August 6, 2025
The next publish incorporates a recap of stories, initiatives, and vital updates from the Spartan Council and Core Contributors from final week.
👉TLDR
- Synthetix Mainnet
- ICYMI: Synthetix is launching the primary Ethereum Mainnet settled CLOB (central restrict order guide) perp trade
- Goal launch: Early This autumn
- Helps gasless buying and selling, subaccounts, multi-collateral (wstETH, cbBTC, sUSDe), and dealer privateness
- Constructed for efficiency: ~100k TPS and <50ms commerce latency
- A part of broader pivot kicked off by SR-2: new crew, OG management, full-stack technique, L2s phased out
- Deprecating Leveraged Tokens on Optimism
- August 4: Minting disabled
- August 4 — August 11: Ultimate redemption window (positions might be manually closed)
- August 11: Redemption window closes & remaining tokens will probably be liquidated
- sUSD airdrops will comply with primarily based on closing token balances
Spartan Council and SIP updates
Beginning off with the massive one: Synthetix returning to Ethereum Mainnet. As we’ve mentioned in earlier posts, and after years of pushing boundaries on L2s, the protocol is heading again to its roots to launch a high-performance perpetual futures trade straight on Ethereum. The upcoming trade makes use of a hybrid structure with off-chain matching and on-chain custody — giving merchants CEX-level efficiency with out compromising on decentralization or belief assumptions.
The goal launch is early This autumn, and the brand new design displays years of studying from operating a perps AMM. It’s quick, composable, non-custodial, and constructed for critical quantity.
The return to Mainnet isn’t simply symbolic — it’s strategic. Ethereum nonetheless holds over half of all DeFi TVL, and it’s the place the deepest liquidity and most battle-tested apps reside. Deploying a perp trade on L1 means instantaneous composability with protocols like Uniswap, Curve, and Aave, with no bridges and no fragmentation.
The product will help multi-collateral and cross-margin from day one, together with help for wstETH, cbBTC, and sUSDe. Subaccounts are additionally within the works for merchants trying to isolate methods or handle consumer funds. All of this will probably be accessible by way of gasless buying and selling, privacy-preserving order books (Degree 2 information solely), and Mainnet-native deposits and withdrawals.
This newest push follows the reset initiated by SR-2 in late 2024. After years of grinding by way of decentralization-maxi experiments and AMM constraints, Synthetix has totally pivoted:
- 16 of 20 contributors on the present crew joined within the final 12 months
- Kain and Jordan are again, bringing strategic oversight
- Synthetix is now working as a full-stack protocol, proudly owning the frontend and buying and selling interface
- L2s are being phased out in favor of Mainnet, the place DeFi lives and breathes
At ETHcc, the crew had a number of conversations that bolstered what many already suspected: individuals need Synthetix to win. However the market wants greater than nostalgia — it wants supply. That is precisely what the crew is now laser-focused on.
After all, the return to Mainnet is occurring simply because the CLOB (central restrict order guide) wars are heating up. Hyperliquid’s $13B breakout has made it clear that velocity and UX nonetheless matter greater than maximalist beliefs. New rivals like Bullet, Ambient, Paradex, and Gasoline are coming into the sector with their very own variations on the hybrid mannequin.
And the widespread thread appears to be that everybody is making related trade-offs: off-chain matching engines, centralized sequencers, privateness concessions. What units Synthetix aside is the mix of expertise (5+ years in perps), deep understanding of protocol-level tradeoffs, and a refusal to compromise on core DeFi rules like composability and non-custodial entry.
Count on extra element quickly on the matching engine benchmarks (early numbers present ~100k TPS and <50ms commerce latency), deployment timelines, and testnet launches. The structure additionally leaves room for future upgrades, together with trust-minimized off-chain proofs powered by ZK tech like Succinct’s zkVM.
In parallel with the brand new construct, the L2 sundown continues. This week marks the deprecation of all leveraged tokens on Optimism, a part of the ultimate steps to completely retire Synthetix’s L2 deployments. Base and Arbitrum have already been sundown, and it’s time for Optimism. Right here’s the present timeline:
- As of August 4th, minting has been disabled
- August 4th to August eleventh would be the closing redemption window the place you’ll be able to manually shut positions
- August eleventh is when the redemption window closes and any remaining tokens will probably be liquidated
- sUSD airdrops will exit inside a few weeks of liquidation, primarily based on closing token balances
So if you happen to’re nonetheless holding leveraged tokens, it’s strongly really useful to redeem them in the course of the open window to keep away from counting on automated liquidation.
Momentum is choosing up quick, and the crew is delivery rapidly. Count on common updates — Soonthetix Mainnet!
