Welcome to Edition 2 of the ‘Current State of the Market’

Every week feels faster than the previous; launches, integrations, and partnerships dropping back-to-back, nearly blurring the line between testnet and mainnet. All wrapped up with alpha opportunities; and yes, we’ve got a few waiting for you at the bottom.

You might wonder, is chain abstraction still getting tangible? Well, it seems stablecoins are quietly becoming the backbone of everything onchain, but we still have a couple of things covered.

Look what we have on the spotlight this week: 

1. USD.AI took center stage with their $500M pre-deposit cap, but just recently announced the cap raise by $100M.

1. Lighter just hit mainnet with ZK-powered perps and $500B in trading volume. Who is gunning for Hyperliquid’s spot?

Stables Corner 

What is everyone else positioning for, after Plasma?

USD.AI might be one of the best stablecoin pre-TGE events to watch closely. Led by hiFramework (same core team behind Plasma) and YZI. 

Users can mint USDai by depositing USDC into the USD.AI protocol and redeem it 1:1 at any time. Meanwhile, sUSDai turns USDai into a yield-bearing version, allowing holders to earn returns; though redemptions require a short notice period. 

USDAI pulled massive and unexpected interest that exceeded their cap target. For this reason, the peg has been pushed to $1.06, raising the autoUSDai cap by $100m, effective tomorrow. 

Here’s how the allocation breaks down:

At the end, two paths, same goal exemplifying the experience.

Going forward, you can ape through these plays broken down here for you like you were 5. The post explains all you need to know about these two alignments.

If you’re early to this email, get on with it here.  

Also, Polygon has just announced its collaboration with AlloyX, one of Asia’s leading stablecoin service providers, enabling Real Yield Token holders access to money market fund assets, while unlocking onchain yield through Polygon-native strategies.

Perp Prints: who’s next? 

A Hyper comeback?

We were all just feeling sad about missing $ASTER. Now, news of getting it delisted on Defillama following data manipulations just filed CT. For all the Hyped readers, it seems the perp crown is returning. 

There has been some speculation on Lighter airdrop. In our previous edition, we announced that private beta was live. Just recently, they announced public mainnet is now live, powered by custom ZK circuits for verifiable matching and liquidations. With $500B in cumulative volume, ranking really close to Aster and Hyperliquid.  

Is this really the next big perp?  

ZK  

It’s a BTCFi era. Bitcoin staking is now live on Starknet Mainnet, tapping into Starknet’s staking mechanism and letting holders secure the network and earn rewards alongside STRK stakers. 

zkVerify has announced Mainnet. This is a killer, as they are powering a modular layer built just for zero-knowledge proof verification.

DA Providers 

Who got the Traders Changing Work Stations? Derive really did.

Derive, an institutional-grade options, perps and futures platform has introduced totally based upgrades in app Pro version: speed, more efficient modular tools, customizable interface, rust based orderbook, and more. 

Can you Forget Whitelists? 

I think your onchain activity is truly the new ICO.

If you joined crypto back in 2017, you’d remember the trend at the time; how ICOs ruled the market and every new token launch felt like a guaranteed 10x. 

Projects were raising millions overnight off whitepapers and hype alone. There were no points, no testnets, no Discord grinding, just raw speculation and easy mode for anyone early enough to click “buy.”

Fast forward to now, and the playbook has evolved. 

What is the ICO meta in 2025?

Plasma is one of the few projects this cycle that understood that real markets reward structure and discipline, not hype. Plasma’s launch was more than a statement. Plasma didn’t start with hype; it started with a working product.

Over time, real market demand surfaced, with stronger backing and a presale structure built for long-term success. The new “ICO” doesn’t exactly ask you to invest money first, it asks for participation. You go head on to farm points, join testnets, use products, and prove loyalty long before a token ever drops.

Tldr: Back in the 2017 era, you bought tokens and hoped the product would follow. In 2025, you use the product while the tokens find you. 

Alpha Opportunities 

We found some interesting insights you may wish to spend your rest time on.

Miles is right on the compilation. Take it on here.

Squiggly leaves us with a post for great recollection, a walk through the ICO behavior in the previous cycles, and what this could pivot to in the future. 

Wrapping up,

Those that will win in the next round are already gaining momentum from now. Crypto has become about earning your place in it. You aren’t just early buyers; you’re active users, testing, farming, and showing up where the noise hasn’t reached yet.

Stay early. Stay curious.

Till the next Edition,

Moduverse