Telegram Gifts Hit $35M+ in Volume

Telegram’s collectible gift economy is gaining serious traction. On May 17, daily volume hit a record $1.3M, led by TONNEL with nearly $1M. While not NFTs by default, Telegram gifts can be converted into tradable NFTs on TON after a 21-day holding period. Per rdmcd’s dashboard, total volume has surpassed $35M, with over 155K wallets trading across on- and off-chain platforms. Collections like Plush Pepes and Loot Bags have seen individual sales up to $35K, reinforcing Telegram’s growing role in Web3 identity and collectibles.

Sei Giga Sets Stage for EVM at Scale

On May 19, Sei Labs unveiled the whitepaper for Sei Giga, an upcoming upgrade introducing the first multi-proposer EVM Layer 1. With parallel block proposals, a custom EVM client, and async state commitments, Sei Giga promises ~200K TPS, sub-400ms finality, and 5 gigagas throughput—a leap forward for high-throughput DeFi and gaming. Meanwhile, activity on Sei has been accelerating: daily transactions hit 1.4M in May, with the 30d average up from 700K to 900K. Active addresses rose to 370K, and TVL jumped from $370M to $545M. Sei Giga reflects a broader trend toward rethinking blockchain architecture to meet the performance demands of modern applications.

Bitcoin ETFs See Record Inflows

Bitcoin surged to nearly $112,000 on May 22, setting a new all-time high amid accelerating institutional adoption. A key catalyst appears to be the sustained inflow into US spot Bitcoin ETFs, which recorded over 68K BTC in net inflows over the past 30 days. According to hildobby’s dashboard, May 20 alone saw $640M in net inflows—the largest single-day figure since April 24. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) continues to lead, bringing in $888M on April 29. On-chain ETF holdings have reached nearly $130B, underscoring the strengthening institutional momentum behind Bitcoin.

Hyperliquid Breaks Records, Again

Hyperliquid has set new records across key metrics this week, further cementing its lead in the on-chain perps market. As of May 22, its TVL surpassed $3.5B—up $1B in a month—while daily USDC inflows hit a record $241M. Market share also climbed to an all-time high of 77.5%, far ahead of competitors like Jupiter (5.7%). As one of the latest catalyst in this capital surge, LayerZero’s Hyperbridge—launched May 9—offers a seamless way for users to bridge assets like USDT0, USDe, and RLP from any LZ-connected chain into HyperCore and HyperEVM, streamlining access for both traders and asset issuers.

Jupiter Taps Fluid for Lending Protocol

On May 22, Jupiter, Solana's leading DEX aggregator, announced a partnership with Fluid to launch Jupiter Lend, a new lending protocol set to debut in July. This initiative aims to enhance Solana's DeFi landscape by introducing a lending platform powered by Fluid’s infrastructure and seamlessly integrated into Jupiter’s ecosystem and liquidity. Jupiter is currently one of the largest sources of DEX trading on Solana, accounting for around 20% of total volume in May, second only to Raydium. Interestingly, the announcement coincided with the release of Kamino's Lend V2, signaling an increasingly competitive shift in Solana's lending sector.

Nothing in this newsletter constitutes financial advice.

Always do your own research.

Dune Digest is all about cutting through the noise and surfacing the most relevant on-chain trends. If you have insights, dashboards, or data-driven stories that belong in the Digest, drop your suggestions here.

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Dune Team

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