Balancer

The Path to Panda contest concluded on January 11, showcasing diverse community contributions around Balancer v3. Over 20 creators submitted content ranging from technical analyses to educational videos. The initiative offered a $10,000 USDC prize pool. Key ecosystem updates include: - Proposal to deactivate inactive v2 gauges and activate v3 gauges to support $30M+ TVL growth - CoW AMMs launch on Base with enhanced LP features - ETH/USDC Concentrated Liquidity Pool on Base reaches $1.5M+ TVL - Priority Fee Router coming to Base in Q1 2025 Current metrics show veBAL at $9.64 with 37.16% voting APR.

CoW AMMs have launched on Base, introducing a solution to Loss Versus Rebalancing (LVR) - a hidden cost that costs LPs over $500M annually. Key features: - Batch auctions where solvers compete to rebalance pools - Arbitrage profits return to LPs instead of bots - Two pool types available: 50/50 and 80/20 asset splits - Built on Balancer infrastructure - Permissionless pool creation The integration aims to create more efficient, transparent liquidity provision with reduced risk and optimized returns. Learn more at balancer.fi/pools/cow

Gyroscope's ETH-USDC concentrated liquidity pool on Base has demonstrated significant success since launch: - Generated ~$121k in total swap fees - Achieved 162% utilization rate in December - Facilitated over $40M in trades - Maintains $1.5M+ TVL - Earned $105k in fees from organic volume in past 30 days The pool offers a simplified approach to concentrated liquidity, with pre-configured swap ranges that eliminate the need for active management. Users can access the pool through either Balancer or Aura Finance platforms.

Balancer v3 is launching a Priority Fee Router on Base in Q1 2025, introducing a novel MEV internalization mechanism. The system taxes high-priority transactions and redistributes MEV rewards to liquidity providers, creating an additional revenue stream. Key features: - Tax Multiplier: Charges X units of ETH for every 1 unit of priority fees - Priority Fee Threshold: Only applies to high-priority transactions, preserving retail experience - Single-hop trade requirement for precise tax allocation The mechanism aims to balance complexity and efficiency while ensuring fair distribution of MEV profits between searchers and liquidity providers.

Balancer has completed a security competition in partnership with Cantina to strengthen the v3 protocol's security measures. This follows the public release of Balancer v3's codebase earlier this year. Key developments: - Security competition successfully concluded with Cantina - Community participation helped enhance code security - Part of ongoing security measures before Q4 launch - Follows public codebase release milestone The initiative reinforces Balancer's commitment to maintaining robust security standards as they prepare for the v3 launch.

Balancer v3 has gone live on Ethereum and Gnosis Chain with adoption from 20+ established DeFi protocols. Key integrations include Aave's 100% Boosted Pools allowing users to earn lending rates plus swap fees, Chainlink's data feeds for rate updates, and ParaSwap's day-one integration. The launch features E-CLPs from Gyroscope, MEV protection from CoW Swap, and BTFs from QuantAMM. The upgrade introduces hooks for customizable pool behavior and a refined fee model benefiting both LPs and veBAL stakers. Security audits were completed by Trail of Bits, Spearbit and Certora.

Aave's decentralized stablecoin GHO has surpassed $150m in circulating supply and is expanding its DeFi presence through new liquidity pools on Balancer. Key developments include: - A Tri-StablePool on Ethereum mainnet pairing GHO with USDC and USDT, offering swap fees, GHO rewards, BAL rewards, and AURA rewards. - A new GyroStable concentrated liquidity pool on Arbitrum, combining yield-bearing waGHO (wrapped aGHO) with USDe. This pool provides access to: - GHO interest rates from Aave lending market - Concentrated swap fees - ARB, BAL, and AURA rewards - x30 Sats on Ethena Labs Users can explore all GHO opportunities on Balancer via their pool search page. For questions, the Balancer Discord is available.

Balancer has introduced a new liquidity pool (LP) featuring $balETH and $wstETH, now live and offering rewards. This development follows the successful bootstrapping of $balETH, which is currently autopiloting ~$10m across Balancer's ETH LST pools. Key features of the new LP: - Optimizes ETH liquidity allocation across Balancer pools - Provides exposure to $balETH swap volatility and fees - Offers additional $BAL rewards The user experience remains simple: 1. Deposit $ETH 2. Receive $balETH The $balETH token is ERC-4626 compliant, allowing for composability in other yield-generating markets. This LP aims to provide optimal $ETH yield-generating exposure through rebalancing and additional rewards.

Balancer has announced significant improvements to its Boosted Pools in version 3 (v3) of its protocol. The new iteration allows for 100% Boosted Pools, eliminating the need for Balancer Pool Token (BPT) nesting. This enhancement is made possible by the introduction of ERC20MultiToken and transient accounting in v3. To facilitate gas-efficient swaps, v3 introduces the concept of Buffers, which act as simple two-token liquidity pools. These Buffers are designed to handle most swaps through Boosted Pools with minimal liquidity, providing liquidity providers (LPs) with full exposure to yield-bearing assets while offering gas-efficient transactions. This development aims to improve capital efficiency and seamless operations within the Balancer ecosystem.

On June 25, 2024, Ether.fi, in collaboration with GyroStable and Lido Finance, deployed a weETH | wstETH E-CLP (Ethereum Concentrated Liquidity Pool) on the Arbitrum network. This deployment includes a concentrated liquidity ETH LP and comes with a 1.5x Balancer ARB boost. Both Ether Fi and Gyroscope have received ARB grants for this initiative. This development follows a trend of expanding liquid restaking token capabilities on Ethereum Layer 2 solutions, as evidenced by a similar collaboration between Renzo Protocol, Chainlink, and others on March 26, 2024, which saw the launch of an ezETH wstETH LP on Arbitrum with double points.