The Growth Issue

The Growth Issue | Week of February 10–16, 2026

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Welcome Back to PIKUP

Welcome to the eleventh edition of PIKUP.

Fear & Greed reads 10. Ten. Up from 5 last week — or maybe sideways, depending on when you check. The market is still in capitulation mode. Bitcoin is trading below $68K. Ethereum under $2,000. The timeline is exhausted.

And Piku just had its biggest growth week ever.

This is the Growth Issue.

Not because of price. Because of what happened underneath: TVL surged to $7.46M — up 14.6% from $6.51M. Three governance proposals in a single week — the most active governance period in PikuDAO history. Pendle integration went live — USP is now yield-tokenized. Galxe Season 1 wrapped and rewards dropped. Season 2 launches this week. Ambassador Program Phase 1 closed with approximately 1,000 applications. And 5,000 followers on X.

All of this. During extreme fear. During capitulation.

USP at $1.071882 — another all-time high. Nine strategies, nine positive returns. Seventh week running. The machine doesn't pause for bear markets. It grows through them.

Let's get into it.

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Piku Protocol Update

Performance & Stats

• Transparency Dashboard: dune.com/piku_dao

Let's address the elephant: 7-day APY dropped from 20.20% to 5.13%. That's a significant decline. We're not going to dress it up.

Here's the context: BMMF — the largest allocation at 65% — delivered 7.37% APY this week vs. 24.85% last week. FX arbitrage yields fluctuate based on Turkish central bank rate dynamics and Lira-USD spreads. Some weeks the spread is wide, some weeks it's narrower. This was a narrower week. The diversification across 8 other strategies exists precisely for weeks like this.

30-day APY sits at 12.67% — down from 15.68%. Expected. The smoothing window is normalizing. But 12.67% annualized on a stablecoin — in any traditional finance context — is exceptional. In DeFi, during a capitulation-level bear market, it's extraordinary.

The real headline is TVL: $7.46M. Up from $6.51M. A $950K increase — the largest single-week inflow since launch. During Fear & Greed at 10. Capital isn't just staying. It's accelerating in. People aren't here for the 20% APY weeks. They're here because the architecture works every week — high or low. They’re here because the community-governed architecture is undoubtedly working and the rest of the alternatives would be a highly attention spending one.

USP launched at $1.00. It's now $1.071882. That's +7.18% in pure appreciation — no staking, no lockups, no complexity. Just hold.

Governance

The Most Active Governance Week in PikuDAO History

Three proposals. Two passed unanimously. One actively voting. This is what happens when a DAO builds momentum.

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Proposal 15 — Passed: Update USP Holding Incentive Allocation with Pendle Integration

The DAO voted to restructure PIKU incentive distribution to support the new Pendle market:

This is governance enabling growth. The DAO carved out incentive budget for two new Pendle campaigns without touching Uniswap rewards. USP holders still receive 80% of daily PIKU distribution (54,757 PIKU/day).

View Proposal 15 on Snapshot →

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Proposal 16 — Passed: Increase PikuDAO Treasury Liquidity in USP/USDC Uniswap Pool

The DAO doubled its Uniswap pool commitment. More depth = less slippage = better USP price stability. The original $20K deployment proved effective — this proposal builds on what's working.

View Proposal 16 on Snapshot →

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Proposal 17 — Active: Galxe Campaign Season 2 Incentives

Season 1 proved the model. Season 2 expands it. Same reward structure, new quests, new integrations to explore — including Pendle.

Vote on Proposal 17 on Snapshot →

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USP Backing Distribution

This is the part most protocols hide. We publish it weekly.

Week 7 Performance (Feb 9–16)

Total Backing: $7.46M | Weekly Profit: $8,506.05 | DAO Transfer: $850.60

Growth Beneath the Surface

Last week: $25,356 in profit. This week: $8,506. Down 65%. Let's be honest about what happened and what didn't.

What happened: BMMF had a cooler week — 7.37% APY vs. last week's 28.22%. FX arbitrage yields are inherently variable. The Turkish rate environment that produced outsized returns last week compressed this week. That's the nature of the strategy.

What didn't happen: No strategy went negative. Nine strategies. Nine positive returns. Seventh consecutive week. Every single one generated profit.

Here's what stood out:

Midas mF-ONE led the pack: 8.33% APY from a 2.25% allocation. The smaller strategies continue to punch above their weight.

Neutrl sNUSD's second week: 7.94% APY — up significantly from 3.61% last week. The RWA-native strategy is finding its rhythm.

Staked Yuzu USD solid: 7.69% APY. Consistent performer, third week in a row above 7%.

BMMF still delivered: 7.37% is a "down" week for BMMF — and it's still higher than most DeFi lending protocols on their best day. $5,942 in absolute profit from one strategy.

The math that matters: If you held 1,000 USP at the start of the week, it's now worth $1.32 more. A quieter week? Yes. Still compounding? Always. The 30-day APY (12.67%) tells the sustained story. The 7-day tells you one chapter.

Don't trust. Verify: Dune Dashboard | DeFiLlama

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Macro Developments

Extreme fear everywhere. Extreme growth at Piku. Funny how that works.

United States

• Markets Fell Again: S&P 500 -1.39%, Nasdaq -2.10%, Dow -1.23%. AI disruption fears weighed broadly. Value stocks outperformed growth for the seventh consecutive week — a trend that matters for macro positioning.
• Jobs Surprise: January payrolls hit 130,000 — highest monthly total in over a year. Unemployment dipped to 4.3%. But the headline masks the real story: 2025's total job gains were revised down from 584,000 to just 181,000. The labor market isn't what we thought it was.
• CPI Below Consensus: January CPI came in at +0.2% monthly and 2.4% annually — both below expectations. Inflation is cooperating. The problem? The Fed still isn't cutting.
• Fed Rate Expectations Shifting: Probability of unchanged rates through June jumped from 25% to over 40%. The market is recalibrating — rate cuts aren't imminent.
• Retail Stalled: December retail sales came in flat MoM, missing the 0.4% expected. American consumers are hesitating.

Europe

• STOXX 600 Flat: +0.09%. DAX +0.78%, FTSE 100 +0.74%, CAC 40 +0.46%. Europe held while the US slid — a quiet divergence.
• Eurozone GDP: Q4 2025 grew 0.3% quarterly (1.5% annually). Not a recession, but not momentum either.
• UK Barely Growing: GDP expanded just 0.1% quarterly. Retail sales up 2.3% annually — consumers spending, economy not responding.
• French Unemployment Rose: To 7.9%. The Eurozone recovery remains uneven.

Japan

• Nikkei Surged: +4.96% — the standout global performer. TOPIX +3.24%.
• Election Catalyst: PM Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party won a supermajority, signaling aggressive fiscal spending and targeted tax cuts. Markets liked it.
• Yen Strengthened: To ~153 JPY/USD from 157. Government verbal intervention working.
• JGB Yields Settled: 10-year at ~1.23%. Down from the 2.23% spike. Post-election stability.
• Real Wages Still Declining: -0.1% YoY in December. The consumer story in Japan remains weak.

China

• Flat Week: CSI 300 +0.39%, Shanghai +0.43%, Hang Seng flat.
• Deflation Persists: Consumer prices up just 0.2% annually in January (from 0.8% in December). Producer prices have been deflationary for 40 consecutive months. Forty.
• Property Improving Slightly: Second-hand home price declines slowed to -0.54% monthly — smallest drop in 8 months.
• Lunar New Year: Mainland markets closed Feb 16–23. Pause mode.

Crypto Markets

Same capitulation. Same USP appreciation.

• Bitcoin: ~$67,200. Slipped below $68K — down from ~$69K last week. Metaplanet reported a $660M paper loss. Standard Chartered slashed their BTC target from $150K to $100K. The bull case is getting revised everywhere.
• Ethereum: ~$1,965. Down another 5.8% this week. Below $2,000 again. Seven consecutive months of negative returns.
• Market Cap: $2.42 trillion. Continuing to compress.
• Fear & Greed: 10. Down from 12 mid-week. Barely above last week's FTX-era low of 5. The market isn't scared — it's numb.
• One Bright Spot: Harvard trimmed its BTC ETF position and added an Ethereum stake. Institutional diversification, not exit.

The takeaway: Bitcoin dropped further. ETH fell below $2K. Fear & Greed is at 10. And Piku's TVL grew 14.6% — the largest single-week inflow ever. $950K in new capital entered during peak capitulation. Because when everything is uncertain, predictable yield becomes the destination.

That's not marketing. That's math.

Looking Ahead

• Feb 19: Galxe Season 2 launches — new quests, new rewards
• Feb 19: Current Merkl campaigns end — new cycle incoming
• Feb 23: China markets reopen after Lunar New Year
• March 17–18: Next FOMC Meeting — rate cut speculation builds after cool CPI
• Coming Soon: Ambassador program Phase 1 evaluations, Pendle market growth

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Partner Spotlight: Pendle

Yield Tokenization Comes to USP — And It Changes Everything

This week we're not just spotlighting a partner. We're spotlighting what might be the single most important integration in USP's history.

Pendle is now live with USP. That means USP's yield can be split, traded, leveraged, and locked. For the first time, you can choose how you interact with USP's yield — not just whether you hold it.

What Pendle Does

Pendle is the leading yield tokenization protocol in DeFi. It takes yield-bearing assets and separates them into two tradeable components:

• PT-USP (Principal Token): Redeemable for full USP value at maturity. Buy it at a discount, lock in a guaranteed return.
• YT-USP (Yield Token): Captures all streaming USP yield until expiration. A leveraged bet on yield performance.

PT + YT always equals the value of the original USP. Zero-sum. Mathematically balanced.

Three New Ways to Use USP

1. Lock Fixed Yield (Buy PT-USP)

Buy PT-USP at a discount — say $0.95 — and redeem it for $1.00 worth of USP at maturity. You've just locked ~10.5% annualized return. No variability. No watching weekly APY fluctuations. Just certainty.

Who this is for: Treasuries. Conservative allocators. Anyone who wants yield without volatility.

2. Leverage Yield Exposure (Buy YT-USP)

If you believe USP yields will outperform the market's expectation, buy YT. You're getting leveraged exposure to the yield stream at a fraction of the cost.

Who this is for: Yield conviction traders. People who've been watching BMMF swing from 7% to 25% and want to capitalize on the upside.

3. Provide Liquidity (LP on Pendle)

Deposit into PT-USP/SY pools on Pendle's AMM. Earn swap fees + PENDLE incentives + underlying USP yield + PIKU rewards via Merkl. And because PT converges predictably to $1.00 at maturity, impermanent loss is structurally minimized.

Who this is for: Passive income seekers. Yield stackers.

Why This Is Massive

Before Pendle: Hold USP → earn variable APY → no hedging options → no customization.

After Pendle:

• Lock fixed rates with redemption certainty
• Leverage yield exposure without borrowing
• Stack multiple income streams (fees + yield + PIKU + PENDLE incentives)
• Use PT as collateral in lending protocols (fixed-income security)
• Hedge yield exposure while maintaining principal

This turns USP from a single-mode asset into a multi-mode yield primitive. You can be conservative (PT), aggressive (YT), or balanced (LP) — all using the same underlying USP yield engine.

The Numbers (Week 1)

$309K in LP TVL within the first week. On a brand new market. During extreme fear. Pendle LPs are earning 64.66% APR from a combination of USP native yield, swap fees, and PIKU incentives.

The YT APR looks astronomical (2,962%) because TVL is still small (and of course it changes) — early movers are capturing outsized rewards. This will normalize as more capital enters. But right now, the opportunity is real.

The DAO Made This Happen

Proposal 15 passed with 24 votes to restructure PIKU incentives — carving out 5% for Pendle LP and 5% for Pendle YT. The Merkl campaigns are live. The market is open. The infrastructure is built.

This is what governance-enabled growth looks like: propose, vote, execute, launch.

Read the full Pendle x USP deep dive →

Explore USP on Pendle →

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Community Update: Ambassador Program Phase 1

~1,000 Applications. Phase 1 Is Closed. Evaluation Begins.

Three weeks ago, we opened the Ambassador Program. We expected interest. We didn't expect this.

Approximately 1,000 people applied to become PikuDAO Ambassadors.

One thousand. During a bear market. During Fear & Greed at single digits. During the worst crypto sentiment since FTX.

These aren't people chasing a bull market narrative. These are people who read the backing breakdown and understood the architecture. Who watched USP appreciate every single week while the market melted. Who want to help explain why that matters.

What Happens Now

Phase 1 submissions are closed. The team is now evaluating all applications — reviewing content quality, community engagement, understanding of the protocol, and alignment with PikuDAO's values.

This isn't a rush job. When you're selecting the people who will represent your protocol to the world, you take your time.

Thank You

To every single person who applied: thank you. Whether you're selected in this cohort or the next, the fact that you raised your hand — during this market — says everything about what this community is becoming.

We'll announce the inaugural Ambassador cohort soon. Stay tuned on @piku_dao.

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Regular community spotlights return next week. Tag us @piku_dao with your Piku content — threads, analysis, memes, whatever you've got. The best one each week earns 10,000 Voting Power.

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Galxe Season 1: Complete — Rewards Distributed

2,211 Participants. $11,000 in Rewards. The First Season Is in the Books.

Galxe Season 1 has officially concluded, and rewards have been distributed.

PIKU Rewards — Top 108

The top 108 participants on the Season 1 leaderboard received a share of 62,500 PIKU tokens ($10,000 worth), distributed proportionally by their points weight. Rewards are live now — check your balance on the Piku Rewards Center.

USDC Special Recognition — 16 Wallets

Beyond the leaderboard, we went deeper. We analyzed on-chain behavior — transaction history, USP holdings, liquidity provision, and holding patterns — to identify 16 wallets that demonstrated exceptional dedication to the protocol. Not just quest completion. Real usage.

These 16 wallets are receiving $1,000 USDC total, distributed based on the nature and depth of their contribution:

USDC rewards for these wallets will be distributed soon.

Why we did this: Leaderboard points measure engagement. But on-chain behavior measures commitment. We wanted to reward both. The person who held their USP through the worst crash since FTX and never sold — that's not a quest farmer. That's a believer.

Season 2 Starts This Week

Galxe Season 2 launches February 19. New quests. New integrations to explore — including Pendle. Same reward structure: $10,000 worth of PIKU (pending Proposal 17 passing). Proposal 17 is currently live on Snapshot with overwhelming support.

Season 1 proved the funnel works. Season 2 scales it.

Start Season 2 on Galxe (Feb 19) →

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Active Campaigns & Rewards

Four campaigns now. Two brand new. Growth doesn't wait for green candles.

Merkl Rewards (Pre-TGE)

Current opportunities (as of Feb 16, 2026):

What's new: Two Pendle campaigns went live this week — Pendle LP and YT holding. This is the first time USP has four simultaneous Merkl campaigns. More venues. More ways to earn.

Uniswap LP TVL held steady at $345K — up from $339K. The DAO's doubled liquidity commitment (Proposal 16) is strengthening the pool.

The stack is deeper than ever:

• Hold USP → native yield (5.13% 7-day APY) + Merkl PIKU rewards (48.07% APR)
• LP on Uniswap → 115.68% APR in PIKU + swap fees
• LP on Pendle → 64.66% APR in PIKU + USP yield + swap fees
• Hold YT-USP → leveraged yield exposure + 2,962% APR in PIKU (early mover advantage)

Current campaigns end February 19. As always — when one ends, the next begins. Recurring. Consistent.

APRs are dynamic and subject to change. PIKU rewards are Pre-TGE tokens. Campaigns are recurring — when one ends, the next begins.

Galxe Campaign

Season 1: COMPLETED — Rewards distributed. Check piku.co/rewards. Season 2: LAUNCHING February 19 Rewards: $10,000 worth of $PIKU (Proposal 17 pending)

View All Piku Opportunities on Merkl

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What's Next

• Feb 19: Galxe Season 2 launches — new quests, Pendle integration quests
• Feb 19: Current Merkl campaigns end — new cycle begins
• Feb 23: China markets reopen post-Lunar New Year
• Coming Soon: Ambassador Program Phase 1 cohort announcement
• Coming Soon: Pendle market growth + new LP strategies
• March 17–18: FOMC Meeting — CPI cooling may shift the conversation

Stay tuned on X for real-time updates.

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5,000 Followers on X

A quick note: @piku_dao crossed 5,000 followers this week. Thank you to every single one of you — especially the ones who followed during the crash, during Fear & Greed at single digits, during the weeks when most crypto accounts were posting nothing but doom.

5,000 people chose to pay attention. Now it's on us to keep earning that attention. Every week. Every backing report. Every proposal. Every newsletter.

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Why Piku? Growth When It Matters.

Let's talk about what growth actually looks like in crypto.

Most protocols grow during bull markets. TVL pours in when BTC is hitting all-time highs and Twitter is euphoric. Everyone's a genius in a bull market. Everyone's "growing."

Then the bear comes. TVL flees. Community goes silent. Discord turns into a ghost town. Growth was never real — it was borrowed from market conditions.

Piku grew 14.6% this week. During Fear & Greed at 10. During Bitcoin below $68K. During the worst sustained crypto sentiment since FTX.

That's not borrowed growth. That's earned growth.

Here's what happened in a single week:

$950K in new TVL. People didn't just stay — they deposited more. During capitulation.

Three governance proposals. Pendle incentive restructuring. Doubled Uniswap liquidity. Galxe Season 2 funding. The DAO didn't slow down. It accelerated.

Pendle integration. USP went from a hold-and-earn stablecoin to a yield primitive with fixed-rate, leveraged, and LP strategies. That's not an incremental upgrade. That's a category expansion.

Galxe Season 1 wrapped. 2,211 participants. 108 PIKU recipients. 16 USDC special recognition wallets. Rewards distributed. Season 2 launches in days.

~1,000 Ambassador applications. During a bear market.

5,000 X followers. %100 Organic. Earned.

This is what real protocol growth looks like. Not vanity metrics during a bull run. Infrastructure, governance, integration, and community — built during the hardest possible conditions.

The protocols that grow during bear markets are the protocols that define the next cycle. Not because of marketing. Because the product was good enough that people came anyway.

$7.46M TVL. $1.071827 USP. Nine strategies. Seven consecutive weeks of positive returns. Pendle live. Season 2 launching. Ambassadors incoming.

The market gave Piku nothing this week. Piku grew anyway.

That's the growth that matters.

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Stay Connected and Hedge against the machine!!

Website | App | Rewards | X (Twitter)

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. USP involves risks; please read our documentation and risk disclosures before participating.

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