Networks & Protocols
Coinbase announced the testnet launch of Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) network. Base is built on Optimism’s open-source OP Stack. Currently incubated by Coinbase, Base will be progressively decentralized.
Ethereum Developer Tim Beiko tweeted that a new Ethereum testnet, Holli, is planned to launch later this year. According to him, the name of the network may be changed to Holešky. Goerli testnet will be shut down eventually. GoerliETH distribution methods have become less reliable, and there have been issues acquiring them for genuine users. Future testnets, including Sepolia, can mint more ETH, and hopefully, ones after that can include more addresses in genesis files.
a16z released a new open-source Solidity implementation of a sealed bid auction that is natively cross-chain. The implementation uses the Aztec Connect framework to preserve anonymity.
Interlay Labs announced Interlay v2, expanding Interlay from a decentralized bridge to a Bitcoin DeFi Hub. In contrast, Interlay v1 offered Bitcoin holders the ability to use their BTC in DeFi via a novel, trustless bridge design. Interlay v2 proposes introducing native DeFi functionality to the network with a decentralized AMM-based exchange and a liquidity protocol for BTC borrowing and lending. A Testnet version of the protocol is available here. The whitepaper is available for reference here, and the forum discussion is in this link.
A coordinate restart was launched on the Solana network after an upgrade from 1.13 to 1.14 caused block finalization to slow significantly. The Solana Mainnet Beta was successfully restarted following this cluster restart. The root cause of the issue is still unknown and under active investigation by the engineers.
Polygon Labs and Dapper Labs laid off 20% of their staff.
MEV Boost
The Relay market did not show any significant developments over the week. According to data from mevboost.pics, MEV-Boost Slot Share dropped 88% to 78%, potentially due to some validators opting for vanilla builders.
The Falshbots Transparency Report (December 22 and January 23) discusses various topics and is a great reference.
CeFi
Coinbase posted a $2.6 billion net loss in 2022.
JP Morgan DeFi’s platform will open a crypto innovation lab in Greece. Link.
New indictment issued on SBF, who allegedly made over 300 illegal political donations.
Venture Activity
The market’s fundraising activity showed further improvement, with 27 projects raising $264.35 million in the week ending 26 February 2023. Total funds raised during February reached $815.45 million, surpassing the January total of $574.99 million.
There were five projects raising Seed funding. However, most of the projects were in the Seed category.
Infrastructure projects took the lead week over week. Investors showed interest in wallet projects. Blocto, a wallet project that D-Core researched earlier, raised a Series A round from Mark Cuban. Follow the link here.
Metaverse & NFTs
Spotify is developing a token for unlocking music playlists. The new feature is being developed in partnership with the startup Overlord.
Regulatory
US House Majority Whip Tom Emmer tweeted that he introduced the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act to halt efforts of unelected bureaucrats in Washington, DC from stripping Americans of their right to financial privacy.
A US District Judge from the Southern District of New York ordered dismissing a motion filed by Dapper Labs Inc. and its CEO against the case, claiming that their Top Shot NFTs constituted unregistered securities..
eToro gained regulatory approval to operate in New York.
New EU draft legislation drops the expression “self-hosted wallets”, adopting “self-hosted addresses” instead.
