Weekly Project Updates: TRUMP Tokens Face Massive Unlock, Aave Initiates Buyback Plan, Binance's 67th Launchpool Project WalletConnect, etc

Apr 12, 2025

1. Vitalik Buterin Shares a Simple Privacy Roadmap for Ethereum L1 link

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has shared a simple privacy roadmap for Ethereum’s Layer 1 (L1). It includes ideas for effectively improving the privacy situation of Ethereum users without altering the Ethereum consensus, and focuses on four forms of privacy: on-chain payment privacy, partial anonymization of on-chain activities within applications, on-chain reading privacy, and network anonymity. The solutions involve integrating privacy tools such as Railgun into wallets, having the default of “one address per application”, implementing FOCIL and EIP-7701, and adopting technologies like Trusted Execution Environments (TEE) and Private Information Retrieval (PIR) to protect the privacy of Remote Procedure Calls (RPC). The aim is to enhance user privacy and reduce the leakage of metadata.

2. Nasdaq Applies to List VanEck Avalanche Spot ETF, Likely to Be Approved by the End of December link

Nasdaq has submitted an application for rule — change to the US SEC, planning to list the Avalanche (AVAX) spot ETF launched by VanEck on the exchange. This application comes about one month after VanEck first submitted the ETF proposal and closely follows a similar application submitted by Grayscale. Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart said that the market generally expects the AVAX and DOGE spot ETFs to be eventually approved, with AVAX expected to be approved by the end of December this year and DOGE likely to be approved in mid — October.

3. TRUMP Tokens to Face a Massive Unlock Next Week, Worth Approximately $320 Million link

Trump’s meme coin, TRUMP, is set to experience a large — scale token unlocking next week. 40 million tokens will be unlocked on April 18th, and the project team will receive tokens worth $320 million, accounting for approximately 20% of the circulating supply. If the unlocked tokens are sold into the public market, the supply — to — liquidity ratio will be severely unbalanced, potentially leading to further downward pressure on the price. Since its launch on January 18th, the price of the TRUMP token has touched $7.14, and the current price is $8, with its value having shrunk by 83% from its peak. The number of TRUMP token holders has dropped from 817,000 at the initial launch to 637,000, and currently only 12,000 wallets hold over $1,000 worth of TRUMP tokens, a significant decrease from the 143,000 wallets on January 19th.

4. Ethena Labs Announces the Launch of Proof of Reserves for USDe link

Ethena Labs has announced the launch of the USDe proof — of — reserve. The proof was created and launched in collaboration with Harris & Trotter, Chaos Labs, LlamaRisk, and Chainlink. The USDe proof — of — reserve will release the proof results once a week, which will be independently reviewed by the aforementioned verification parties. The data sources include blockchains, custodians, and exchange partners. In addition, the reserve fund assets are not included in the US dollar value of USDe’s supporting assets.

5. The First Unichain Hackathon Hosted by the Uniswap Foundation Concludes, with Announcement of Award — winning Projects link

The Uniswap Foundation held its first Unichain Hackathon in New York, attracting ecosystem developers to participate in a 24 — hour development competition. The winning projects are as follows: the first — prize — winning AnyPrice (Bryan, Solo Labs), which enables cross — chain access to Uniswap V4 oracle price data through Optimism L2 messages; the second — prize — winning Swoupon (Nolan et al.), which introduces the ERC — 20 token Swoupon to reward liquidity — pool transactions and dynamically adjust fees; and the third — prize — winning MiladyBank (Mehran), which builds a lending protocol based on Uniswap V4 hooks to optimize interest rates and capital efficiency. The Uniswap Foundation said it will support the development of the winning projects and open the application for the Unichain Infinite Hackathon rewards.

6. OpenSea Sends a Letter to the SEC Requesting Clarification on the Regulatory Position of the NFT Market link

The NFT marketplace OpenSea has sent a letter to the SEC, demanding that it be made clear that NFT platforms should not be regarded as securities exchanges or broker-dealers. The letter, signed by Adele Faure, the General Counsel of OpenSea, and Laura Brookover, the Deputy General Counsel, emphasizes that classifying OpenSea as an exchange or a broker-dealer constitutes an overreach of regulatory authority. In February of this year, the SEC had already terminated its relevant investigation into OpenSea. OpenSea has pointed out that it does not facilitate transactions, does not offer investment advice, nor does it hold custody of users’ assets.

7. Aave Launches AAVE Buyback Plan, with $4 Million of aEthUSDT Authorized in the First Phase link

The Aave community has passed a proposal, authorizing the Aave Finance Committee (AFC) to utilize $4 million — equivalent aEthUSDT to repurchase AAVE from the market and allocate it to the ecosystem reserve fund. This repurchase is part of the Aavenomics upgrade, with the goal of repurchasing no more than $1 million worth of AAVE per week for 6 months. This is the initial execution phase, and the repurchase operation will be carried out through the secondary market or market — makers. The fund authorization can be adjusted or revoked at any time.

8. Linea’s Product Head: TGE After the Market Turns from Bear to Bull link

Declan Fox, the product lead of Linea, stated that the TGE (Token Generation Event) will be carried out after the market shifts from a bear market to a bull market. Previously, the administrator of Linea’s Discord community said that the TGE would not occur in the first quarter. The team will announce the follow — up progress after the final schedule is determined.

9. HashKey Chain Positions Itself as the “Preferred Public Chain for Finance and RWA” link

Kay, the CEO of HashKey Eco Labs, stated that HashKey Chain positions itself as the “preferred public chain for finance and RWA”. It will focus on supporting the RWA, MMF, PayFi, and stablecoin tracks. With the overall asset architecture of OnChain Finance as the core and the smart contracts driven by the AI MCP Framework as a breakthrough, it integrates key modules such as RWA Bridge, MMF Stablecoin, and MMF Yield Hub to provide full — stack support for RWA in terms of asset mapping, value stabilization, and management. This will expand the on — chain application scenarios of RWA and enhance asset efficiency.

10. Binance Launchpool to Launch the 67th Project Walletconnect (WCT) link

Binance has announced that Binance Launchpool will launch the 67th project, WalletConnect (WCT). Meanwhile, the WCT spot trading pairs will be launched at 11:00 (UTC+8) on April 15, 2025. WalletConnect is an open — source network that connects users to decentralized applications via a secure and interoperable protocol. It serves as a crucial communication bridge in the Web3 ecosystem, facilitating seamless interaction between wallets and DApps, thereby enhancing the security and convenience of user operations.

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