5 Degen-Only Sei Ecosystem Opps
With its price climbing nearly 3x since Dec 1 and weekly users growing from 5k to over 100k at some points since then, Sei has established itself as an ecosystem to watch!
As we head into this year, where parallel EVMs have been touted as one of the major upgrades to hit our industry, many investors may be curious about the projects leveraging this tech and the opportunities they may hold.
While the Sei ecosystem is still in its early stages, meaning it’s best equipped for degens, projects have already started establishing their footholds in DeFi and NFTs.
As we explore these 5 degen-only opportunities, it's crucial to understand the nuances of each project, the potential upside they hold if successful, as well as the risks that come from engaging with a project in its early stage. Let us begin!
🔵 Yaka Finance
About:
The upcoming Yaka Finance merges DeFi and NFTs, preparing for launch as a combined launchpad and ve(3,3) DEX to consolidate liquidity in the Sei ecosystem. As with all ve(3,3) models, user participation in governance is a cornerstone of their approach, which they encourage by ensuring that all incentives and fees benefit the voters directly. While it is hard to know how a protocol will perform, especially before its launch, Yaka has developed a series of campaigns to jumpstart its growth.
Where’s the Opportunity?
Participating in Testnet: With Yaka in Testnet and an airdrop confirmed, now’s an ideal time to get involved. The first stage of this campaign revolves around testing the platform’s Swap and Liquidity functionalities, earning points for swaps and adding liquidity to its first pools.
Also, in classic Ponzi fashion, Yaka provides campaign participants with unique invitation links to share. If someone joins the campaign with your link, you earn a 5% bonus on the points accumulated by the new participant. Yaka's strategy to cap rewards on swaps and liquidity but not on invite link gains seems to push effectively on its growth aims. Monitor your campaign progress on Yaka’s Airdrop page.
Yaka Voyager NFT Sets Sail: On Tuesday, Yaka Finance’s Yaka Voyager NFT launched, selling out completely ahead of public sale, opening on secondary markets between 900-1200 SEI. Within the first 24 hours, they reached 1m SEI in volume. What’s the buzz? Holders of these 2000 Voyagers will receive a share of 6m YAKA tokens through airdrops and can stake them for a cut of Yaka's trading fees, which will lower from 15% to 10% over time. Plus, you would receive a 1% royalty from secondary sales.
While there is no guarantee any of this will pay off, participating in a Testnet is something you can do at no expense. If you’re ultra bullish on Yaka, it may be worth snagging a Voyager — up to you.
🟢 Kryptonite
About:
Kryptonite, Sei's leading liquid staking protocol, offers SEI lending and stablecoin minting. It’s home to kUSD, a stablecoin collateralized at 200% and mintable against Kryptonite’s LSD, stSEI. kUSD provides holders yield just by holding it, stemming from staking rewards on deposited SEI and stSEI.
Where’s the Opportunity?
You can approach Kryptonite a few ways depending on whether you want to invest or unlock liquidity.
Buying SEILOR: SEILOR is Kryptonite’s native token; holders earn a part of Kryptonite’s revenue. Have high conviction in Kryptonite? Pool your SEILOR in the SEILOR/SEI pair on Astroport. In turn, you’ll receive veSEILOR, enabling governance participation and higher yields. An upcoming EVM + Cosmos-based DEX will burn SEILOR, potentially making it deflationary.
Staking and Borrowing: If you don’t want to buy SEILOR, stake SEI for stSEI on the kAssets page. This grants stSEI and kUSD, usable for other DeFi strategies. Collateral debt stablecoins and liquid staking derivatives continue to demonstrate they are the backbone of DeFi in an ecosystem.
🔴 Pallet Exchange
About:
Pallet Exchange, the primary NFT marketplace for the Sei ecosystem, has fueled the blockchain's recent growth. Housing popular collections like The Colony, Seiyans, and Seitizens, Pallet has traded $11.3M in volume as of 2 days ago. Its success story includes being the launchpad for The Colony, a collection credited with putting Pallet on the map.
Pallet is currently gearing up for its V2 which will have features like:
- The Pallet Launchpad: A way for Pallet to play curator and highlight collections they believe will make waves.
- Automated Listings: Automated Listings will make sure they aren’t gatekeeping though, ensuring that any and every project can list on Pallet.
- Fresh Homepage Design: A sleeker homepage with additional functionalities to provide an overall smoother experience.
Adding to the buzz, Pallet has also kicked off a weekly Sei NFTs space with Cool Times, keeping the community looped in on the latest.
What’s the Opportunity?
Pallet launched without a token, begging the question: will they introduce one later?
Considering Magic Eden's early flirtations and Blur's moves, it certainly seems plausible. Yet, the Sei NFT scene is relatively fresh, so tread lightly. For the more adventurous, keep an eye on upcoming mints – they might just be your ticket in.
🟣 Levana Protocol
About:
Levana Protocol, a perpetuals-trading protocol, is another project to watch in the Sei ecosystem. Its 'Well-Funded Perps Model' uniquely addresses liquidity issues common in perps trading during market extremes. Levana ensures solvency by locking in funds when trades start, guaranteeing necessary backing. Thus, trade profits are secured upfront. Stablecoin trades have capped profits, while crypto pair trades offer uncapped profit potential. Overall, this incentivizes a more crypto-native market.
Where’s the Opportunity?
Investing: Want straightforward exposure to Levana's future adoption. Levana does have a token, $LVN. The token's functionality is limited now but will expand as Levana evolves into a DAO.
Trading: Traders can leverage up to 30x on Levana across 20 markets on Osmosis, Injective, and Sei. As of Jan 17, they’ve already processed over $1.7b in trades.
🔵 Astroport
About:
Astroport, launching on Terra at its height, smoothly pivoted post-collapse to become a key trading hub across the Cosmos, connecting Sei, Neutron, Injective, and Terra 2.0.Astroport's features make it an appealing choice among Cosmos DEXs. Its multi-network trade support eliminates the need for constant asset bridging.
vxASTRO (ASTRO being the DEX’s native token) is in the works, setting the stage for the Astro Wars, which involves accumulating ASTRO for eventual conversion to vxASTRO. Echoing the Curve Wars, accumulating ASTRO lets parties direct rewards and liquidity. Already in the Astro Wars are the Terra Foundation 💀, Neutron DAO, Persistence Labs, and Apollo DAO. In Astroport's cross-chain context, the AstroWars gain a new dimension. Instead of protocols vying for control of their pools, entire Layer 1s are fighting for liquidity on their outposts.
Astroport on Sei is key, dominating DEX volume and having 93% of the chain's Total Volume Locked. December saw a 600x volume spike at this outpost, driven by Sei’s rise and memecoin activity, with Sei and Seiyan making up 63% of the volume.
Where’s the Opportunity?
Staking ASTRO for xASTRO yields revenue sharing while maintaining instant unstaking. A recent proposal also slashed ASTRO’s emissions by 73%, significantly reducing its supply. Further, vxASTRO will be instituted soon, providing lockups of just two weeks and the power to direct incentives to liquidity pools. In other words, people can earn bribes.
Astroport emerges as a potentially lower-risk venture among Sei ecosystem projects. Its market dominance, backing by Delphi Digital, VC interest, and token upgrades, makes it a noteworthy watch.