Weekly Project Updates: StarkWare Delays Token Unlock Date, Jeffrey Huang Joins Friend Tech, Yuga Labs Announces Restructuring and Layoffs, etc

Oct 07, 2023

1. StarkWare Token Unlock Date Postponed from Late November to Mid-April Next Year link

On October 4th, according to The Block’s report and Etherscan data, StarkWare has postponed the initial unlock date of its native StarkNet (STRK) token from the originally scheduled November 29, 2023, to April 15, 2024. Regarding this delay, a spokesperson from StarkWare stated, ‘We are focused on technical building. We will update the roadmap as needed, including updates to lockup periods.’ Insiders have indicated that the first batch of unlocked tokens belongs to StarkWare’s core contributors, early supporters of the ecosystem, and employees.

2. OpenSea Announces Launch of OpenSea Studio link

On October 4th, OpenSea announced the launch of OpenSea Studio, designed to assist creators in easily launching and managing their NFT projects. Through OpenSea Studio, creators can create and manage their projects end-to-end, including setting allowlists, uploading media or metadata, and building pages. Creators can mint NFTs to their wallets, supporting most OpenSea-compatible blockchains, and allowing collectors to use credit/debit cards for NFT minting. They plan to add new features in the coming months, including immersive new collection pages and quick deletion of NFT versions, among others. Additionally, OpenSea has discontinued its lazy mint tool.

3. LayerZero Collaborates with Conflux on Blockchain SIM Card link

On October 3rd, according to Blockworks, Conflux and LayerZero announced a collaboration to develop the upcoming blockchain-based SIM card (BSIM), jointly developed by Conflux and China Telecom. Users of this BSIM will be able to transfer assets and messages between chains using LayerZero. In May of this year, the BSIM card co-developed by China Telecom and the Conflux Network Blockchain Research Institute was released in Shanghai. According to data compiled by ConfluxScan, Conflux’s user base has been declining as the BSIM card and other pilot programs await launch. Since April, the daily transaction volume has been around 20,000 transactions, while in the first quarter of 2023, it mostly remained above 40,000 transactions.

4. Filecoin Development Team Protocol Labs Launches Venture Studio Program link

On October 6th, the Filecoin development team, Protocol Labs, launched the Venture Studio program, aimed at harnessing the technologies from Filecoin, IPFS, libp2p, Ethereum, and other components of the Protocol Labs ecosystem to develop and support startups in building groundbreaking technology. The program’s primary focus areas include projects built on Filecoin and IPFS, including blockchain scalability, cloud data storage, Data Availability Networks (DAN), Content Delivery Networks (CDN), and Data Compute Networks (CoD).

5. Zora Introduces Free NFT Creation Feature for Creators link

On October 5th, the NFT minting platform Zora announced the launch of a feature allowing creators to mint NFTs for free, enabling anyone to create on Zora for free using independently owned smart contracts. Creators can have their collections minted on Zora, with the initial minter paying gas fees to mint the creator’s copyrighted work. In return for putting their work on-chain, they will receive Protocol Rewards. For each subsequent mint of this version, the fee is 0.000111 ETH, which goes towards Zora’s minting fees.

6. NFT Whale Huang Li-Cheng Joins Friend Tech, Boosting Its Floor Price with Two Robot Purchases link

NFT whale Huang Licheng recently joined Friend Tech, where he initially spent 21.147 ETH to purchase 100 keys, driving the floor price up to 0.6 ETH. Subsequently, two FT Bots (0x97…16F2 & 0x78…6E52) also spent a significant amount to significantly increase the key value. 0x97…16F2 spent 167 ETH to purchase 108 keys, while 0x78…6E52 spent 59 ETH to buy 20 keys. When non-creator users made their initial purchases, the key value had already reached 3.335 ETH. Currently, Huang Licheng’s key value stands at 4.032 ETH, with a total of 62 holders, and these two bots have collectively profited over 220 ETH.

7. ZKX Token Airdrop Phase One Commences, Distributing 4% of Total Supply link

On October 3rd, the StarkNet-based derivatives trading protocol ZKX announced the launch of the first phase of their token airdrop, which is focused on early adopters and contributors. The token will serve as a governance token with a maximum supply limit of 100 million tokens. The first phase will distribute 4% of the total supply, and the second airdrop will distribute approximately 11%, with the claiming window open from October 2nd to October 16th. Airdrops from both phases will be locked until the token is tradable in early 2024 to ensure that the token’s value is tied to the growth of the ZKX exchange.

8. Yuga Labs Announces Restructuring and Layoffs link

On October 6th, Yuga Labs, the parent company of well-known NFT projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), announced a restructuring with layoffs. They will focus on implementing the ‘Otherside’ strategy, concentrating development efforts on web3 platform components. Meebits and 10KTF will become part of Otherside. Yuga Labs did not disclose the exact number of layoffs.

9. Fixed-Rate Lending Protocol Yield Protocol Announces Shutdown link

On October 4th, the fixed-rate lending protocol Yield Protocol announced that it will cease operations, primarily due to the insufficient demand for fixed-rate borrowing on Yield Protocol and the increasing regulatory requirements in the United States, Europe, and the United Kingdom. All lending activities on Yield Protocol will conclude on December 29, 2023. Previously, Yield Protocol had secured a $10 million Series A funding round led by Paradigm in June 2021.

10. DAO Solution Utopia to Cease All Services on November 6th link

On October 4th, the DAO solution Utopia announced that it will cease all services on November 6th, and the product will be available for free until the end of this month. In its announcement, Utopia emphasized that this action does not signify the closure of the company but rather the abandonment of its existing product and direction. Previously, Utopia had raised a $23 million funding round led by Paradigm in June 2022, with participation from Circle Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and others.

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