenever I needed to transfer something exotic, like yesterday's WETH from PolygonZKEVM to USDT in Mantle, only Symbiosis managed it fast with a couple of clicks.
The project has its own token, SIS, which, in my opinion, they released too early without a well-thought-out tokenomics and utility. But now, as their product is performing well, they seem to be slowly correcting past mistakes and improving the tokenomics and utility.
They are constantly forming new partnerships, most recently with Aave.
I believe it's worth gradually buying their token, betting on them gradually fixing the shortcomings and boosting their marketing and partnerships.
I continue to research IntentX, and its tokenomics are impressively well-structured. Initially, I didn't notice that the tokens to be distributed to seed investors, the team, and the treasury will be issued in the form of xINTX.
It turns out that if the team or large investors want to sell their tokens, they either have to wait 16 weeks or pay an Early Unstaking Penalty. In any case, they will pay a 0.5% Flat Redemption Fee, thereby increasing the INTX/xINTX ratio.
I love projects where large investors and the team are in the same boat and are interested in the success of the project and, consequently, in the growth of the token and our profits.
I feel it's time to start gathering cash for the TGE.
You can read more about this in my article.
I'd be glad to hear any advice on what to add or change in the comments here or on my X (Twitter).
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