The Latest Tech News in Crypto and Blockchain

Jan. 30: Stellar Development Foundation published a blog post on Tuesday revealing a new target date of Feb. 20 for the Protocol 20 upgrade that will introduce smart contracts to the Stellar blockchain as part of the “Soroban” project. The upgrade was delayed from the originally targeted Jan. 30 after a bug was found. “The bug fix is already in the works, and the SDF anticipates that a new stable release with it will be available Friday, February 2,” according to the blog post. “On Tuesday next week, February 6th we will deploy this version to our Testnet validators and perform a reset. Anyone who runs Stellar infrastructure will then have until February 20th to install the new version since validators, should they choose to do so, will arm their software to vote for Protocol 20 on that date.” {XLM}

Jan. 30: Cartesi (CTSI), an app-specific rollup protocol with a virtual machine that runs Linux distributions, announced today an allocation for $1 million to the Cartesi Grants Program. According to the team: “Independent developers, founding teams, DAOs, communities and collectives have the opportunity to receive up to $50,000 USDC per project, subject to community vote. Through this grants program, Cartesi aims to increase the number of long-term contributors and developers building novel applications on Cartesi.”

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Jan. 30: Immunefi, a bug bounty and security services platform for Web3, published its “Crypto Losses in January 2024” report, revealing that the ecosystem lost $126 million of funds due to hacks and scams. According to the team: “This represents a 6x increase when compared with January 2023 at $21 million; and a 2.8x increase from December 2023 ($45.37 million). Hacks continued to be the predominant cause of losses, totaling $122 million compared to fraud events at $4 million. DeFi was the primary target for attacks, accounting for the entire $126 million loss, while CeFi did not witness any reported attacks.”

Jan. 30: Magic, a wallet-as-a-service (WaaS) provider powering over 25 million wallets, announced its WaaS integration with zkSync. According to the team: “This collaboration assists developers and businesses in building mainstream-ready Web3 applications. The seamless integration of Magic’s WaaS to zkSync’s unparalleled scaling capabilities opens the door for efficient gateways to DeFi, NFTs, and the vast potential of blockchain.”

Jan. 30: Decentralized communications platform Diode launched on Moonbeam Network, offering a censorship-resistant alternative to traditional products like VPN, Slack or Microsoft OneDrive, according to the team: “Diode’s DePIN solution provides a secure, trustless and decentralized medium for people and companies to communicate, in line with the original vision for Web3 created by Gavin Woods, the co-founder of Ethereum and founder of Polkadot.” For more information go here.

Jan. 30: LightLink, an Ethereum layer-2 blockchain, is partnering with Animoca Brands to integrate its technology into selected Animoca projects and portfolio companies, according to the team: “This will include enabling gas-free operation for integrated applications, reducing friction and complexity for end users. In return, Animoca Brands will provide advisory resources for LightLink’s tokenomics and go-to-market strategies, with the shared goal of improving mainstream blockchain adoption across dApps and Web3 gaming projects.”

Jan. 30: Linera, a layer-1 blockchain protocol pioneering microchains to give users their own blockspace, announced deployment of its Devnet, “a significant stride in its mission to redefine Web3 scalability,” according to the team: “With its unique blockchain model, the company is enhancing user experiences for projects that require support for a vast number of active users and real-time interactions.”

Jan. 30: Peaq, a blockchain for real-world applications, has introduced the DePIN Data Verification Framework, now used by NATIX and Silencio in the peaq ecosystem, according to the team. “It comprises three tiers: Tier-1 for device data signing, Tier-2 using machine learning for data pattern recognition and Tier-3 employing trusted oracles for cross-referencing. This ensures accuracy, even in cases like cargo temperature monitoring in delivery trucks.” DePIN, a Web3 sector for community-owned devices offering services like solar energy sales, faces data verification challenges, unlike Web2’s centralized controls, according to peaq.

Jan. 30: Talisman, a non-custodial wallet for Polkadot and Etheruem, announced the Private Beta program launch of its Signet multisig capability. According to the team: “Their native integration with Talisman Wallet allows Signet Multisigs to connect with thousands of dApps throughout the Polkadot ecosystem. Signet is the only multisig with the ability to connect to any existing dApp (including Polkadot dApps) with no changes. You add Signet Multisig Vaults to the Talisman extension then go to a dApp. You connect your Talisman Wallet extension, then select the Signet Vault. Now you can use any of the functionality on the Staking Dapp to craft multisig transactions.”

Jan. 30: Waterfall Network, an layer-1 protocol solving blockchain scalability, integrated with Portal Defi, a Bitcoin-based DEX eliminating reliance on traditional bridges, according to the team: “The integration, featuring Portal’s layer-2 atomic swaps, enables secure bridgeless cross-chain transactions between Bitcoin and digital assets. AMM contracts on compatible chains enhance the integration, ensuring swift, cost-effective, and private swaps. This synergy boosts transaction speed, cost efficiency, and overall security, representing an industry first by Waterfall Network and Portal Defi in addressing blockchain challenges.”

Jan. 30: Nym Technologies, a privacy-focused project, announced the first recipients of grants from the Nym Innovation Fund, according to the team. They include “three privacy-preserving technologies utilizing the Nym mixnet: StarShell wallet for the Secret Network, Nodies DLB for privacy-enhanced RPC networks and PasteNym for private text drops. The Innovation Fund aims to boost the health of the privacy ecosystem by connecting promising projects to the influential venture capitalists that back Nym.”

Jan. 30: The foundation supporting decentralized crypto exchange dYdX has requested $30 million in funding from the project’s governing decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) to be spent over the next three years. Switzerland-based dYdX Foundation provides legal, R&D, marketing and technical support to the crypto trading project, which includes a perpetual futures contract exchange and specialty blockchain in the Cosmos and Ethereum ecosystems. The Foundation’s goal is to grow dYdX into “the exchange layer of the internet,” according to its pitch.

Jan. 30: Portal, a San Francisco-based fintech provider, raised $34 million to support the development of its bitcoin-based decentralized exchange (DEX), which exited stealth mode on Tuesday. Investors in the round included Coinbase Ventures, Arrington Capital, OKX Ventures and Gate.io, according to an announcement. Portal will also use the funding to advance the development of a non-custodial wallet.

Jan. 30: Web3 payments infrastructure provider Transak joined Visa Direct, making it easier for its users to convert their cryptocurrency holdings into regular currency. Transak’s payment and onboarding services allow users to buy and sell crypto assets, handling the know-your-customer (KYC) requirements, risk monitoring and compliance on behalf of its clients, which include MetaMask and Coinbase Wallet. The Web3 startup raised $20 million last year in a Series A round to fund a global expansion. The Visa Direct program lets third-party providers connect to Visa’s network and routes payments directly onto Visa cards.

Jan. 29: Immutable, a gaming-focused layer-2 developer, announced the early access launch of its Immutable zkEVM Mainnet, powered by Polygon. According to the team: “Immutable zkEVM is a dedicated chain for games that offers EVM compatibility, low costs, massive scaling and enterprise-grade security. Immutable zkEVM is set to expand capabilities within the gaming industry, unlocking new revenue streams for game studios and providing players with unprecedented control over their digital assets. The lineup of games committed to be among the first to launch on Immutable zkEVM include: Guild of Guardians, Metalcore, Shardbound, Treeverse and more.”

Jan. 29: Swell, a non-custodial staking protocol, has launched its own native liquid restaking token (LRT), restaked Swell ether (rswETH), according to a press release: “The LRT has been audited by leading blockchain security firm Sigma Prime, and its development is supported by expertise from top-tier DeFi risk management firms Gauntlet and Chaos Labs, as well as collaboration with leading Actively Validated Services (AVSs) across the rapidly growing EigenLayer restaking ecosystem.” The project added: “Pearls represent a claim to future SWELL tokens, and EigenLayer Restaked Points measure contribution to the shared security of the EigenLayer ecosystem.”

Jan. 29: DYdX Chain has officially launched Liquid Staking after a successful governance vote. According to the team: “Liquid Staking further unlocks liquidity for the DYDX token by enabling stakers to avoid the 30 day un-bonding period. Further, users leveraging Liquid Staking may continue to earn dYdX Chain staking rewards while using the applicable liquid-staked DYDX tokens in applications like liquidity pools or lending protocols, greatly enhancing overall accessibility.”

Jan. 29 (PROTOCOL VILLAGE EXCLUSIVE): ZkLink a multi-Chain ZK Rollup and layer-3 protocol, has successfully completed a $4.68 million sale on CoinList in its latest Community Token Sale. According to the team, “The 31,250,000 million tokens offered represented just over 3% of the total supply at a valuation of $150 million FDV.”

Jan. 29: Web3 “SuperApp” Kresus and Tools for Humanity, the developer of Worldcoin, “are collaborating to tackle the digital identity problem,” according to the team: “In short, the Kresus App will integrate WorldID, while Kresus Labs will advise the Tools for Humanity team on product strategy and collaborate on technical implementation. With Tools For Humanity’s access to state of the art technology developed by WorldCoin, and the Kresus ‘goof-proof’ Web3 SuperApp, these industry-leading features will further enhance both party’s respective offerings and bolster new technical and strategic offerings in the future.”

Jan. 29: Ithaca Protocol, a composable option protocol, raised $2.5 million in a pre-seed funding round, co-led by Cumberland and Wintermute Ventures, according to the team: “Focused on moving a significant volume of options trading to blockchain, Ithaca aims to bridge the gap in on-chain options trading, which is currently lower than in spot and perpetual markets. Its goal is to boost the market share of crypto options. The Ithaca Protocol features a matching engine that simplifies option payoffs and supports atomic matching, addressing challenges in the on-chain options market.

Jan. 29: BBO Exchange, a decentralized exchange for trading perpetual contracts, has raised a pre-seed funding round of $2.7M leaded by Hashed and Arrington Capital, alongside participants like Consensys and CMS Holdings. According to the team: “The platform seeks to innovate DeFi through decentralized derivative trading, leveraging Oracle Extractable Value. Highlights include an inventive auction mechanism and a multi-asset, signal-driven dynamic distribution AMM, allowing LPs to correlate price ranges with other assets. BBOX’s imminent launch on Linea’s zkEVM Layer 2 Network supported by Consensys signals a strategic move for technological advancement in the decentralized finance space.”

Jan. 29: Sui, a layer-1 blockchain, announced that Banxa, a leading payments infrastructure provider for the crypto-compatible economy, will add the SUI token to its platform. According to the team: “The integration will increase access to the Sui blockchain for users across the world, thanks to a suite of Banxa’s global and local payment methods, which have processed over $3 billion in transactions since its launch in 2014. Additionally, Mysten Labs’ Sui Wallet will provide users the opportunity to purchase SUI tokens through Banxa’s fiat on-ramp solution and once fully integrated, to utilize its off-ramp solution.”

Jan. 25: Centrifuge, a protocol to bring real-world assets (RWAs) onchain, has integrated with the Celo blockchain through cross-chain interoperability project Axelar. “Following the integration, Centrifuge will introduce new assets to the Celo ecosystem, such as tokenized Treasury bills and carbon credit pools,” according to the team: “Centrifuge joins Celo’s robust network of real-world financial solutions such as Jia, Huma Finance, Untangled Finance, Credit Collective and more.”

Jan. 25: Powerloom, the composable data network, announced a partnership with Polygon Network, to launch a node mint, according to the team: “To democratize Web3 data accessibility, Powerloom aims to establish 10,000 independently run nodes. This will be facilitated by a node mint scheduled to take place on Feb. 7. Participants who mint a Soul-Bound Token (SBT) will be awarded the right to operate a Powerloom Snapshotter Lite node.”

Jan. 25: Chainlink and Arbitrum announced the mainnet beta release of Chainlink Functions on Arbitrum One.

Jan. 25 (PROTOCOL VILLAGE EXCLUSIVE): Colosseum has emerged from the Solana Foundation as a new, independent organization that will run future Solana Foundation online hackathons, an accelerator program and venture fund to invest in Solana builders, according to the team: “Founded by Matt Taylor, Clay Robbins and Nate Levine, Colosseum will be a new arena for the next wave of Solana projects. Hackathon winners who are accepted into Colosseum’s Accelerator Program will receive $250,000 in pre-seed capital. The inaugural event starts on March 4,2024 and interested builders can sign up here.”

Jan. 25: Powered by IoTeX, the upgraded DePINscan 1.0 will launch in partnership with the top DePIN projects in the space such as Helium, Akash, Theta and more, “bringing data and visualizations to the public dashboard that enables anyone to view data on these networks,” according to the team: “DePINscan illuminates the DePIN market for the public by offering a comprehensive view of the sector, showcasing device counts/earnings, upcoming projects, mining opportunities and market capitalization.”

Jan. 25: Router Protocol, a layer-1 chain built with Cosmos SDK and designed to be an interoperability layer, announced the mainnet launch of its latest cross-chain solution, Nitro. It’s a “cross-chain intent-based bridge built on the Router Chain,” according to a press release, with “extensive support for EVM, non-EVM and zkEVM chains,” and an “additional security module (ASM) with community watch and oracle security.” According to the team, Nitro “promises a new era of lightning-fast, cost-efficient, and fortified cross-chain transactions.”

Jan. 25: Flipside Crypto, a leading on-chain data analytics and business intelligence platform, published its “Onchain Crypto User Report,” which examines user acquisition, onchain activity and trends across eight major blockchain networks, including popular EVM chains as well as Solana and Bitcoin. According to the report, Ethereum and Polygon led the industry by each acquiring over 15M new users in 2023.

Jan. 25: Warner Music Group, the global music and entertainment company, is “gearing up to announce the winners of its inaugural accelerator program, celebrating the startups that are reshaping the music industry with blockchain,” according to the Polygon Labs team: “The accelerator is the fruit of a new partnership between WMG and Polygon to empower the next generation of developers and innovators at the intersection of web3 and music. Polygon Labs and WMG have selected MITH and Muus Collective for the Accelerator, two projects helping build the future of the music x Web3 ecosystem on the Polygon network.”

Jan. 25: Space and Time is introducing an open-source GPU acceleration framework, Blitzar, for Proof of SQL, according to the team: “Created to enhance zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs in the Web3 community, Blitzar resulted from Space and Time’s collaboration with NVIDIA, addressing the need for open-source GPU acceleration frameworks. Proof of SQL, introduced in alpha in August, enables smart contracts to verify data inquiries across diverse sources.”

Jan. 25: Aptos Foundation is launching partnerships with data providers Dune, Nansen, Space x Time, Token Terminal, DappRadar, The Tie, Flipside Crypto and Elliptic, according to the team. The goal is to ensure they “get the most out of building on Aptos; are able to offer a full range of data integration services to everyone in the Aptos ecosystem and community; and mobilize the Move on Aptos programming language to integrate swiftly and securely. These partnerships will also make everything from data standardization to dApp searchability simpler on Aptos.”

Jan. 25: VeChain, an enterprise-grade L1 public blockchain, announced the launch of Grant 2.0, an upgrade to its existing developer grant program, according to the team: “The new version of the program offers developers up to a new maximum of $100K in funding, a significant increase from its previous $30K limit, in addition to new marketing and microgrants, plus greater mentorship and support for sustainability grant recipients. The updated program is also designed to encourage the development of sustainability-focused decentralized ecosystems in the form of “X-to-earn” applications.”

Jan. 25: Web3Intelligence, the developer of Web3 investment app Dopamine, has raised $4.5 million ahead of the launch of of its native token DOPE. The private funding round included participation from DAO MAKER, Shima Capital, and Gate.io, among other investors, according to an emailed announcement shared with CoinDesk on Thursday. DOPE will serve as a utility token for accessing Dopamine, which provides a gamified experience for investment in the decentralized finance (DeFi) world.