This month’s Casper DeFi Working Group Call brought key updates across the ecosystem. Hosted by Michael Steuer, CTO of Casper Association, the session featured AJ from Router Protocol, Maciej Zielinski from the Odra team, and Lorenzo Stroe, Founder of Shiboo.
You can access the full session recording on Casper’s YouTube channel.
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Michael Steuer, CTO of the Casper Association, began the session by sharing key ecosystem updates. He pointed out that the recent Ledger Live integration simplifies the process of purchasing and interacting with CSPR and expanding its accessibility. Users can now purchase CSPR directly from the Ledger Live app.
Michael also introduced the COWL Network, a new DePIN being built on Casper. He highlighted the project’s reliance on Casper’s validator network to deliver its services. “COWL is working with experienced Casper developers and is expected to launch in the coming months,” he noted.
Turning to community engagement, Michael celebrated the success of the CSPR.fans, “Season 1 brought over 500,000 new users into the ecosystem, and more than 10 million tasks completed,” he shared. The Telegram mini-app greatly boosted ecosystem activity, including a 17% growth in followers on X and tripling Telegram community size. Season 2 is already underway with more on-chain tasks this time. Be sure to check it out and join to earn CSPR rewards.
The Casper Association is collaborating with Sarson Funds to enhance the liquidity and stability of the csprUSD stablecoin. “A market maker is being onboarded to manage liquidity, while Sarson Funds continues providing banking infrastructure,” said Michael.
“Discussions are underway to integrate a top-tier lending protocol to address a key gap in Casper’s DeFi ecosystem,” Michael said. More updates are expected soon.
Odra’s Korale AI is nearing release, enabling users to describe and deploy new tokens using natural language inputs. The tool automates the process of writing, compiling, and deploying smart contracts, essentially unlocking token creation for non-technical users.
Release Candidate 5 for Casper 2.0 is expected to be finalized this week, and it represents a feature-complete iteration of Casper 2.0.
Michael described Native smart contract staking as enabling exciting DeFi capabilities like secure and user-friendly liquid staking implementations. Additionally, a burning mechanism has been integrated to enhance the network’s functionality and tokenomics.
Introduced in RC5 of Casper 2.0, the new contract staking functionality enables liquid staking. Michael highlighted that the liquid staking initiative is a collaborative effort involving multiple ecosystem participants: with the Odra team developing the smart contracts, the Shiboo team leading the retail implementation, MAKE providing technical management and architecture support, and Router Protocol building adapters for seamless onboarding users and TVL from other blockchain networks to Casper’s liquid staking protocol.
The RWY protocol, which recently had its “Hello World moment”, will offer guaranteed APR approximating Casper’s native staking rewards, along with a liquid staking token that provides additional rewards. The protocol introduces StakedCSPR (sCSPR), which can be used in DeFi applications while earning staking rewards.
To ensure liquidity, the protocol will include a sCSPR-to-Casper pool, allowing for easy token exchanges. Plans are also underway to list sCSPR on exchanges to expand accessibility and attract users from other chains. On top of that, integration with Router Protocol simplifies onboarding and enables users to convert assets from any blockchain into sCSPR with a single click.
AJ from Router Protocol introduced their Router Intents, which simplifies cross-chain DeFi operations. The Router Protocol acts as a general message-passing protocol, enabling seamless asset transfers and contract execution across 34 supported blockchains. Casper’s integration with Router is actively progressing and the completion is expected soon.
AJ demonstrated the Router’s single-click transaction flows, showing how users can swap assets or interact with DeFi applications with minimal friction.
For Casper, this intent-based framework will support the liquid staking protocol, enabling users to convert assets from any chain directly into sCSPR with a single click. The integration will also make it easier for users from other ecosystems to participate in Casper’s DeFi applications.
Router Protocol also enables customizable adapters for specific use cases, such as staking, liquidity pools, or DeFi integrations. With pre-set parameters like token and network selection, the user experience can be streamlined further.
The collaboration with Casper goes beyond liquid staking, as Router Protocol is already working with Friendly Market and other DeFi projects on Casper to explore additional use cases.
We highly recommend watching the recording of AJ’s detailed presentation and demonstration.
The Odra framework is playing a key role in simplifying the development of smart contracts and enhancing token standards on the Casper Network. As Maciej Zielinski explained during the session, Odra is designed to improve the speed of development and ease of customization for developers by offering a modular, test-driven approach to building smart contracts.
Maciej expanded on Odra’s submodules, which provide a more unified and maintainable approach compared to traditional Casper template contracts. Maciej emphasized that Odra simplifies customization by allowing developers to recompile the project against a newer version of the submodule rather than rewriting the entire code.
Casper has recently introduced a new token standard, CEP 85, which is similar to Ethereum’s ERC 1155 which supports multi-token functionalities. Additionally, Odra supports the implementation of other key standards, including ERC-20, ERC-721, and ERC-1155, as well as Casper-specific standards like CEP 18 and CEP 78.
Maciej highlighted Odra’s uniform interface ensures that all token standards follow a consistent design, so they are easier to integrate and interact with.
He also noted that Odra is particularly beneficial for developers looking to build customized token standards quickly, maintain compatibility with evolving Casper standards, and test and iterate smart contracts efficiently without excessive boilerplate code.
As part of the Casper ecosystem, Odra is officially recommended by the Casper Association for token development and smart contract projects, ensuring developers can build with confidence using a framework tailored for flexibility and scalability.
Maciej demonstrated how developers can create complex token functionalities with minimal code by using pre-built modules such as Ownable or ERC-20. For example, developers can add new features like minting or balance adjustments by overriding existing methods in Odra’s submodules.
Be sure to watch the recording of the session to learn more.
Q: Is there any timeline for the final RPC specification regarding data indexing for market data?
"We’re cutting RC5 this week, which means the feature set is complete. There should be no more changes to the underlying functionality. The sidecar, which provides the RPC interface, serializes what it gets through the binary port. It’s conceptually stable, but there may be updates to the documentation and implementation in this current sprint. On the safe side, you should have a final RPC you can use within the next couple of weeks."
Q: Can we have a timeline and list of key dates for milestones to manage expectations better, especially with external partners?
"That’s great feedback. It makes sense to have clear timelines, and we’ll incorporate that into future updates."
Q: Is support available for developers needing help with smart contracts?
(From Maciej) "Yes, if anyone in the group needs consultation or help writing smart contracts, I’m available. In the past, I’ve spent time with developers sketching out solutions to their problems or creating basic contracts to integrate into their projects. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to collaborate."
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