Week in DeFi: Ethereum Falters Momentarily, Aragon Drama and a Potential Polygon Airdrop

Polygon co-founder hinted at a potential Polygon ZkEVM airdrop, and MakerDAO launched its lending protocol and announced its next big upgrade — read on to find out the latest news in DeFi.

Timeline of Aragon, Ethereum, Polygon

After the major upgrade to the Ethereum (ETH) ecosystem launched in mid-April that enabled investors to withdraw their staked ETH, the staking returns on the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap have reached record highs.

As the global cryptocurrency charts move in uncertainty, the second-largest crypto, ethereum (ETH), witnessed a significant fall on May 12 — the price dropped to a one-month low of $1,745. Ethereum's price started to rise on May 13.

Recently, on the 11th and 12th of May, a curious situation arose within the Ethereum network. A significant majority of the network's validators, which comprise over 60% of the total, unexpectedly halted their operations.

The Ethereum network faced an unprecedented event on May 11 and 12, as over 60% of validators stopped performing their duties, causing 253 blocks to miss their proposal deadlines. Despite transactions still being processed, this marked the first occurrence of a mysterious "inactivity leak.

Aragon, the platform for building and running decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), has implemented a number of safeguards to protect its treasury in response to a coordinated attack focused on draining value from the project.

As per recent data stats, Ethereum's zkSync Ecosystem has recorded a significant expansion outpacing polygon in total value locked. The ecosystem has now reached over $200 million.

The Ethereum price breakdown from monthly support of $1827 indicates this altcoin is poised for a longer correction. However, the falling price witnessed significant demand pressure near the 100-day EMA at $1766, indicating the buyers have not thrown the towel yet.

The Aragon Association found itself at the center of a controversy this week when it took control of $200 million from its own four-month-old Aragon DAO. The Association, a Swiss nonprofit dedicated to facilitating the creation of DAOs, aimed to safeguard the funds from a group of activist investors led by asset management firm Arca.

The Ethereum network has faced transaction finality challenges twice in the past week, with the Beacon chain experiencing difficulties finalizing blocks on May 11 and May 12, 2023. The first incident lasted for 25 minutes, while the second persisted for over an hour.

On Friday, Ethereum's Beacon chain encountered yet another bout of transaction finality challenges, reminiscent of the glitch experienced on May 11, 2023. For over an hour, the blockchain stopped the process of finalizing blocks.