Welcome to the latest edition of Cointelegraph's decentralized finance (DeFi) newsletter.

Ethereum Proper noun Service announced a retroactive token airdrop this week to a fanfare of crypto enthusiasts. If you happen to ain a .eth domain, read on to discover how you lot tin claim your eligible tokens.

What you lot're about to read is the smaller version of this newsletter. For the full breakdown of DeFi'south developments over the last week, subscribe below.

"The DAO space has matured," says ENS' director of operations

Domain protocol Ethereum Proper name Service distributed its native ENS governance token this calendar week in an airdrop effect to early on adopters of the protocol and announced the formation of a decentralized democratic organization, or DAO.

Users who registered Ethereum addresses, such equally Cointelegraph.eth, were granted a sum of ENS tokens dependent on the date of domain registration and length of renewal fees, in addition to other date parameters. The claiming window for tokens lasts until May 4, 2022 to allow the maximum opportunity for applicable claimants. All details on claiming tin be read here.

In the days following the declaration, major cryptocurrency exchanges Binance, KuCoin, Uniswap and SushiSwap, among others, started accepting the token on their platforms for an assortment of trading activities.

The ENS token has experienced major volatility since launching as a flurry of investors seek to secure their unrealized profits. The nugget reached an best high price of $85.lxx but has since fallen to $54.19 at the time of writing.

Cointelegraph spoke to Brantly Millegan, managing director of operations at Ethereum Name Service, for an exclusive insight into the protocol'southward privacy details:

"ENS is an open public protocol. The cadre components of ENS are decentralized and self-running, simply there are a few things that crave some human discretion."

DAOs promote a decentralized, open-source model of governance that is owned and managed by the active individuals within the customs, rather than a handful of signatories. Projects emerging within the nonfungible token, or NFT, space are adopting the model to encourage their holders to stake avails in a bid to increase the floor toll of their collection.

SEC commissioner advocates for greater DeFi regulation

United States Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw published an stance piece this calendar week outlining the "panoply of opportunities" in the DeFi space, alongside expressing a level of caution regarding the lack of regulatory clarity and foreshadowing the challenges that DeFi is expected to pose.

Titled "DeFi Risks, Regulations, and Opportunities" and published in the debut edition of The International Journal of Blockchain Law, the slice argues that investors in the digital asset industry require greater legislative protection akin to traditional markets, a sentiment echoed in Crenshaw's voice communication at the "SEC Speaks" conference in October.

Despite being a cadre colonnade of decentralization since the inception of Bitcoin (BTC) in 2009, Crenshaw also argues that participants in the DeFi space tend to prioritize fiscal gains over pseudonymity:

"In moving to DeFi, I suspect most retail investors are not doing so because they seek greater privacy; they are seeking improve returns than they believe they tin detect from other investments."

She continues on to suggest that projects that attach to the SEC's regulatory framework tin expect a higher probability of success going forward.

Related: How to spot a rug pull in DeFi — 6 tips past Cointelegraph

DeFi protocol Moonbeam close to $1B raised in Polkadot parachain auction

DeFi protocol Moonbeam is in pole position to claim victory in Polkadot's inaugural 10-project parachain auction. The bidding, which commenced on Nov. xi and is scheduled to run until Nov. 18, has attracted approximately 75,000 participants, who have staked over $2.5 billion in DOT tokens.

Polkadot parachains are distinctive layer-one blockchain networks operating in parallel to the main network, in addition to being continued to the Polkadot Relay Concatenation. They can be implemented across a number of sectors from decentralized finance to smart contracts.

Earlier this week, Acala was leading the way in the auction but has since been overtaken by Moonbeam in what has become a two-horse race. The ii protocols accept accumulated 20.3 million DOT and 17.two meg DOT, respectively — equivalent to a colossal $980 million and $797 million.

In early on October, Polkadot council members passed a governance proposal in a unanimous decision, post-obit confirmation from Polkadot founders Gavin Woods and Robert Habermeier that the network could support such initiatives.

Token performances

Analytical data reveals that DeFi's total value locked has increased 3.85% across the week to a figure of $174.76 billion.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows DeFi'due south top 100 tokens past market capitalization performing considerably well beyond the concluding seven days.

Loopring'due south LRC secured the podium'due south summit spot with a seismic 179%. Basic Attention Token (BAT) came in second with 16.five%, while Avalanche's AVAX came 3rd with vii.95%. The 4th and fifth places were claimed by Chainlink's LINK and Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC), with 5.23% and iii.eight%, respectively.

Analysis and hot topics from the last week:

  • DeFi tin can exist 100 times larger than today in 5 years
  • 'In the next 3 to five years, the DeFi industry will grow massively,' says 1inch Network co-founder Anton Bukov
  • How to spot a rug pull in DeFi — 6 tips by Cointelegraph

Thanks for reading our summary of this week's most impactful DeFi developments. Join u.s.a. again next Friday for more stories, insights and educational activity in this dynamically advancing space.