DeFi & L1L2 Weekly — 🤝 Dubai and Crypto.com partner on crypto payments for government services; ETH rose over 20% after the Pectra upgrade

Dubai and Crypto.com partner on crypto payments for government services; Over 4,700 transactions related to EIP-7702 were recorded post-Pectra upgrade; ETH’s value rose over 20% after the Pectra upgrade.

Quick Take

• Dubai signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Crypto.com to enable crypto-based payments for government services
• Over 10,000 authorisations and 4,700 transactions related to EIP-7702 were recorded after Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade
• The value of ETH jumped over 20% following the Pectra upgrade, its biggest gain since 2021
• pump.fun token creators can now earn 50% of the revenue generated from their tokens with Creator Revenue Sharing 
• Synthetix plans to acquire Derive with a 29.3 million SNX token swap

Weekly DeFi Index

This week, the market capitalisation, volume, and volatility indices showed an increase of +21.70%, +94.27%, and +32.46%, respectively.

Check the latest prices on Crypto.com/Price

Chart of the Week

Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade went live on 7 May, with the overhaul placing emphasis on user and validator experiences. For example, EIP-7702 allows externally owned accounts (EOAs) to temporarily upgrade to contract accounts, enabling users to enjoy benefits such as transaction batching and gas fee sponsorship. According to Dune, 4,748 transactions were related to EIP-7702, and a total of 10,009 signed authorisations were created by EOA owners to delegate their account’s execution to a specific smart contract at the time of writing.

News Highlights

• The Government of Dubai signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Crypto.com to facilitate government service fee payments using cryptocurrencies. This marks a pioneering milestone in digital finance, accelerating the implementation of Dubai’s Cashless Strategy. The partnership will enable seamless, secure, and forward-thinking payments for government services using stable cryptocurrencies, reinforcing Dubai’s position as a global leader in financial innovation.
• Ethereum rallied more than 20% after the Pectra upgrade. The overhaul, which improved validator performance and execution efficiency, restored confidence in Ethereum’s scalability and rekindled interest in ETH and related DeFi protocols.
• Synthetic plans to acquire Derive, a decentralised options protocol, by issuing 29.3 million new SNX tokens worth US$27 million to swap Derive’s DRV token. If approved, Synthetix would acquire Derive’s treasury, technology, and products, while DRV holders would be able to swap their tokens to SNX at a ratio of 27:1.
• Solana-based meme coin launchpad pump.fun introduced Creator Revenue Sharing, an initiative that allows token creators to earn 50% of the platform’s revenue generated by their tokens. 
• Tether’s new cross-chain stablecoin, USDT0, launched on Hyperliquid. By leveraging LayerZero’s LZCompose functionality, users can transfer the asset between HyperEVM, HyperCore, and the broader USDT ecosystem. 
• Curve Finance suffered a domain name system (DNS) hijack that redirected users to a malicious site, though its smart contracts and user funds remain unaffected. The incident follows a separate hijack of its official X account on 5 May.

Recent Research Reports

• Research Roundup Newsletter [April 2025]: We present to you our latest issue of Research Roundup, featuring deep dives into ‘The Rise of Crypto Treasury’ and ‘Wall Street On-Chain Part 3: Trading & Liquidity’.
• Alpha Navigator: Quest for Alpha [April 2025]: All asset classes had mixed performances in April, with BTC and gold taking the lead. US President Trump reduced tariffs on imports from most trading partners and China at the time of writing.
• Wall Street On-Chain Part 3: Trading & Liquidity: This report compares liquidity between popular traditional finance (TradFi) assets and major crypto assets, and delves into the development of crypto exchanges.

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