(01/09/23)
Here are some of today’s most important headlines:

1️⃣ Aerodrome Fanatics Deposit $150M to Base Blockchain on First Day 📈

Aerodrome, a fork of Velodrome developed in collaboration with Base developers, reportedly attracted over $150 million in TVL just a day after going live. Notably, the deposits which are likely driven by the liquidity mining incentives offered by the platform, bumped Base Blockchain’s DeFi ecosystem by 80% in terms of locked value. Aerodrome has stated that it seeks to act as a “business development protocol” for the Base ecosystem, supporting projects as they launch, onboarding new projects and tokens, and generating liquidity for the ecosystem.

https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2023/08/31/aerodrome-fanatics-deposit-150m-to-base-blockchain-on-first-day

2️⃣ Swift Says Interoperability Experiment with Chainlink’s CCIP Was Successful 🤩

According to a recent press release, the Interbank messaging system Swift has successfully used Web3 services platform Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) to transfer tokenised value across multiple private and public blockchains in recent experiments.

Tom Zschach, the chief innovation officer at Swift stated,

"For tokenisation to reach its potential, institutions will need to be able to seamlessly connect with the whole financial ecosystem. Our experiments have demonstrated clearly that existing secure and trusted Swift infrastructure can provide that central point of connectivity, removing a huge hurdle in the development of tokenisation and unlocking its potential." 

https://www.theblock.co/post/248293/swift-chainlink-ccip 

3️⃣ PancakeSwap Expands to Coinbase-Incubated Base Network 🚀

PancakeSwap, the leading DEX on the BNB Chain, has reportedly launched on the Coinbase-incubated Ethereum layer-2 network Base. This makes Base the latest addition to PancakeSwap’s ongoing multi-chain expansion. The team behind the project has stated that they wish to leverage Coinbase's ecosystem, which reportedly “brings the power of mainstream crypto adoption” and helps in building a “more inclusive DeFi landscape.”

https://decrypt.co/154426/pancakeswap-expands-coinbase-incubated-base-network 

4️⃣ OKX Plans to Enter India, Hire Local Employees for Web3 Exploration 🇮🇳

According to a CoinDesk report, crypto exchange OKX is planning to enter India and recruit local employees to explore potential Web3 applications. OKX chief marketing officer Haider Rafique stated that the company plans to scale up its wallet services “exponentially” by tapping into India’s developer community. He also revealed that there are currently 200,000 OKX Wallet users in India, which equates to barely 5% of India’s Web3 users.

On the country’s treatment of crypto, Rafique stated,

"You have to kind of separate Web3 from CeFi and I think regulators are starting to do that too. They're more concerned about venues that have fiat on-ramps, which we do but we don't offer it in India. Once India comes up with a regulatory framework for crypto then we would like to be the front runners."

https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/09/01/okx-planning-web3-foray-into-india-chief-marketing-officer-says/ 

5️⃣ 'Altcoins' Central to Hong Kong Crypto Firm HashKey’s First Liquid Fund 💰

According to a Reuters report, digital assets financial services firm HashKey Capital's Hong Kong-regulated fund will invest less than half of the fund in bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), and place more emphasis on its altcoin portfolio. The fund, which opened for business Friday, has reportedly attracted several high-net-worth individuals and investment firms serving rich Asian families as clients. 

https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/altcoins-central-hong-kong-crypto-firm-hashkeys-first-liquid-fund-2023-08-31/