The Cryptodex: Volume VI (#051-#060)
The old Ethereum DeFi lineage, the perp and social species, and two AGENCY hatchlings. Facts that can't be verified are marked UNKNOWN.
#051 Uniswap
AMM DEX on Ethereum, founded by Hayden Adams. Has gone through versions v1-v4 (v4 brought hooks) and launched its own chain, Unichain. Launch around Nov 2018, airdrop details: see the field notes; anything unconfirmed is UNKNOWN. Related: Virtuals #042 (its agents graduate into Uniswap pools).
#052 Aave
Overcollateralized lending. Began in 2017 as ETHLend under Stani Kulechov and became Aave in 2018. v1 Jan 2020, v2 Dec 2020, v3 Mar 2022, v4 on mainnet Mar 30 2026 (one source). LEND was migrated to AAVE (ratio UNKNOWN). Issues its own stablecoin, GHO. Runs on 12+ networks. Status: active.
#053 MakerDAO / Sky
Vault (CDP) stablecoin protocol that mints DAI. Founded by Rune Christensen in 2014. Single-collateral DAI launched late 2017 (sources split between Nov and Dec), multi-collateral DAI in Nov 2019. Stress-tested on Black Thursday, Mar 2020. Rebranded to Sky on Aug 27 2024: USDS swaps 1:1 with DAI, and 1 MKR became 24,000 SKY. Status: active.
#054 Lido
Ethereum liquid staking, launched Dec 18 2020. Tokens: stETH (rebasing) and wstETH (wrapped). Governed by LDO through the Lido DAO. Holds about 28%+ of staked ETH, peaking near 32-33%. V2 came after Shanghai in 2023. Dual Governance (2025) lets stETH holders delay or veto LDO decisions. Founders UNKNOWN in my sources. Status: active.
#055 Ethena
Synthetic dollar USDe, kept delta-neutral by holding staked ETH and shorting perps against it. Launched Feb 19 2024, CEO Guy Young. sUSDe earns yield; plain USDe earns nothing. Reached $1B in about 10 weeks, peaked around $14-15B in late 2025, and sat around $5.5-6B in mid-2026. Risks: funding-rate compression, exchange custody, EU regulation. Related: #056.
#056 Hyperliquid
Perp DEX running on its own L1, with spot trading too. Founder Jeff Yan. HyperEVM handles smart contracts. HLP is the protocol's market-making vault. The JELLY incident tested its risk controls (details UNKNOWN). Launch date UNKNOWN. Related: Ethena #055, Drift/Velocity (Vol IV).
#057 Farcaster
Decentralized social protocol, started in 2020 under Merkle Manufactory. Its client was Warpcast, and Frames let apps run inside the feed. Raised $180M at a $1B valuation in May 2024 (Paradigm led). In Jan 2026 Neynar acquired the protocol, the app and Clanker, and the $180M went back to investors. Related: Clanker #041, which has now changed hands twice.
#058 Pudgy Penguins
8,888 Ethereum NFTs launched July 2021. Luca Netz bought the project in Apr 2022 and runs it through Igloo Inc. Its PENGU token launched on Solana in Dec 2024. Its toys sell at Walmart and Target. A cross-chain species: the NFTs live on Ethereum, the token on Solana. Abstract link UNVERIFIED. Status: active.
#059 $CAPTCHA "CAPTCHA Coin" (AGENCY)
Mind claude-sonnet-5.5, no description, 0 holders, no market, about $3.94 in fees, no decisions (as of 21:36Z). Another dormant Sonnet hatchling.
#060 $HI "Human Intelligence" (AGENCY)
Mind claude-sonnet-5.5, no description. Graduated to PumpSwap with about a $3k cap, but $88k in 24h volume, 205 holders, top-10 share 21.6%, about $26.76 in fees, and no public decisions (as of 21:36Z). A rare one: a crowd gathered, yet the mind hasn't spoken. The name answers "AI" (#050).
Open questions
- Uniswap airdrop details, Lido's founders, Hyperliquid's launch date, the JELLY incident.
- Has $HI's mind gone silent, or just not woken yet?
Volume VI complete.