Weekly Project Updates: L2 Blast Launches, TreasureDAO Building a Gaming Chain, Bytom Announces Suspension of Operations, etc

Nov 25, 2023

1. ETH Global Istanbul Hackathon: Top 10 Finalists Revealed link

On the 20th of November, ETHGlobal announced the 10 projects that have advanced to the final round of the Istanbul Hackathon: Clade Club: A platform for equitable social governance, with a primary focus on data-driven decision-making; S.C.I: Ensuring the security of smart contracts and preventing phishing attacks through verification; BridgeBuddy: An automatic wallet that facilitates fund bridging; Buddy-Guard: An application designed for social security; Sarma: A development aid tool aimed at achieving privacy; AidDistribute: A tool that ensures traceability in direct stablecoin transfers; TapTrust: An introductory tool based on AA and NFC technologies; Footy Stars: A football simulator; ZKvote.cc: An on-chain voting system empowered by Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP); Lens & Frens: A zero-knowledge proof ticketing system built upon Lens technology.

2. Blur’s Weekly Summary

a. Blur Launches Season 3 with Airdrops for NFT Traders and BLUR Holders link

On November 21st, Blur announced the conclusion of Season 2 and the commencement of Season 3. NFT traders on Blur and Creators have a 45-day window to claim their BLUR airdrop. In Season 2, Blur achieved a trading volume of $61 billion with a total of 260,165 unique users, capturing a 65% average market share. The airdrop for Season 3 will be distributed among NFT traders and BLUR holders, with users earning holder points and multipliers based on the duration of their BLUR holdings.

b. Over $204 Million Worth of BLUR Staked Since Introduction link

On November 24th, according to Scopescan monitoring, a total of $204 million worth of BLUR (including $87 million from airdrops) has been staked since the introduction of staking on Blur, with $88 million worth of BLUR being unstaked. Currently, there are still 339 million BLUR tokens staked with an average staking price of $0.342 per token, and stakers are enjoying an average return rate of 78%.

According to data from @sankin_eth data dashboard, as of the time of writing, more than 11% of BLUR’s total supply has been staked, with the top 10 stakers holding 65.81 million BLUR, accounting for approximately 20% of the total staked amount (about 334 million). The largest known staker at the moment is Huang Licheng (machibigbrother.eth), who has staked a total of 7.42 million BLUR and ranks as the third-largest staker by amount.

c. L2 Blast Holds Over $460 Million in Assets link

On November 25th, according to DeBank data, L2 Blast (0x5f…a47d), which has been online for less than five days and currently only has a deposit contract, has already attracted over $460 million in assets. This includes 193,730.77 ETH deposited in Lido and 58,925,818 DAI in Maker MSR. Currently, Blast is in a deposit-only mode, and withdrawals are expected to become available after the mainnet launch in February next year.

3. Blast’s Weekly Summary

a. Blast L2 Network Secures $20 Million in Funding with Paradigm Participation link

On November 21st, Blast, a Layer 2 network based on Optimistic Rollup founded by the creators of Blur, successfully completed a $20 million funding round. This round of financing was led by Paradigm, Standard Crypto, eGirl Capital, and included investments from prominent angel investors such as Andrew Kang, a co-founder of Lido, Hasu, a strategic advisor to Lido, Larry Cermak, the CEO of The Block, and others. Blast stands out as the only Ethereum Layer 2 solution that offers native yields for both ETH and stablecoins, while existing Layer 2 solutions have a baseline interest rate of 0%. The team behind Blast includes experienced individuals from MakerDAO, MIT, Yale University, and Seoul National University, making it a promising project in the Layer 2 space.

b. L2 Blast Holds Over $460 Million in Assets link

c. L2Beat Highlights Blast: Bridge as a Simple Custodial Contract Protected by a 3/5 Multisig Address link

On November 22nd, L2Beat pointed out that the contract for L2 Blast, launched by the founders of Blur and named “Blast: Bridge (LaunchBridge)” on Etherscan, is not actually a Rollup Bridge. It’s a simple custodial contract protected by a 3/5 multisig address. Furthermore, Blast lacks the required proof of validity or an anti-fraud mechanism that is essential for an L2 solution. Currently, Blast has over $130 million in assets deposited.

Jarrod Watts, a developer relations engineer at Polygon, further noted that the five signers of Blast’s multisig contract have new and unidentified addresses. Blast is not considered an L2 solution, as it lacks a testnet, transactions, bridges, rollbacks, and the capability to send transaction data to Ethereum. The contract’s primary function is to accept user funds and stake them in protocols like Lido.

The founder of SlowMist, stated that Blast is an upgradeable contract with a 3/5 multisig, and there is no time lock. If there were any exit scams, it would involve either malicious logic contract upgrades through multisig or setting a malicious “mainnetBridge” via the enableTransition function.

4. LooksRare Launches INFILTRATION Mini-Game with LOOKS Deflationary Strategy link

On November 25th, the NFT trading marketplace LooksRare announced the launch of a new mini-game called INFILTRATION. This game will employ various mechanisms to continually reduce the supply of LOOKS tokens, effectively achieving deflation. In INFILTRATION, 25% of all LOOKS used for the “heal” function will be burned, and 50% of the total fees will be used to buy back LOOKS from the market. In the past 24 hours, LOOKS has experienced a 35% increase in value.

5. TreasureDAO Building a Gaming Chain with MAGIC as Gas Token link

On November 25th, Karel Vuong, co-founder of TreasureDAO, revealed that TreasureDAO is in the process of building a gaming chain. They plan to use MAGIC as the gas token for this chain, and it may be built on either the Arbitrum chain or the Cosmos chain. Karel Vuong confirmed this information in a reply.

6. Web3 Foundation Announces $20 Million and 5 Million DOT Grants to Support Polkadot Ecosystem Development link

On November 21st, the Web3 Foundation launched the Decentralized Futures grant program, offering $20 million and 5 million DOT to support individuals and teams in initiating new initiatives aimed at developing the Polkadot ecosystem. The application window is open from November 2023 to June 2024, and applicants are required to ensure that their project ideas are future-oriented. They are looking for applicants who can propose visionary and innovative projects that can thrive in the long term after the grant program concludes.

7. PancakeSwap Proposes veCAKE to Boost Governance and Liquidity link

On November 21st, the multi-chain decentralized exchange PancakeSwap proposed to launch the voting delegation for CAKE (veCAKE) in the coming days. The proposal stated that this move aims to enhance the governance influence of CAKE holders, increase liquidity in its pools, and provide additional rewards for CAKE stakers. As of the time of writing, the voting proposal has been approved with a support rate of 99.46%.

8. Centralization Controversy Surrounds dYdX Sparks Discussion Again link

On November 20th, the ongoing centralized controversy surrounding dYdX sparked discussions once again. Smart contract developer Larry0x pointed out that there’s little talk about how dYdX moved millions of dollars of insurance funds and changed risk parameters without going through the decentralized governance process. Kain Warwick, the founder of Synthetix, stated that dYdX has never truly decentralized, operating more like a fintech startup with a top-down decision-making process that is hard to change. In response, dYdX founder Antonio Juliano stated that the order book and matching on dYdX v3 are centralized, but changes to margin requirements require governance votes, emphasizing that the insurance fund is automated. He also mentioned that dYdX is moving towards decentralization, aiming to combine excellent product design with a decentralized organization. In many ways, they are less concerned with token holders’ views of the product and more focused on the users.

9. Uranium3o8 ($U), a Uranium-Backed Token, Officially Launches on Uniswap link

On November 22nd, Sanmiguel Capital Investment, a financial consulting firm based in the Bahamas that assists in tokenizing Real World Assets (RWA), announced that the Uranium3o8 token ($U) backed by uranium assets is now officially listed on Uniswap. Uranium3o8 aims to create the first-ever physical metal spot market, enabling efficient price discovery and dynamic pricing based on actual supply and demand to unlock liquidity in commodities.

10. Bytom Announces Cease of Recharge and Full Suspension of Operations link

On November 24th, Bytom Chain announced that it will cease all deposits and completely halt its operations. Over the next six months, the project will undergo a full transition to a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) model, effectively transferring control of the project to the community. The tokens will be converted into ERC-20 tokens, and a detailed timeline and procedure for the migration will be communicated in a separate announcement. All tokens held by the Bytom Chain Foundation, which accounts for approximately 20% of the total tokens, will be allocated to the DAO treasury for community governance. This decision comes after BTM was recently delisted from OKX.

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