UNISWAP V4 is coming soon, reviewing 9 HOOK projects that received $1.2 million foundation Grants and potential Airdrop opportunities.

UNISWAP is about to launch V4 in the near future, and the biggest difference between V4 and V3 updates is the Hook introduced in V4, which is generally speaking, you can customize DEX or other defi projects based on the basic framework provided by UNISWAP V4, so that a number of new DEFI projects will emerge The project is more secure and shares Liquidity.

The UNISWAP Foundation recently granted a total of $1.2 million to nine projects, with the help of its investment bank, Areta(, which also assisted in the high-priced acquisition of Genie and Sudoswap. The scope of the grants includes two aspects: interviewing and screening.

1. Full reimbursement of audit fees

2. Provide legal assistance to open-source projects implementing BUSL v1.2. It is worth noting that BUSL v1.2 is stricter than uniswap V4 in its own use of BUSL v1.1, as the following provisions have been updated:

Any entity that uses innovative key mathematical formulas or mathematical formulas that are substantially similar to them to construct the same or similar functions without authorization and declaration constitutes an infringement of the relevant intellectual property rights. The term “innovative key mathematical formula” here refers to a mathematical method or algorithm that is original, novel, and enables a specific DeFi function.

Exclusions:

This statement does not apply to the following situations:

1. Mathematical formulas or algorithms used by existing decentralized finance (DeFi) projects;
2. Financial mathematical principles or papers and methods that have been well known and widely used by the public or have been published;
3. In cases where it complies with legal regulations for reasonable use, independent research and development, or has obtained legal authorization.

That is, not only forking at the code level constitutes an infringement of intellectual property rights, but forking at the conceptual level also constitutes an infringement of intellectual property rights, unless the principles of these 9 hook project parties are declared on the homepage to further protect the innovative and leading advantages of UNISWAP V4 and its ecosystem.

Let’s now break down each of these 9 projects and the potential airdrop opportunities:

1. likwid.fi, this project is very interesting. It uses (x+x’)*(y+y’)=k instead of xy=k to achieve spot leverage trading function on web3 natively, without censorship and oracle. In other words, meme coins can now start leverage trading, including shorting, at the moment they are listed on the liquidity pool. The UI of their testnet is extremely simple, but the team has profound expertise based on the documentation. They have gradually implemented the following functions around the minimalist design:

(1) Spot margin trading, while everyone is busy with swap and prep, likwid.fi is currently the only margin trading project.

(2) LP multiple income, in addition to handling fees, LP also has lending income and liquidation penalties, which increases capital efficiency and yield

(3) The truncated price oracle, uniswap, was innovated in 2021 to use uniswap’s price as an oracle for multiple defi projects, and was attacked by flash loans. Likwid is the first project to implement this mechanism, thereby resisting liquidation caused by flash loans and malicious price manipulation.

(4) Structured Liquidity, lp providers can choose whether their tokens are lent out.

(5) Dual clearing mechanism, there is a repayment-based clearing mechanism and a transaction-based simplified clearing mechanism to jointly ensure timely liquidation

(6) The variable rate mechanism of anti-arbitrage and MEV, which returns the MEV and arbitrage profits generated by liquidation to LP

The Likwid testnet is now live, and everyone can experience the first web3 uncensored leverage trading platform.

According to Twitter, likwid is also interesting for the day 0 operation of uniswap v4. As long as Liquidity is added to the default pool of v4 and then confirmed in the likwid wallet, points can be obtained without taking risks. Then, completing the test network tasks can double the points. Everyone can pay attention.

2. bunni, there is already a V3-based version, and the V4-based bunni will provide Liquidity Density Functions (LDFs) in the form of other functions, and his token LIT has been launched, and there is an opportunity to stake V4 to obtain LIT, but at present, the annualized rate of pool 1 is generally less than 2%, and the annualized rate of pool 2 is less than 30%, the income is low, and the staking cost performance is not high

3. Collarprotocol, a decentralized lending protocol incubated by a16z crypto and orange dao, aims to provide lending services through market makers rather than liquidators. It uses a financial protocol called ‘Prepaid Variable Forward’ to eliminate the risk of liquidation by setting a potential upper limit on returns for borrowers. This trading structure is similar to the collar option strategy, hence the name ‘collar protocol’.

Borrowers establish contact with market makers through Collar’s on-chain request for quote (RFQ) process, and after reaching an agreement, the market maker creates a quote on-chain. After the borrower accepts it, both parties provide collateral as needed. This method is called “on-time Liquidity supply”. Market makers need to hedge and eliminate liquidation risks for the collateral themselves.

Key features:

(1) Loan-to-Value Ratio (LTV): Collar offers industry-leading loan-to-value ratios, allowing users to borrow a higher proportion of their asset’s value.

(2) Fully collateralized: Market makers provide collateral upfront, and if the price of the asset rises, they will bear the loss; If the price of an asset falls, they will make a profit.

(3) Asset Agnosticism: Users can borrow any assets provided by liquidity providers.

(4) Credit insensitivity: No need to worry about default risk or counterparty risk.

Collar Protocol’s investors include Z Fellows, Arbitrum Foundation, Druid Ventures, Orange DAO, Nailwal Fellowship, Mac Venture Capital, Long Run Capital, a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator (CSX), J 17 Capital, Fun.XYZ, E V3, L2 IV, Wilson Sonsini, MH Ventures, and angel investors from Orange DAO, Harvard University, Goldman Sachs.

Collar Protocol is currently in private testing and will not be launched with v4 on day 0.

4. Cork is also a decentralized insurance protocol incubated by a16z crypto and Orange DAO, aiming to provide risk pricing and hedging tools for anchored assets (such as stablecoins, Liquidity staked tokens, etc.) in decentralized finance (DeFi). Its core product is Depeg Swap, a new financial primitive that allows investors to hedge and trade the de-pegging risk of their anchored assets.

Cork allows users to trade between Depeg Swap and Cover Token through its customized Automated Market Maker (AMM) model. The AMM uses a Yield Space curve to ensure that the price gradually levels off as the expiration date approaches and provides flexibility in the event of a de-anchoring event.

Main functions include

(1) Depeg Swap: This is a tool that allows users to hedge against the risk of depegging assets. Through Depeg Swap, users can exchange 1:1 between pegged assets and underlying assets, thereby protecting the value of their assets in the event of depegging.

(2) Cover Token: Holders act as underwriters of risk and can receive all assets in the Peg Stable Module when the agreement expires. This provides underwriters with risk premium returns and provides protection for buyers of Depeg Swap.

(3) Peg Stability Module: This module receives underlying assets such as ETH or USDC and creates Depeg Swap and Cover Token. It serves as the core of the protocol, ensuring the stability and liquidity of the pegged assets.

(4) Liquidity Vault: Users can deposit underlying assets into the Liquidity Vault to provide liquidity, mint and sell Depeg Swap, and collect fees from the system. This provides income for liquidity providers while reducing the cost of obtaining Depeg Swap guarantee.

Cork In September 2024, Cork received support from a number of well-known investment institutions, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), IDEO Ventures, OrangeDAO, Outliers Fund, and Steakhouse Financial, among others.

Cork is conducting its second testnet trading competition in preparation for the mainnet release. According to Twitter information, the team did not have a day 0 operation based on v4.

5. Gamma Strategies is a limit order HOOK. After the user’s limit order is filled, they can receive maker fees. This is a utility HOOK related to swaps and is not expected to issue tokens.

6. Lumis: It can create synthetic ETH and stablecoins with dynamic impermanent loss hedging function. It is expected to be launched on v4 day 0, with a relatively small project scale and only 900 Twitter followers.

7. Tenor is a decentralized lending protocol that aims to enable peer-to-peer fixed-rate lending through a full-chain interest rate order book. Tenor’s architecture supports an on-chain interest rate order book, allowing users to trade interest rates in a manner similar to the Uniswap trading price. The order book natively supports limit orders, enabling borrowers and borrowers to close a deal at a specific interest rate before expiration, reducing interest rate slippage and reducing reliance on Liquidity providers.

At present, the tenor test network has been launched, and it is not yet known whether it will be launched together with v4 and staking incentives.

8. Paladin is a decentralized governance protocol that aims to unlock the value of DeFi through governance rights and a marketplace. Its main product, Quest, allows users to earn rewards by voting for specific Liquidity pools (Gauge) in ecosystems such as Curve, Balancer, and Bunni. Users who hold CVX, Aura, and LIQ tokens can also delegate their voting power to Paladin to maximize gains across all incentive platforms.

The main functions are as follows:

( 1)Quest Quests: Users can participate in Quests and earn rewards by voting for specific Liquidity pools. Before voting, make sure that your voting rights are available and that previous votes have been removed from the appropriate pool (there is a 10-day cooldown between each vote). Voters can split their voting power, vote for multiple pools at the same time, and earn rewards from multiple Quests.

( 2) Voting Delegation: To simplify the process of earning and claiming voting rewards, Paladin has set up a delegation address to optimize bribe rewards. This is very beneficial for voters who want to passively earn rewards. Voters holding vlCVX, vlAURA, or vlLIQ can delegate their voting rights to Paladin, thereby optimizing their voting across all incentive platforms.

( Governance Participation: Paladin’s governance voting is currently conducted through Paladin’s Snapshot space. To create a proposal in this space, your address needs to be delegated with 5% of circulating PAL. The required quorum is 15% of the circulating supply.

There are no potential airdrop opportunities because its token PAL has been listed and has clear emission rules.

9. Unicord: Integrating and maximizing the yield of stablecoin pools through lending protocols, the testnet is not yet live and there is no official website link.

In the current situation of the overall downturn of the EVM ecosystem (Solana’s monthly transaction volume on-chain exceeded 200 billion US dollars for the first time, which also exceeded the total of all EVMs), the EVM ecosystem urgently needs hardcore innovations like Uniswap v4 to prove that the EVM ecosystem is the leader of the industry’s innovation. There is a sense of mission of ‘bearing the burden of the eight EVM chains and 24 L2s all on the shoulders of Uniswap’. Therefore, all major EVMs, whether L1 or L2, may make significant moves in conjunction with the launch of Uniswap v4.

Meanwhile, the Trump family launched the decentralized finance (DeFi) project World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and made significant purchases of ETH and other DeFi tokens. These actions could trigger an explosion in the modular DeFi narrative of the industry. The above 9 HOOK projects have been carefully selected by the Uniswap official, and there is a high possibility of several significant alphas emerging. It is recommended to closely monitor.