On-chain Weekly Digest: Aerodrome expands as Base’s liquidity hub with Coinbase integration and RWA launch
GameSquare partners with Azuki and Anime Foundation in $2.5M deal, Ethena’s USDe supply doubles to $11.2B in 30 days, becomes key DeFi pillar...
On-Chain Overview
Crypto market shows signs of risk-on shift as ETH ETF inflows surge, Base ecosystem grows, institutional trades reshape volume dynamics, and narrative-driven projects like GameSquare Digital Asset Treasury and Moonbirds gain traction.
Despite a 3.9% dip in crypto market cap, DEX activity surged with a 28.34% volume increase, led by Ethereum and Hyperliquid’s strong growth.
（Data accurate as of: Aug 18, 2025, 6:00 am, UTC）
Altcoin, Meme coin, NFT and RWA
Altcoin market cap dipped 1.33% to $1.03T, in which meme coins seeing steeper declines — market cap down 10.59% and volume down 21.13%; meanwhile, NFT trading volume jumped 21.68% to $149.3M.
（Data accurate as of: Aug 18, 2025, 6:00 am, UTC）
Macro, Stocks & Commodities
Equities gained modestly (S&P 500 +0.95%, Nasdaq 100 +0.43%) amid a slight drop in volatility (VIX -0.86%) and DXY (-0.2%), while gold fell 1.72% and the 10Y U.S. bond yield rose to 4.297%.
（Data accurate as of: Aug 18, 2025, 6:00 am, UTC）
Key Events of the Week
NFT | GameSquare partners with Azuki and Anime Foundation in $2.5M deal (13 Aug)
GameSquare will invest $2.5M to support Azuki and Anime Foundation, adding Animecoin to its holdings. This is part of its broader goal to build a $250M ETH-based digital treasury.
DEX | Aerodrome expands as Base’s liquidity hub with Coinbase integration and RWA launch (17 Aug)
AerodromeFi strengthens its $1.43B TVL dominance on Base by integrating directly with Coinbase for seamless user access and debuting as the first trading venue for Centrifuge’s $deJAAA—Base’s first freely transferable real-world asset.(track)
NFT | Moonbirds +20% after Kaito partnership (12 Aug)
Moonbirds X @KaitoAI leaderboard goes live on 18th August.
Stablecoin | Ethena’s USDe supply doubles to $11.2B in 30 days, becomes key DeFi pillar (17 Aug)
Ethena’s USDe has surged to $11.2B in 30 days—$6.4B parked on Aave via Pendle looping—cementing its status as a systemically critical stablecoin issuer.
Stablecoin | Sky secures first S&P stablecoin credit rating with B- and stable outlook (17 Aug)
SkyEcosystem earns a historic B- credit rating from S&P, which cites decentralization as a key risk mitigator, with $8.59B in assets, a $90.5M surplus, and full transparency via SteakhouseFi.
Looking Ahead
BTC | Brazil’s lower house to hold hearing on creating national Bitcoin reserve (20 Aug)
Game | Pudgy Party mobile game launches August 29 — pre-downloads now live (29 Aug)
Wrapping Up
From a market data perspective: Crypto market cap dipped 3.9%, yet Ethereum-led DEX volume surged 28.34%; meme coins saw sharp market cap losses while NFT and Hyperliquid volumes rose.
From a market events perspective: ETH ETF inflows, GameSquare’s Azuki investment, Aerodrome’s RWA expansion, Moonbirds’ Kaito leaderboard launch, and Ethena and Sky’s stablecoin milestones highlight accelerating crypto adoption and DeFi infrastructure growth.
