Welcome to a new edition of the Buffer Digest, our weekly protocol briefing. We're thrilled to provide a recap of our achievements from the past week and exciting announcements. Also, we'll share our future strategies for expanding the project and fostering community growth.
TL;DR
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Numbers: platform Statistics & weekly APR adjustments
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v2.5 Highlights - a deeper insight into ‘gasless everything’ and ‘1 Click - Better than a CEX’ by Buffer
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The significance behind the launch of UniswapX for Buffer
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Ecosystem news: Conclusion of Camelot’s Arbitrum Proposal
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Market Commentary: A dynamic week in crypto, BTC holds steady, and ETH vol spikes.
Numbers
Platform Statistics
Weekly APR Adjustments
Updated APRs:
Airdrop & Fee Burn:
v2.5 Highlights
Gasless Trading
A poll we hosted on Monday revealed that our Buffelows are most excited about the ‘Gasless Trading‘ feature in our upcoming build.
Naturally, we had to cater to your interests - so we dove a bit deeper into our “Gasless Trading facility“ even revealing an exciting bit of alpha:
In case you missed it, here’s an excerpt from the thread:
Gasless Trading In V2.5 traders do not need $ETH in their wallet to use the platform - how is this possible?
You're probably used to having to pay gas for every swap, deposit, or withdrawal you make on a chain - it's "just how DeFi works."
To most users by now and spending hundreds or thousands of $ per year on gas, bit by bit with every transaction, is seen as normal.
But it isn't - not anymore!
On Buffer V2.5, gas payments are handled entirely by the Buffer Keepers - off-chain bots that execute transactions when predefined conditions are met in order to minimize the need for transaction approvals and optimize resource utilization.
All it takes is the initial approval by a user to allow the Keepers to take over transaction management - this approval is part of your initial account setup on Buffer
Alpha: Our dev team is currently working on making even this initial approval gasless The Keepers take over the gas payments, allowing the users to freely trade without ever having to worry about running out of $ETH or having to bother with constant approvals that could cost them valuable seconds when timing an entry.
So, does Buffer just pay everyone's gas out of pocket? Not quite - Keeper's gas costs are covered by a portion of the regular trading fees and are payable in any token available for trading on the platform! (currently $USDC, $ARB and $BFR).
1 Click Trading
Ranking as the 2nd most anticipated v2.5 feature is - “1 Click Trading.”
It's no surprise that CEXs offer some of the fastest trading experiences in crypto. Executing a trade on a CEX is near-instant.
The tradeoff? You have to first deposit your funds into the exchange. CEXs trade self-custody for speed (not to mention their centralized market makers).
This tradeoff has been a massive impasse that decentralized perpetual exchanges couldn't traverse... Until now! What if you could execute trades at speeds that rival CEXs, all with self-custody?
That's exactly what we're bringing to the table. One Click Trading (1CT) is the first of its kind.
Here’s an excerpt from the thread we recently published explaining the mechanics behind 1CT:
1 Click Trading - Better than CEX One-Click-Trading is exactly what you think - everything just takes a single click.
Executing Up/Down trades? One-click.
Setting Limit Orders? One-click.
Closing or editing a position? You guessed it - One. Click.
No extra approvals, no waiting, no captchas. How?
When setting up your trading account on Buffer V2.5 you: create a secure private key that is utilized to sign interactions within the Buffer-dApp on your behalf and register your 1CT account to Buffer’s router contract.
This allows for direct execution of your interactions without needing to approve every transaction - but is it safu? Yes!
The generated private key is never transmitted, but instead securely stored in your browser's local storage - also traders can deregister their trading account anytime they want. CEX-like trading, but without the risks!
Ecosystem News
Launch of UniswapX and its Significance for Buffer Finance
The launch of UniswapX Beta is a watershed moment for us.
DeFi titans are adopting the same architectural modules that we embraced for Buffer V2.5 months prior.
This affirms that intent-based architecture is the future.
The images (Uniswapx whitepaper & Buffer’s v2.5 - First Look article) below highlight a few architectural similarities between Buffer v2.5 and Uniswap X.
Camelot’s Arbitrum Proposal Concludes
Camelot's status as the foremost native DEX of Arbitrum is indisputable. Consequently, we are fundamentally aligned with Camelot’s vision of ‘Accelerating Arbitrum‘ and support the idea of them receiving a grant following an adjusted proposal in the future.
We have been meticulously tracking the unfolding conversation and voting process over the recent weeks and we highly anticipate the updated proposal and the framework that Camelot’s team will bring forth following the enriching discussions that were sparked from the first.
Market Commentary
The past week witnessed a dynamic interplay between traditional economic indicators and market forces. As inflation expectations subsided and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) hit its slowest year-on-year growth in two years at 3%, the crypto market was far from stagnant.
Ripple's XRP stole the spotlight with a substantial price surge of nearly 100%, triggered by a key judicial ruling and subsequent relisting on major exchanges. This ruling also initiated rallies in other altcoins like SOL, which gained over 20%.
Amid this volatility, Bitcoin displayed remarkable resilience, holding steady around $30,000 despite the U.S. government's sale of another Silk Road Bitcoin batch. Ethereum, on the other hand, saw a resurgence of volatility reaching 36% as it crossed the $2,000 mark. The events led to a sharp increase in implied volatility (IV) on the front end.
The term structure remained steady on the front end while it flattened for maturities beyond 17DTE, dropping around 1-2 vols from the previous week. Ethereum's term structure mirrored Bitcoin's for the mid-to-far end of the curve but was elevated on the front end. The ETH-BTC positive vol spreads further widened for the July and August 2023 period.
In terms of options flow, Ethereum options volumes matched Bitcoin's for the first time in two months, largely due to robust demand for ETH, which pushed the cryptocurrency past the $2,000 threshold. Gamma's positioning showed divergent trends between Bitcoin and Ethereum.
In summary, the week was shaped by events such as new venue launches, favorable regulatory decisions, and the potential for subdued inflation, suggesting that the crypto market might witness more vibrant conditions soon.
Stay tuned for the next Digest!🖖
About Buffer
Buffer Finance is a non-custodial exotic options trading platform that provides defined-outcome and fast-paced trading across both crypto and non-crypto markets, including forex, commodities, and indices.
Buffer simplifies the intricacies of options trading, allowing DeFi-native traders to trade multiple assets entirely on-chain without the added complexities of liquidation, funding rates, or scam-wicks.
Website: https://buffer.finance/
Telegram: t.me/bufferfinance
Twitter: twitter.com/Buffer_Finance