Gate Research Institute: Solana DEX volume surpasses Ethereum to become the top on-chain, Eliza Labs launches AI agent Launchpad platform Auto-Fun

Summary

• The price of Bitcoin has remained largely stable over the past 24 hours, reported at 85,284 USDT; Ethereum has risen by 0.27% to 1,587.17 USDT.
• DeFi market capitalization evaporated by nearly 49 billion dollars in the first quarter.
• Ethereum transaction fees have dropped to a five-year low, while on-chain activity remains sluggish.
• Solana's DEX trading volume reached 16.2 billion USD in 7 days, surpassing Ethereum to rank first across the entire chain.
• Circle Research released the Refund Protocol, introducing a refund mechanism for stablecoin payments.
• The Slovenian Ministry of Finance has proposed a draft for a 25% tax on cryptocurrency transactions.

Market Commentary

• BTC — The BTC price has remained relatively stable over the past 24 hours, currently reported at 84,927 USDT. From the chart, BTC has been consolidating in the range of 83,154 to 86,136 USDT in recent days. The current price is running above MA5 and MA30, slightly below MA10, and overall still in a densely packed area of short-term moving averages. In the short term, the price is oscillating around the three moving averages, not yet breaking through the upper resistance level, with the market showing a narrow consolidation trend. In terms of trading volume, it remains at a low level overall, with neither buying nor selling pressure showing a significant advantage, and market sentiment is cautious. The MACD indicator shows that the fast and slow lines are close to the zero axis, with the histogram's volatility decreasing, indicating neutral momentum, and the short-term direction is still unclear.

ETH — ETH price edged up 0.27% over the past 24 hours and is currently trading at 1,587.17 USDT. **From the chart, ETH is gradually converging in a set of descending triangle patterns, with the price running above the key support level of 1,544.55 USDT and the short-term highs moving downward, indicating that bearish suppression is still ongoing. The current price is close to the end of the triangle, and a directional choice may be ushered in in the short term. In terms of moving averages, ETH is currently oscillating around MA5, MA10 and MA30, and the three-line winding indicates that the short-term long-short balance is stalemate, and there is no obvious trend direction yet. In terms of trading volume, the overall trading activity has been low recently, and there has been no significant breakthrough in volume, and the market is in a wait-and-see mood. The MACD indicator shows that the fast and slow lines are close to the zero line and continue to converge, the histogram has minimal volatility, the momentum continues to weaken, and the short-term lacks a clear trend signal. 【2】

• ETF —— According to data from SoSoValue, the total net inflow for the U.S. Bitcoin spot ETF on April 17 was $107 million【3】; there was no capital change for the U.S. Ethereum spot ETF. The data is as of April 18, 12:00 PM (UTC+8).【4]
• Altcoins —— The Bittensor Ecosystem, Perpetuals, and AI Agent Launchpad segments changed by +9.7%, +6.9%, and +6.2% respectively. 【5]
• Three Major U.S. Indices —— On April 17, the S&P 500 index rose by 0.13%, the Dow Jones index fell by 1.33%, and the Nasdaq index fell by 0.13%.【6】
• Spot Gold —— The spot gold price is $3,327.11 per ounce, with a daily decline of 0.48%. Data as of April 18, 10:00 AM UTC+8).【7】
• Fear and Greed Index —— Fear and Greed Index at 33, the market is in a state of panic. [8]

Popular Tokens

According to Gate.io market data【9】, combined with the trading volume and price performance over the last 24 hours, the popular altcoins are as follows:

**T (Threshold) **—— The daily increase is approximately 43.71%, with a circulating market value of 208 million dollars.

Threshold (T) is a decentralized cryptographic infrastructure network formed by the merger of Keep Network and NuCypher in 2022, which aims to provide cryptographic primitives such as privacy protection, proxy re-encryption (PRE), and threshold signing (TSS) for dApps. Its native token, T, has both utility and governance functions: on the one hand, it can be used for node staking and service operation (such as the cross-chain bridge operation of tBTC), and on the other hand, it supports users to participate in DAO governance and voting mechanisms, influencing network decision-making and resource allocation. 【10】

The core driver of the Threshold Network's $T token price rally was the announcement and execution of a strategic token buyback program. The plan not only includes the halt of $T sales and the first round of buyback of 30 million tokens, but also sends a clear signal that the project team is taking concrete actions to reduce token circulation, control inflation, and restore market confidence.

**STIK (Staika) **—— Single-day increase of approximately 47.52%, circulating market value of 145 million USD.

Staika (STIK) is a digital asset management platform operating on the Solana blockchain, established in 2022, dedicated to building an ecosystem that integrates a multi-chain wallet, Move-to-Earn (M2E), Play-to-Earn (P2E) mechanisms, and a trustworthy NFT market. The platform offers users a rewarding Web3 experience through sports reward mechanisms like gazaGO and environmentally themed games like defenGO.

The core impetus of this rise came from the transparent circulation disclosure announcement issued by the project party in mid-April, which strengthened market confidence. According to the official announcement, the Staika team disclosed the circulation and unlocking of tokens as of April 16, 2025, and also disclosed all relevant addresses and transaction details, showing a high degree of transparency and compliance awareness.

**AERGO (Aergo) **—— Daily increase of about 41.52%, with a circulating market value of 115 million USD.

Aergo (AERGO) is an open-source hybrid blockchain platform designed for enterprises and developers, developed by the South Korean blockchain technology company Blocko. The platform supports smart contracts written in Lua and SQL, combining private and public chain architectures to achieve high performance and flexibility. Its mainnet uses the BFT-DPoS consensus mechanism, while the private chain employs the RAFT algorithm, making it suitable for deploying enterprise-level applications, including DeFi, supply chain tracking, identity management, and NFT scenarios.

The main reason for this round of price increase is the official announcement from Aergo that it has established a partnership with the custody service provider BitGo, which significantly enhances the market's confidence in its security and compliance. On April 16, Aergo officially announced BitGo as its "official custody partner". This partnership means that AERGO tokens will receive institutional-grade custody protection provided by BitGo, which plays a key role in attracting institutional funds and enhancing the project's credibility. Custody security has always been an important barrier for institutions participating in the crypto market, and this move is seen by the market as an important signal that Aergo is moving towards larger-scale commercialization.

Highlight Data

Ethereum transaction fees drop to a five-year low, on-chain activity remains sluggish

Recent data shows that the average transaction fee on the Ethereum network has dropped to about $0.168, the lowest level since 2020. On-chain analysis indicates that this change is mainly due to a decline in user activity, with a significant reduction in sending ETH and interacting with smart contracts.

The reduction in transaction fees directly reflects a decrease in the demand for network usage. When the on-chain transaction density declines, users no longer need to pay higher fees to compete for priority confirmation, resulting in a drop in average gas fees. Although this move may attract some users back to the Ethereum mainnet in the short term, it simultaneously weakens the incentive for validators, potentially affecting the long-term security and activity of the network.

The macroeconomic environment has also suppressed market sentiment. Since the United States announced a new round of high tariffs in early April, both the traditional and cryptocurrency asset markets have faced adjustments, with ETH falling more than 12% in the past two weeks, currently hovering below $1,600.

In addition, Ethereum is set to undergo a network upgrade called Pectra on May 7, which is expected to further optimize network efficiency and transaction costs, including allowing the use of stablecoins to pay gas fees, raising the staking cap, and other features. The market is generally focused on whether this upgrade can help revive the Ethereum ecosystem.

DeFi market capitalization evaporated by nearly 49 billion USD in the first quarter

In the first quarter of 2025, the crypto market as a whole entered a period of adjustment due to global trade tensions and macroeconomic uncertainties. According to data, the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi shrank by 27.5% over three months, amounting to a decrease of approximately $48.9 billion. During this time, the price of Ethereum dropped from $3,336 at the beginning of the year to $1,800, leading to a loss of about $40 billion in TVL, and the market share of DeFi fell from 63.5% to 56.6%. Nevertheless, there was no large-scale withdrawal of funds by users, primarily affected by the general decline of altcoins.

While Ethereum's market share is declining, emerging chains such as Solana and Base are quickly filling the void. Although Solana's token price also corrected, its DEX trading activity increased, with spot trading volume accounting for 39.6% in the first quarter, leading the whole chain. Berachain, a new project, has performed well, reaching $5.2 billion in TVL in just a few months, making it the sixth largest DeFi chain. On the other hand, the meme coin sector has suffered a crisis of confidence, with the daily token creation of the Pump.fun platform plummeting by 56.3% since the "Libra" incident. 【14】

In the past seven days, Solana DEX trading volume reached 16.2 billion US dollars, surpassing Ethereum to rank first across the entire chain

In the recent 7-day trading volume ranking of decentralized exchanges, Solana tops all other ecosystems with a total trading volume of $16.201 billion. The weekly trading volume has increased by as much as 15.35% compared to the previous week. Solana has surpassed major blockchain ecosystems in trading volume, including Ethereum ($12.508 billion), BSC ($6.506 billion), Base ($4.762 billion), and Arbitrum ($3.548 billion).

While Ethereum still has a huge advantage in total value locked (TVL) ($7.088 billion for the Ethereum DEX TVL vs. $2.271 billion for Solana), the short-term comparison of trading activity shows the rapid liquidity of funds and traders between different chains. With its high-throughput, low-latency, and low-transaction fee blockchain architecture, Solana continues to attract a large number of users and developers in the DeFi space, and its scalability provides an ideal environment for decentralized applications. A number of leading DEX protocols on the chain – such as Jupiter, Raydium, and Orca – provide efficient matchmaking and liquidity support, while also rapidly accumulating trading activity due to a smooth user experience. 【15】

Hot Comments

Eliza Labs launches AI Agent Launchpad platform Auto-Fun

Eliza Labs has launched a no-code AI agent Launchpad platform called "Auto-Fun", aiming to address the current incentive imbalance and value capture issues in AI projects through an innovative token economic model that is "fairer than fair". The platform plans to provide sustainable financial support for the ecosystem by requiring developers to pay a certain percentage of fees at the start of the project, which will be allocated to the DAO treasury. Additionally, the platform proposes to introduce staking mechanisms, a reputation system, and community review processes to ensure project quality and incentivize long-term participation.

This initiative was proposed as a remedy after the early token model of Eliza Labs faced challenges. Previously, the AI16Z token launched by Eliza Labs adopted a "fair minting" model, where the founding team did not receive any initial allocation, resulting in a lack of sustainable funding for the project. Although the token's market capitalization once reached $2 billion, it has fallen to $300 million this year due to the absence of substantial value capture mechanisms, forcing the team to reassess its token economic model.

Although the traditional "fair start" model can attract community attention in the early stage, it lacks incentives for developers and long-term holders, and it is difficult to support the sustainable development of the project. By introducing a start-up fee, staking mechanism, and reputation system, the successful launch of the Auto-Fun platform is expected to rebuild market confidence, attract new users to participate, and form a stronger consensus within the community. 【16】

Circle Research released Refund Protocol, introducing a refund mechanism for stablecoin payments

Circle Research has launched the Refund Protocol, an innovative smart contract designed to address the lack of refund and dispute resolution mechanisms in traditional stablecoin payments. This protocol provides non-custodial on-chain dispute resolution and escrow features for ERC-20 stablecoin payments. It allows for the setting of a lock-up period, supports refunds mediated by arbitrators, and enables early withdrawals under off-chain agreements, while minimizing trust in centralized third parties. The Refund Protocol is designed for developers to enhance the composability and transparency of on-chain commerce, making stablecoin payments more secure and flexible in real-world applications.

The Refund Protocol mechanism consists of four main steps: payment, refund, withdrawal, and early withdrawal. During the payment process, the customer sends the token to the smart contract instead of sending it directly to the recipient; In the event of a dispute, the payee can directly initiate a refund, or the arbitrator can intervene in mediation; After the lock-up period ends, the recipient is free to withdraw the funds that have not been refunded; At the same time, the system also supports the function of the beneficiary to withdraw money in advance after paying a certain fee. The core advantage of the protocol is its non-custodial nature, where the arbitrator's power is strictly limited to forwarding funds to the intended payee or returning them to the original payer, with the inability to transfer funds to an address of their choice or lock them indefinitely. This design not only retains the decentralized nature of blockchain, but also introduces a dispute resolution mechanism similar to that of traditional payment systems.

Traditional stablecoin transactions are similar to cash; once a payment is made, it is difficult to retrieve, which greatly limits their application in business scenarios that require trust and dispute resolution mechanisms. Circle's protocol cleverly introduces features similar to credit card dispute resolution while maintaining the decentralized characteristics of blockchain. However, some considerations mentioned in the protocol design, such as the risk of malicious arbitrators, the complexity of refund addresses, and gas costs, are issues that need to be focused on and resolved in future practical applications.

The Slovenian Ministry of Finance has proposed a draft to impose a 25% tax on cryptocurrency transactions

On April 17, 2025, the Slovenian Ministry of Finance announced a new tax draft proposal, which plans to impose a 25% tax rate on residents selling cryptocurrencies in exchange for fiat currency or for payments for goods and services. Currently, the draft is open for public consultation, which will last until May 5. If successfully passed, the bill is expected to officially come into effect on January 1, 2026.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Finance, the tax scheme does not apply to swap transactions between cryptocurrencies and wallet transfers between the same user. In addition, the tax base will be calculated based on the bid-ask spread, and taxpayers will need to record all transactions and declare income in the annual return. Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič said that the current situation of tax exemption for individual crypto transactions is "unreasonable" and that "as one of the most speculative financial instruments, crypto assets should not be excluded from the tax system".

The proposal of the draft tax marks the acceleration of the process of Slovenia's inclusion in the tax system of crypto assets. The Ministry of Finance has clearly regarded fiat currency withdrawals and consumption as taxable behaviors, indicating that it intends to guide crypto assets to return to the scope of fiscal supervision and reduce the space for "gray transactions". If the bill is successfully passed and implemented in 2026, Slovenia will officially move from the current light tax model of 10% to a more stringent crypto tax within the EU. It also highlights that the country is gradually building a more comprehensive digital asset governance framework following the issuance of digital sovereign bonds. 【18】

Fusion Information

According to RootData, in the past 24 hours, 2 projects have publicly announced funding, with a total amount exceeding $55 million, involving the Defi sector. Here are the specifics of the funded projects:【19】

**Layer Zero **—— Layer Zero has completed a $55 million seed round financing, led by a16z and Yzi Labs, with participation from institutions such as Robot Ventures and Spartan Group. LayerZero is an all-chain interoperability protocol designed for lightweight messaging across chains. It provides trustworthy and secure messaging, with configurable trustlessness. This round of financing is primarily aimed at promoting the global deployment of cross-chain communication protocols, expanding the developer ecosystem, and enhancing security auditing and infrastructure development to support its upcoming mainnet and token economic model.【20】

EdgeX Labs — EdgeX Labs has completed a strategic financing round, with the specific amount undisclosed, co-invested by Ryze Labs. EdgeX Labs is an edge computing network dedicated to providing stable and secure edge computing capabilities and development foundations for various AI projects and AI agents. This round of funding will be used to accelerate the deployment of global edge nodes, optimize the performance of the EdgeX OS system, and expand the ecological applications of the core product EdgeX AI Agent. 【21】

Airdrop Opportunities

Debridge

Debridge is an interoperability protocol focused on cross-chain asset and data transfer, supporting multiple mainstream blockchain networks such as Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, and Polygon. Its core adopts a validator network architecture, ensuring the integrity and security of transactions, and discarding traditional liquidity pool designs to provide deep liquidity and low slippage trading experiences. Debridge's goal is to provide developers and users with a fast and reliable cross-chain communication infrastructure, promoting the integrated development of a multi-chain ecosystem.

Currently, Debridge is conducting an airdrop event for its native token $DBR. Season 1 allocated 6% of the total supply of DBR to users who earn points through the protocol before July 23, 2024, with the claiming period lasting until May 17, 2025. Season 2 has also begun, allowing users to continue accumulating points through cross-chain interactions and referral tasks in preparation for future airdrops. 【21】

Participation Method:

• Season 1: Connect your wallet to check if you meet the airdrop conditions. If you do, fill in your Solana address to receive DBR.
• Season 2: Conduct cross-chain transactions, earn 100 points for every $1 transaction fee paid.
• Invite friends to participate, and for each successful invitation of 1 person, you can earn an additional 25% of their points.
• Actively use the features of Debridge and pay attention to the official community for more airdrop opportunities and updates.

Tip: The airdrop plan and participation methods may be updated at any time, so users are advised to follow Debridge's official channels for the latest information. At the same time, users should participate cautiously, be aware of risks, and conduct thorough research before participating. Gate.io does not guarantee the distribution of subsequent airdrop rewards.

Reference Material

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15. Defillama,https://defillama.com/dexs/chains
16. Cointelegraph,https://cointelegraph.com/news/ai16z-s-eliza-labs-launches-ai-powered-pump-fun-alternative-auto-fun
17. Circle,https://www.circle.com/blog/refund-protocol-non-custodial-dispute-resolution-for-stablecoin-payments
18. Cointelegraph,https://cointelegraph.com/news/slovenia-finance-ministry-floats-25-tax-on-crypto
19. Roodata,https://www.rootdata.com/Fundraising
20. X,https://x.com/alive_eth/status/1912899221868396869
21. X,https://x.com/EdgexAI/status/1912717775250055650
22. Debridge,https://docs.debridge.foundation/faq-airdrop-season-1/eligibility-season-1

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