Weekly Project Updates: Base Mainnet Officially Launched, Debank Initiates L2 Testnet, Saddle Finance and SpiritSwap Contemplate Halting Operations, etc

Aug 12, 2023

1. Ethereum’s Weekly Summary

a. Highlights from the 115th ACDC link

On August 12th, Christine Kim, the Vice President of Research at Galaxy, summarized the 115th Ethereum All Core Developer’s Consensus Meeting (ACDC) in a post. The discussions in this meeting covered various topics including the release schedule for Devnet 8, deployment strategies for EIP-4788, and changes to the CL fork selection specification. Notably, the developers agreed to initiate the next official test network, Devnet 8, for the upcoming Cancun upgrade early next week. Additionally, they consented to upgrade EIP-4788 from a state precompile to a regular smart contract.

Devnet 8 stands as the inaugural specialized test network that will activate all relevant Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) finalized for the Dencun upgrade. The Ethereum Foundation is currently in the process of engaging third-party audit services to formally review the pull requests for lightweight clients. Moreover, Holesky, a new public test network, is being planned by Ethereum developers and client teams for a September launch, aiming to replace the Goerli testnet.

b. Ethsubscriptions surpass 1 million in total minted tokens link

On August 9th, according to the tyler3 data dashboard, the total minting of Ethscriptions has surpassed one million, with over 134,000 new Ethscriptions minted on August 5th, marking a new daily record. As of the time of writing, Ethscriptions has accumulated around 37,000 users, facilitating over 97,000 Ethscriptions transfers. Additionally, based on data from the first Ethscriptions Marketplace, Ethc Market, the leading ERC-20 eths floor price is approximately 0.4 ETH, with a market capitalization of around $16 million. Ethscriptions is a script system built on Ethereum, similar to Bitcoin Ordinals.

2. Base’s Weekly Summary

a. Coinbase’s Base mainnet officially opens to the public link

On August 10th, Coinbase’s Base mainnet has officially been opened to the public. Base is expected to become the default network for Coinbase’s on-chain products. Prior to this launch, developers and users have already moved over $100 million worth of assets to the Base network.

According to L2BEAT data, as of the time of writing, the Total Value Locked (TVL) on Base has reached $187 million, surpassing StarkNet ($147 million). Among the assets, Ethereum (ETH) accounts for approximately 87%. Additionally, in recent days, Base’s Transactions Per Second (TPS) is around 7.80, surpassing Optimism (5.69) and Arbitrum One (6.78), but trailing behind zkSync Era (11.22).

b. Buzz around the social application “friend tech” on Base link

On August 11th, the social application Friend Tech on the Base network gained significant attention across various communities. According to data from @msilb7, since its recent launch, the platform has attracted over 14,000 users and has facilitated more than 190,000 transactions, totaling 5,772 ETH in trading volume as of the time of writing.

The deposit contract of Friend Tech (0xCF…A4d4) currently holds nearly 542 ETH, and the protocol’s capture (developer income, 0xdd…f742) has reached 288 ETH.

Friend Tech functions similarly to a paid private community. Notably, the highest value stakeholder is the renowned KOL Cobie (bergy.eth), with a stake of 172 ETH.

3. Fantom explores integrating Optimistic Rollup to bridge Fantom with Ethereum link

On August 9th, Andre Cronje, the Co-founder and Architect of the Fantom Foundation, announced that they are considering integrating Optimistic Rollup to connect Fantom with the Ethereum network. Cronje explained that if Fantom adopts Optimistic Rollup and provides a complete transaction history on Ethereum, Fantom would need to pay transaction fees to write these snapshots onto the Ethereum network. Michael Kong, CEO of the Fantom Foundation, added that implementing Layer 2 technology in this manner will enable the Fantom network to gain more liquidity from the Ethereum ecosystem.

4. DeBank announces the launch of DeBank Chain testnet based on OP Stack link

On August 11th, DeBank announced the launch of its testnet for DeBank Chain, built on top of the OP Stack. The project aims to debut its mainnet in 2024. DeBank Chain is designed with the goals of minimizing gas costs, delivering a native experience akin to account abstraction, and ensuring the security of Layer 1 assets.

5. With DSR raised to 8%, Spark Protocol’s market cap exceeds $300 million link

On August 8th, following the increase of DSR to 8%, the Total Value Locked (TVL) in the MakerDAO general lending protocol, Spark Protocol, experienced a sharp surge. As of the time of writing, the total market size has exceeded $450 million, with the borrowing amount surpassing $200 million. Among this, more than 200,000 wstETH tokens have been deposited, with a value exceeding $400 million. The current borrowing interest rate for Spark DAI stands at 3.19%, benefiting from a positive interest rate differential of over 4%.

6. Esteemed Solana blue-chip NFT project y00ts to re-migrate to Ethereum link

On August 10th, the well-established Solana NFT project known as y00ts, which had previously migrated to the Polygon network in March, announced via a tweet that it intends to shift back to the Ethereum blockchain. The project also revealed its commitment to fully reimburse Polygon for the provided funding. The precise date for this migration will be disclosed in the near future. Notably, the current floor price for NFTs within this series, as displayed on Opensea, stands at 1.58 ETH.

7. Microsoft and Aptos collaborate to develop a novel AI-powered blockchain solution link

On August 9th, according to The Block, Aptos announced a new partnership with Microsoft. In addition to exploring innovative solutions related to asset tokenization, digital payments, and central bank digital currencies, Aptos will leverage Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI services. The initial focus of the collaboration will be to simplify user interaction with web3 through Microsoft’s AI capabilities, as well as to assist developers in building smart contracts and decentralized applications. Aptos also has plans to introduce a chatbot called Aptos Assistant, designed to address queries about the Aptos ecosystem.

8. Renowned Japanese public blockchain project Astar Network unveils “Astar Tokenomics 2.0” link

On August 11th, the well-known Japanese blockchain project Astar Network introduced “Astar Tokenomics 2.0.” Under this new system, the inflation rate will be dynamically adjusted annually based on on-chain data. Collators will receive a 3.2% inflation rate annually. The dApp staking v3 will introduce tiered rewards for builders. Efforts will be made to optimize transaction fees for both Substrate and Ethereum, while significantly reducing the cost of on-chain storage.

9. Worldcoin’s Weekly Summary

a. Kenyan Authorities Raid Worldcoin Nairobi Warehouse, Seize Documents and Machinery on Saturday link

On August 7th, according to local media Kahawatungu, Kenyan police conducted a raid on Worldcoin’s warehouse in Nairobi on August 5th, confiscating documents and machines. The report stated that a police team transported this data to the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department for analysis. This raid was conducted under the supervision of Kenya’s Data Protection Commissioner, Immaculate Kassait.

b. Argentinian Regulatory Authority Investigates Worldcoin’s Handling of Personal Data link

On August 10th, the Argentine Access to Public Information Agency (AAIP) announced an investigation into Worldcoin’s handling of personal data. The aim of this investigation is to verify the security measures taken within the user privacy protection framework of the digital application. The investigation will meticulously analyze the processes and practices related to the collection, storage, and usage of personal data. Previously, regulatory agencies in Germany, Kenya, France, the UK, and other locations have initiated investigations into Worldcoin due to privacy concerns.

10. Saddle Finance and SpiritSwap Announce Plans for Ceasing Operations

a. Saddle Finance Announces Plans for Shutdown, Liquidating Funds into ARB Airdropped to Token Holders link

On August 9th, the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Saddle Finance announced its decision to cease operations and distribute its funds to investors. Sunil Srivatsa, the founder of Saddle, proposed liquidating the treasury into ARB tokens and conducting an airdrop of proceeds to holders of Saddle’s SDL and veSDL tokens, with veSDL holders receiving a fourfold allocation. Earlier in April, Saddle fell victim to an attack, resulting in a loss of over $10 million.

b. SpiritSwap: Depletion of Funds Due to Multichain Incident Leads to Potential Shutdown on September 1st link

On August 9th, the Fantom ecosystem decentralized exchange (DEX) SpiritSwap announced that due to the Multichain incident, the project’s funds have been depleted, rendering it unable to sustain its daily operations. Currently, SpiritSwap is actively seeking a new team to take over the project. If no team steps in, SpiritSwap will cease operations automatically on September 1st.

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