Weekly Bonzo Bytes 🎙️🐵

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Bonzo Finance Labs
@bonzo_financeSep 26, 2025

The Spaces covered a three-part agenda: Bonzo product updates, Hedera/community news, and wider market/tech trends. Bonzo’s faucet experienced a technical outage with an ETA to restore early next week. The merch line (shirts, hats) is ready with designs by a Milan-based designer and an online shop targeted for end of next week. Vaults are tracking for mid–late October launch; audits are done, smart contracts are largely ready, UI integration and daily testing are ongoing. On risk and liquidity, independent steward RE7’s assessment (now ~1.5 months) may lead to adjustments of supply/borrow caps and LTVs for small-cap assets, with changes governed via decentralized proposals and community votes. No immediate plan for a Base pool given BONZO is only on Hedera, but multi-chain access for HBAR is a prerequisite the team wants to see. Stats: TVL in USD fell with the market, though Bonzo’s lending rank improved; Hedera TVL declined while Hedera-issued USDC rose sharply. Ecosystem updates included HBAR/SAUCE listings on Coins.ph, early work toward centralized exchange listings for BONZO governance, Coinbase listing AUD and XSGD stablecoins (HTS support to be confirmed), and Galaxy’s expansion to Base and Farcaster. Market talk addressed the recent drawdown, macro uncertainty, and a potential “supercycle.” AI discussion introduced ChatGPT Pulse, privacy concerns, and personalized LLMs. Q&A explored Android vs Apple, DOVU’s equity-first treasury model, liquidation-hedging approaches, an optional hedge tool concept, operational treasury composition, and the necessity of liquidity for decentralized perpetuals on Hedera.

Bonzo Bytes: Weekly Updates, Hedera Ecosystem, Market & Tech Roundup, and Community Q&A

Session Overview and Participants

  • Format: Three sections — Bonzo product updates; Hedera/community news and stats; broader Web3/market and tech developments — followed by open Q&A.
  • Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal and not financial advice; forward-looking statements involve risks; do your own research.
  • Participants:
    • Host — Speaker 1 (referred to by Speaker 2 as “Garns/Grong”; exact name not explicitly stated in the recording).
    • Brady (Speaker 2; at Bonzo Finance Labs). Speaker 1 once called him “Freddy” in passing; Brady appears to be the correct name.
    • Celestial Being (Speaker 3; community member on X).

Bonzo Product Updates

Faucet Status

  • Issue: Bonzo faucet experienced downtime this week due to technical difficulties.
  • Action & ETA: Team is actively working to restore service; targeted to be back online early next week.

Merchandise Launch

  • Design: Collaborating with a Milan-based designer with a high-caliber portfolio. Designs are finalized.
  • Rollout: Finalizing how designs appear on physical items and setting up the online merch shop.
  • ETA: Targeting end of next week for shop go-live.
  • Comms: Announcements will go out on Discord, X, and community channels.

Vaults (New Product)

  • Timeline: Launch moves from September to October; aiming mid-to-late October.
  • Readiness: Audits completed; most smart contracts are ready; integration with the UI underway.
  • Testing: Daily internal testing; Bonzo launches only after rigorous validation.
  • Positioning: Brady emphasized vaults as a potential game-changer for the Bonzo ecosystem — expanding participation opportunities, improving efficiencies, and representing a step toward “DeFi 2.0.”

Protocol Risk Parameters: Caps, LTVs, and Governance Process

  • Current State: Aggressive supply and borrow caps remain on small-cap assets (e.g., BONZO token, Karate, others) due to Hedera-wide liquidity constraints.
  • Risk Steward Engagement: Independent risk steward “RE7” engagement is in a final state; analysis is ongoing. Initial 3–4 week estimate has stretched to ~1.5 months.
  • Potential Changes: Caps, loan-to-value ratios, and related parameters may be modified based on RE7’s assessment. Improvements may couple with broader ecosystem liquidity increases rather than isolated parameter lifts.
  • Governance Model: Independent stewards are engaged to propose changes, justify them in writing, and submit to community vote; implementation is by Labs. This mirrors decentralized ops flows (Aave, Compound, Morpho). Stewards function autonomously, by design.

Cross-Chain Pool Inquiry (Base Network)

  • Question: Create a BONZO–WETH pool on Base?
  • Answer: No immediate plans. BONZO token currently exists only on Hedera.
  • Outlook: Multi-chain access is desirable, especially enabling HBAR trading on DeFi in other networks (not just CEXs). A sound path would let users buy governance tokens on Base/Uniswap, bridge back to Hedera, and also bridge HBAR for gas/utility.
  • Conditions: Need clear demand, sufficient volume, and risk mitigation; otherwise, cross-chain pools may not meaningfully improve accessibility or volume. Monitoring SaucerSwap’s approach and noting DOVU’s similar initiatives.

Bonzo Stats & Hedera Metrics

Bonzo Protocol Metrics

  • TVL (USD): Down week-over-week amid market decline — from ~$47M to ~$41M.
  • TVL (HBAR-denominated): From 200M HBAR to ~197M HBAR (3M HBAR down; comparatively modest).
  • Lending Protocol Ranking: Improved from # 58 to # 56 among Web3 lending protocols.
  • Hedera Position: Bonzo remains # 3 on Hedera; SaucerSwap ~# 2 with ~$74M TVL.

Hedera Network Metrics

  • Hedera TVL (USD): Down from ~$134M to ~$119M week-over-week.
  • All-chains TVL Ranking: Hedera slipped from # 45 to # 48.
  • USDC Issuance on Hedera: Up markedly from ~$69M to ~$114M — a bright spot indicating strengthening stablecoin presence on Hedera.

Hedera & Ecosystem News

Coins.ph Listings

  • Event: HBAR and SAUCE listed on Coins.ph, the leading Philippine e-wallet (fiat + crypto) supporting 160+ tokens with low fees.
  • Impact: Increased exposure for HBAR, SAUCE, and the Hedera ecosystem. Bonzo’s growth is tied to broader ecosystem expansion; larger “pie” benefits all.

CEX Listing Path for BONZO Governance Token

  • Intent: Brady underscored a desire to follow SaucerSwap’s trajectory where appropriate.
  • Status: Work underway toward centralized exchange listings for BONZO; more details to come.

Coinbase Stablecoins (AUD, SGD)

  • Event: Coinbase listed an Australian dollar stablecoin and XSGD (Singapore dollar). Both have Hedera versions.
  • Key Unknown: Need to confirm whether Coinbase listed the Hedera (HTS) versions or Ethereum/other variants.
  • Strategic Significance: If HTS versions are supported on Coinbase, it implies CEX infrastructure readiness for HTS assets — a major prerequisite for future Hedera token listings.
  • Next Steps: Explore market maker/liquidity provider engagement to make such assets accessible in DeFi.

Galaxy Expansion

  • Update: Galaxy launched v1.9 and added Base network; users on Base can log in and use Galaxy.
  • Integrations: Base App Store and Farcaster Mini-app store; potential for “Login with Farcaster” to bring identity into Galaxy’s front end.
  • Networks: Now supports Solana, Base, and Hedera.

Market & Macro Commentary

  • Recent Volatility: Past 24 hours were “brutal” per host; ETH fell from near recent highs (~$4,800 mentioned) to below ~$4,000.
  • Drivers: US government shutdown risk, geopolitical tensions, labor market uncertainty, and pending inflation data that could shape Fed rate cuts (two cuts hinted, but contingent on data). Significant liquidations (~$1.1B), especially of long positions.
  • Cycle View: Brady notes absence of catastrophic catalysts (e.g., FTX, Celsius, Terra/Luna from prior cycle); without such triggers, the market might trend sideways/up, with shallower drawdowns — potentially the practical meaning of a “supercycle.”

AI & Platform Dynamics

ChatGPT Pulse

  • Product: A proactive assistant that delivers personalized daily updates using chat history, feedback, and connected apps (e.g., calendar).
  • Opportunities: Early steps toward a smart operating system paradigm and a new interface layer with technology.
  • Concerns: Privacy; reluctance to grant AI broad access to calendars/emails. Desire for privacy-preserving architectures (e.g., on-device or private cloud) and larger context windows for meaningful personal assistants.
  • Personal LLMs: Example cited — Matthew McConaughey exploring a model trained on his own corpus. Personalized AI agents likely within 5–10 years.

Android vs. Apple on AI

  • Community View (Celestial Being): Skeptical of Apple due to pricing/ecosystem lock-in.
  • Brady’s Take: Android pushes bleeding-edge features; Apple often lags publicly but historically redefines categories after learning from missteps (iPod, iPhone, AirPods, spatial computing with Vision Pro). Meta adapted Vision Pro’s spatial paradigm. Apple could be a “sleeper” in AI OS with a game-changing approach later, but execution thus far looks behind.

Community Q&A Highlights

DOVU AMA & Treasury Model

  • Insight: DOVU reportedly plans to raise equity and use revenue to shore up treasury — potentially emphasizing keeping DOVU tokens on DEXs while shoring liquidity via off-chain capital.
  • Broader Implication: A model where projects fundraise outside token issuance and bring liquidity back on-chain; Brady will listen and evaluate.

Liquidation-Avoidance via Hedging

  • Referenced Model: A BTC lender offers 12-month loans at strict 50% LTV with an upfront 1–2% fee used to buy perpetual shorts on the collateral (BTC). This hedge helps cover losses at margin calls to reduce liquidation risk.
  • Brady’s Analysis:
    • Mechanics: Fee funds short positions; more protection at low LTVs; fixed-term loans.
    • User Strategy on Bonzo: Users can self-hedge using the lending protocol — e.g., supply USDC, borrow the asset to short, swap to USDC, and later buy back lower. This is risky; if the asset pumps, the short loses value and worsens risk.
    • Tooling Idea: A dedicated “hedge tool” smart contract atop Bonzo that programmatically opens a small short, and on price triggers, adds payout to collateral to prevent liquidation. Would be auxiliary and not modify the core Aave-like protocol.
    • Note: Not financial advice; advanced strategies require careful research and risk management.

Bonzo Foundation Treasury & Runway

  • Structure: Bonzo Finance Foundation serves as the governance wrapper for the Bonzo DAO; independent from Bonzo Finance Labs.
  • Holdings: Foundation operational treasury includes BONZO tokens, USDC, and HBAR.
  • Disclosure: Brady will coordinate with the Foundation director regarding what high-level operational runway/treasury details can be shared. No current concerns flagged; aim to convey confidence without granular line items.

Perpetuals (Perps) and “Astra” Hype

  • Context: Hyperliquid drew many users from Binance with centralized perps; Binance-aligned perps (“Astra” operating atop Binance) sparked a “comeback” narrative and attention.
  • Hedera Outlook: Decentralized perps are being developed on Hedera.
  • Risk: Thin liquidity makes high-leverage trading dangerous; liquidity expansion is a prerequisite to healthy perps markets.
  • Community Note: Price appreciation tends to attract attention/liquidity; hope the liquidity cycle continues.

Closing

  • No further live questions. Team invited ongoing engagement on X and Discord.
  • Wished the community a great Friday and weekend; session adjourned.