DeFi Enclave's Chronicles. Episode 9.
Big portfolio update, Radpie, Airdrop activities, Nodes, Pack of great articles, Project's annual reports.
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/Airdrops Whispers - unexplored DeFi territory, proceed at your own risk
Voyager's Observations
Results of 2023 and the Upcoming 2024
I won't bother you with boring summaries and useless predictions that top influencers are spamming all over X. I'll only write about what I started a few months ago on X because I was attracted by the variety of content and things like Alpha here, Alpha there, smart threads about cool projects, and similar content.
Having now understood this industry, I can only say that I am disappointed. Truly expert influencers can be counted on the fingers of both hands. The rest are just advertising channels that will sell you any junk for a small fee. They reprint the same threads on the same topics using special services that simply pick up popular Twitter posts from 2021-2022 and rewrite them for you with the push of a button.
I would like to see more original content where people share their experiences, failures, emotions, and take risks when making decisions - that's what I write about.
It takes a lot of effort to find real, original content on Twitter, and I think I'm doing pretty well at filtering quality reads for you in these newsletters.
In 2024, I plan to continue developing my X channel and my newsletters, which you are reading right now. I will continue to share my experience and mishaps in the world of cryptocurrencies with you because I have nowhere to retreat.
Screwed Up with Radpie
I messed up in evaluating the Radpie project. I didn't study it well enough and didn't participate in its launch. Thinking I was the smartest, I directly placed my funds on Radiant in dLP, locking them for a year.
At that time, I was put off by the lack of certain functionalities on Radpie, which were present on Radiant. For instance, on Radpie, you can't reinvest earned RDNT tokens back into dLP without vesting. On Radpie, you either have to wait for the vesting of the earned tokens or exchange them for RDNT at a discount. Additionally, you can't compound the tokens earned on dLP. These might seem like minor details, but they deterred me from participating in Radpie. Now, I've noticed obvious advantages that Radpie offers to investors.
Firstly, the project regulates the Loop lending positions without your involvement, increasing them when it becomes profitable.
Secondly, on Radiant, you can earn RDNT tokens through so-called bounties. Let's skip the details, which you can learn more about in the Radiant’s documentation. The point is that these bounties are usually taken by big players with fast scripts, and it seems that Radpie collects a significant portion of them.
In my defense, this wasn't obvious since Radpie's documentation makes no mention of bounties and is quite superficial overall.
Eventually, I plan to gradually move into Radpie through stablecoin lending and, in the future, transition there from Radiant.
My skepticism once again clouded my judgment, focusing on the negative aspects of the project and causing me to miss opportunities.
Mass Exploits
Surprisingly, almost all the exploits that happened in the last couple of weeks, of which there were many, affected the projects I invest in one way or another. However, I didn’t lose any money anywhere, which I consider a stroke of luck.
I've noticed that my level of paranoia is increasing. I see deception everywhere. There have been a lot of airdrops recently, and I'm not rushing after them. I'm actually afraid to visit airdrop sites. Now, I try to wait a few days and monitor the situation before even checking if an airdrop is due to me.
Thanks to this paranoia, I didn't lose money on Fairswap - a scammy DEX on the recently launched ZkFair blockchain. People blindly rushed to Fairswap with their received airdrops, but I looked at the five-digit APY offered by this DEX and ignored the potential profit, which actually turned out to be a potential scam.
Voyager's Vault
December 2023
Portfolio Objective: Boost the portfolio's value long-term and generate a steady income.
Portfolio Snapshot as of January 1st 2024.
New positions
TON
RNDR
TIA
KUJI
KAVA
Closed positions
ALPACA
PYTH
Increased positions
GRAIL
BIFI
Decreased positions
PLX
Heat Map for December
In December, passive income from farming/staking accounted for 2% of the total capital, which is approximately equivalent to an annual dividend income of 25%.
Total portfolio growth in December is +21%.
In December, I created a mini infrastructure portfolio aimed at purchasing infrastructure projects on which the crypto industry will be built and developed.
Initially, I thought about keeping records for it as a separate portfolio, but then I decided to merge it with my main portfolio as it's easier to manage and keep track of my capital this way.
As a result, my portfolio now contains quite a few tokens that make up less than 1% of its total size. In traditional investing, you might be told something like, "If you're only willing to invest 1% or less in a stock, do you really need that stock ?"
However, the world of crypto is different. Here, micro caps can make tenfold returns, and you might have to reconsider what to do with a token that was supposed to occupy no more than 1% of your portfolio but now accounts for 10%. So, I see nothing wrong with having such small positions in the portfolio. The main thing is to have time to keep track of them all.
GRAIL craziness
Those who follow my activities know that I deposited stablecoins into Silo and borrowed quite a lot of GRAIL against them. As a result, I was nearly liquidated due to the strong growth of GRAIL.
I finished the experiment early by making a repay. It turned out as if I just bought $GRAIL at an average price of $1720. GRAIL is very undervalued, and it's a matter of time when its price will be revaluated and increase by 100% or more. So, it's foolish to keep such a debt any longer.
I thus found out that I ended up with an unexpectedly large amount of GRAIL tokens. This is not visible in the current portfolio snapshot because I did this in January.
As a result, GRAIL is now catching up with FXS in my portfolio, which is supposed to be the core of my portfolio.
My thoughts on the positions
All passive income should now be converted into stablecoins, which ideally should make up 50% of my portfolio. As you can see, they currently account for only 10%, and it's quite challenging to accumulate stablecoins when it seems like a bull market has started (although I'm not sure about this). Now, I will be placing stablecoins on Radpie.
Pendle - I'm selling what accrues as rewards on Penpie, resulting in a significant income plus bribes.
FXS - I can't shake the FOMO that the token is still significantly undervalued and that these are the last days when it can be bought before a strong surge. But I need to adhere to proper risk management and asset distribution, so buying new FXS is not an option.
PLX - I continue to sell tokens coming from vesting. I'm increasingly convinced that the project will end badly. They had two vaults a year ago and still have two. The project is not developing or in demand (judging by the TVL of new AI super-cool farms). They are not doing anything special and have entered a competitive market with nothing to offer but short-term hype in the form of AI managing their new vaults.
BTRFLY - I keep feeling FOMO because I have too little of this token in my portfolio, but there's no free cash to buy more. Waiting for some major airdrop.
MVD - The project continues to share profits with stakers and offers a fabulous 18% in ETH. I'm thinking of increasing my position, as the Kinetix token launch is planned for January, which is something like a franchise of the Metavault project in the Kava blockchain. It seems that the DAO will receive an airdrop of tokens into its treasury, which will increase income for MVD stakers.
PYTH - I recently closed a position I had bought, deciding that I will focus on leaders in their respective fields, and the leader here is LINK.
Among infrastructure tokens - I will increase my position in TIA when possible, as they, together with LINK, will be the basis of my infrastructure portfolio.
DeFi Survivor's Bookshelf
Flywheeldefi - Staff Picks: The Best Flywheel Episodes of 2023 - link
Castle Capital - The Castle Chronicle - Volume 49 - link
Castle Capital - The Castle Chronicle - Volume 50 - link
Frax Finance: What You Should Be Expecting For 2024! - link
Insider Playing #3 by
- linkInsider Playing #3 (part II) by
- linkAnalysis(0, 1): Innovating Fair Launch with Random Hash - link
The Layer-1 Chain Rotation Thesis: A Retrospective Analysis - link
My theses for 2024 by @stacy_muur - link
AI x Crypto: Exploring Use Cases and Possibilities by @BinanceResearch- link
2023 Closing Review by
- linkNavigating Crypto: Industry Map by @BinanceResearch - link
Understanding Pirex ETH Yield - link
The Balancer Report: Exploring Hiddenhand - link
Crypto Lessons Learnt in 2023 by
- linkEthereum 2024 roadmap diagram by @VitalikButerin - link
Modular vs. Monolithic Blockchains by @zordcrypt - link
Curve - Project Breakdown by
- linkCosmos - Project Breakdown by
- linkMonthly Market Insights - January 2024 by @BinanceResearch - link
Exploring Eclipse's Canonical Ethereum Bridge and Proving System - link
ETH's Path to $10k - The Ethereum 2024 Roadmap by
- linkJanuary 5, 2024: Recap of Recaps by
- linkUnderstanding MEV Protection - link
DeFi Projects Radar
Annual Reports
Algebra - Annual Report 2023 - link
Aladdin DAO - Annual Report 2023 - link
Avantis Labs - Annual Report 2023 - link
Avail - Annual Report 2023 - link
Bifrost - Annual Report 2023 - link
Binaryx - Annual Report 2023 - link
Dolomite - Annual Report 2023 - link
HMX - Annual Report 2023 - link
Injective - Annual Report 2023 - link
Manta Network - Annual Report 2023 - link
Native Finance - Annual Report 2023 - link
PlutusDAO - Annual Report 2023 - link
Prime Protocol - Annual Report 2023 - link
Parcl - Annual Report 2023 - link
Prisma - Annual Report 2023 - link
Symbiosis - Annual Report 2023 - link
Sushi - Annual Report 2023 - link
Tusima - Annual Report 2023 - link
Timeswap - Annual Report 2023 - link
Vertex - Annual Report 2023 - link
ZetaChain - Annual Report 2023 - link
zk.Link - Annual Report 2023 - link
Updates
Algebra - Joins Forces with Brevis: New Integral Plugin Utilizing the ZK Coprocessor - link
Curve - What'up on Curve ? #164 - link
Curve - What'up on Curve ? #165 - link
Cakepie - December Wrap-Up - link
Chromatic Protocol - Roadmap and Reward Programs - link
Dymension - Genesis Rolldrop: First Rolldrop Season - link
Florence Finance - Community Update - link
Frax Finance - FraxCheck #59 - link
Frax Finance - This Week in Frax - December 29, 2023 - link
Frax Finance - This Week in Frax - January 5, 2024 - link
Frax Finance - Unpacking Frax's Product Roadmap for Q1-2 2024 - link
Gamma - Post-Mortem & Remediation Plan - link
gTrade - December 2023 Recap - link
Li.Fi - Update - December 2023 - link
LandX - Vision 2024 - link
Layer3 - V2 Introduction - link
Maverick - Protocol Outlook 2024 - link
Magpie - December Wrap-Up - link
Mantle - mETH & Mantle LSP | AMA Recap - link
Mozaic - January 2024 Update - link
Panoptic - January Newsletter - link
Penpie - December Wrap-Up - link
Prisma - Digest #8 - link
Prisma - Digest #9 - link
Radpie - December Wrap-Up - link
Redacted Cartel - 01/05/2024 — Community call - link
Starknet - Roundup #97 - link
Starknet - Monthly Recap #6: December - link
Silo - Report December ‘23 - link
Swell - Set to Enter Liquid Restaking - link
Swell - Deep Dive | January 5th - link
Sunthetix - Buyback and Burn & The Andromeda Release - link
Silo - December ‘23 Report - link
Travala - Monthly Report: December 2023 - link
IntentX - V0.82 Update — Funding Rates, Fees, USDC Collateral - link
Alpha/Airdrops Whispers
Nodes
Launched nodes for Nulink & Avail. The installation wasn't complicated, and it seems like the projects will pay well for them in the future.
Avail
I did everything according to the official documentation. And according to this guide.
Nulink
I'm still considering launching a Zora node, but I haven't yet studied the conditions and prospects. There is a guide
Airdrop activities
Red Wars
Participating in Red Wars from Optimism & Clique.
The first stage was dedicated to the use of bridges, and I was doing well there, occupying the top 3 in almost every project. However, on the last day, big money came in and pushed me down to the 20+ places with just a few swaps, which was disappointing. The second stage, now underway, is dedicated to DEX.
When such activities are ongoing, it's important to combine them with activities from other projects to simultaneously fight for an airdrop and gain some additional benefits.
For example, in the first stage, after some research, one could use the aggregator Rubic, selecting Li-Fi, which directed your swap through Across - which, in turn, was conducting a promotion to refund paid commissions in the form of OP tokens. Thus, with a single swap, I was scoring points in three projects at once and receiving OP tokens as compensation.
In the second stage, things are not so well aligned. The only project that caught my attention is Paraswap. I've been noticing it more often.
Paraswap is one of the main partners of the Rabby wallet, and I have long stopped using DEXs, just opening Rabby and swapping tokens there. Often, Paraswap is offered as the first option, even surpassing 1Inch.
Thus, with the growing popularity of Rabby, this DEX should earn well. Paraswap, in turn, shares commissions well. You just need to stake as many PSP + ETH tokens as possible in the farm in an 80/20 ratio. The token holds its value quite well and doesn’t drop much. In short, it's worth exploring, as the project might grow well.
EigenLayer/Swell/Etherfi
I moved my ETH from Ether.fi to Swell. I was displeased with how Ether.fi initially gave points for staking in the ETH-weETH farm, but then a few days later, they changed everything and asked to transfer the tokens to a different farm, rETH-weETH. It then became clear that something wasn't working properly, and the points weren't being credited. Eventually, after spending about $130 on all these commissions, I decided to switch to Swell, which seems more solid.
I continue to make a significant bet on participating in the following projects:
Dolomite - Lend/Borrow/Galxe OATs
Nostra - Lend/Borrow
Izumi (Mantle) - LP/Swaps - The project promises to share all airdrops it receives, with the nearest being for Mantle Journey. Other relevant ones include ZkSync, Scroll, and other chains.
Gravita - The rewards for the project look promising.
Cega - Cool project for options traders.
Mantle - Mantle Journey ends on the 15th, and I hope to secure a good position there.
Velvet Capital - I have been participating in the project for a while now and even successfully managing an investment portfolio there. Feel free to join.
IntentX - Making a big bet on this project, I continue to accumulate points.
Mantle - I don't expect a big drop, as I've been ignoring the project's activities for too long.
Swell - But I have high hopes for Swell, even though I also passed it by for quite a while, along with EigenLayer. Finally, Swell will soon launch rswETH, and they will enter L2.
Butter - I am using this project for simultaneously accumulating points and participating in Mantle Journey, plus earning a small amount of MNT.
Interesting projects for DYOR
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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Great issue!
Tu for mentioning me legend❤️