Arbitrum
TLDR
A protocol on Arbitrum was exploited after a user obtained 9.7 billion USDS tokens and liquidated $300k worth before being blocked by Sperax and Arbitrum teams.
Arbitrum Stablecoin Exploiter Snagged $300K From $9.7B Token Theft
Arbitrum yield Automator, SperaxUSD, announced that a user exploited the balance of their USDS stablecoin. In a Twitter thread, the team said an exploiter somehow obtained 9.7 billion USDS tokens for barely any collateral and managed to liquidate around $300,000 before being blocked by the Sperax and Arbitrum teams.
Blockchain security firm PeckShield said the root cause of the hack was due to an “internal balance accounting discrepancy caused when migrating an account from non-rebasing to rebasing-based accounting.”
Avalanche
TLDR
Intain has released IntainMarkets, a platform dedicated to simplifying traditional finance instruments for web3 use, on an Avalanche Subnet
Decentralized exchange, Dexalot, has launched on Avalanche offering users the convenience of a centralized exchange without compromising on security and decentralization.
Intain launches Avalanche Subnet for Asset-Backed Securities
Structured finance and administration platform Intain launched an Avalanche subnet for issuing and trading asset-backed securities on-chain. The platform, IntainMarkets, is attempting to simplify the complex structure of financial instruments, making them more transparent, secure, and cost-efficient, the company says.
Intain said it chose to build its new platform on an Avalanche subnet, a blockchain built on top of the Avalanche network, because of its customizability. Intain needed to build a permissioned network compliant with regulatory frameworks.
Dexalot Launches Subnet on Avalanche with $1M+ in Incentives
Dexalot, a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange has launched on an Avalanche Subnet. The Dexalot Subnet aims to replicate the user experience of a centralized exchange (CEX) without compromising on decentralization and transparency.
The Subnet is a key pillar of Dexalot’s dual-chain application. Traders deposit and withdraw assets through the Dexalot application on the Avalanche C-Chain, then trade on the Dexalot Subnet.
As well as launching its long-awaited Subnet, Dexalot has confirmed that it will commence a new Incentive Program. The Dexalot Incentive Program (DIP) will give active traders up to 4.8 million $ALOT tokens over the coming months.
For more details on the new exchange check out the Ava Labs blog post.
BNB Chain
TLDR
BNB Chain has released the whitepaper for the third blockchain within the ecosystem
BNB Greenfield aims to give users complete ownership of their online data
Crypto VC fund, a16z, has voted to block Uniswap proposal to launch on BNB Chain.
The firm cites security issues surrounding the choice of bridge for the proposal.
BNB Chain to Offer New Decentralized Storage System
BNB Chain has released the whitepaper for its new decentralized data storage infrastructure project called BNB Greenfield. BNB Greenfield utilizes BNB as its native token and becomes the third blockchain in the BNB Chain ecosystem, alongside BNB Beacon Chain and BNB Smart Chain.
The decentralized storage system with smart contract-integrated Web3 applications will be powered by BNB tokens, according to the project announcement. The system aims to grant users and decentralized applications (dapps) complete ownership of their data, allowing it to support website hosting, publishing, data storage, and personal cloud applications.
Community developer teams from Amazon Web Services, NodeReal, and Blockdaemon aim to launch the BNB Greenfield testnet within the next few months, according to the white paper.
a16z votes against the proposal to deploy Uniswap V3 on BNB Chain
Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz's crypto arm, a16z, has used all 15 million of their UNI tokens to vote against the proposal to deploy Uniswap V3 on BNB Chain. The conflict has arisen due to a16z backing LayerZero as a bridge, while Jump Crypto is invested in Wormhole.
The debate about these bridges is partly about security. Cross-chain bridges have been the target of numerous attacks, including last year's $325 million attack on Wormhole.
Voting on the proposal will end on February 10th.
Ethereum
TLDR
Ethereum developers are preparing to start the public testing phases for the upcoming Shanghai upgrade.
Starkware has announced its plan to open source proprietary Starknet Prover.
The prover is the crucial engine Starkware uses to roll up hundreds of thousands of transactions on the Ethereum network.
Developers to open public testing of Shanghai-Capella Upgrade
The Ethereum network is set to activate the Zhejiang public test network on Feb. 7, as the platform prepares for the Shanghai-Capella upgrade in March. Zhejiang is currently in a preview phase and will be upgraded in the coming days for public use.
Shanghai-Capella, also referred to as Shapella, is an upgrade aimed at enabling ether (ETH) withdrawals from network validators — a feature that is currently unavailable. Shanghai will upgrade the execution layer of Ethereum, while Capella will upgrade the consensus layer of the blockchain. To reach the final upgrade in March, developers have planned multiple public testing phases, beginning with Zhejiang.
After Zhejiang, the Ethereum network team will move on to other public testnets, including Sepolia in February and Goerli in early March. Goerli will be the final dress rehearsal before the mainnet Shanghai-Capella launch by the end of March assuming everything goes as planned, according to Tim Beiko of the Ethereum Foundation.
Starkware commits to open source its ‘magic wand’ Starknet Prover
Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution StarkWare announced plans to open source its proprietary Starknet Prover under the Apache 2.0 license, which has processed 327 million transactions and minted 95 million non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to date.
The prover is the crucial engine Starkware uses to roll up hundreds of thousands of transactions and compress them into a tiny cryptographic proof written on the Ethereum blockchain.
Making the prover open source under the Apache 2.0 license will enable any other project or network — or even games or database developers — to use the technology, edit the code and customize it. The tech was released in 2020 and is already being used by ImmutableX, Sorare, and dYdX.
Optimism
TLDR
The Optimism Foundation has proposed the first mainnet upgrade for the Optimism network, titled Bedrock.
Optimism Foundation Proposes 'Bedrock' Upgrade
Optimism has proposed a mainnet upgrade to boost performance titled Bedrock. The proposal details that the upgrade will improve on its predecessor through performance improvements across the board, including transaction costs, throughput characteristics, and sync speeds.
If the vote is successful, the Bedrock upgrade will be scheduled for execution two weeks after the vote passes, on March 15th. The upgrade will provide a foundation for the network’s multi-client future.
Polygon
TLDR
Global investment firm Hamilton Lane is making a portion of one of its funds accessible to individual investors on the Polygon network.
The firm will utilize Securitize’s tokenization platform for its new offering.
Investing Heavyweight Hamilton Lane unveils its Polygon-based Instrument for Investors
Hamilton Lane, a leading global investment firm with $823.9 billion of assets under management and supervision, is making a portion of its Equity Opportunities Fund V accessible to individual investors by leveraging Securitize’s tokenization platform on the Polygon network.
The tokenized fund lowers the ‘entry barrier’ from investors by a factor of 250 times, from $5 million to $20,000. Hamilton Lane and Securitize will launch two more funds with tokenized access in the coming months.
Solana
TLDR
Everlend joins other Solana DeFi protocols that have been forced to cease operations.
The Ukrainian-based lending platform cites liquidity issues as the reason for the decision.
DeFi Lender Everlend Finance Shuts Down
Solana-based DeFi lending protocol Everlend Finance has shut down its app platform after citing liquidity issues. Everlend became the latest Solana-based DeFi lender to shutter in recent times. Friktion, another Solana-based DeFi yield platform shut down its front-end app in January citing numerous challenges facing the crypto ecosystem.
The Everlend team has moved the platform to withdrawal-only mode. Users have been urged to remove their assets. The app will continue to operate until all withdrawals have been processed, the announcement stated.
Boom or Bust?
TLDR
Satvik Sethi, Mastercard’s former NFT product lead has resigned and minted his resignation letter as an NFT.
Sethi cited continuing communication and payroll issues as the reasons for the decision.
Mastercard’s NFT Leader Quits, Mints His Resignation Letter on the Way Out
Satvik Sethi, Mastercard's former non-fungible token (NFT) product lead, has resigned from his role in a truly non-fungible manner. Sethi has immortalized his resignation letter in the form of an NFT.
In a series of tweets, Sethi explained his decision to leave, saying that while it "wasn't easy," he had long felt neglected by the company and wished to focus on Web3 and creating art full-time.
In response, he decided to mint his resignation letter as an open-edition NFT through digital collectibles protocol Manifold, saying that 100% of the proceeds "go to survival." The project, titled "New Beginnings," is priced at 0.023 ETH (about $38 USD) each. At the time of writing, 160 NFTs had been minted.
Sethi will now devote his attention to building his Web3 social networking and community-building site joincircle.