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DeFi Developer News 1/22-26: Reserve Protocol 10M Grant, Solana Token Extensions, Ape Framework 0.7.6

Grants and Hackathons 💰

  • Confusion Capital is opening applications for $10M in grants to individuals, unincorporated teams, DAOs, and companies to further build out the decentralized Reserve ecosystem.
  • The Next Solana Foundation Hackathon, powered by Colosseum, will start on March 4, 2024, and will end five weeks later on April 8, 2024.

Infrastructure 🏗

Ethereum

  • Nethermind client v1.25.3 is live. This version includes support for Sepolia & Holskey and a fix to the consensus issue Nethermind encountered last week. (details in the Security section) Upcoming Dencun testnet hard fork dates:
    • Sepolia 30 Jan, 22:5️1 UTC
    • Chiado 31 Jan, 18:15 UTC
    • Holesky 7 Feb, 11:34 UTC
  • ETH DVT staking protocol Diva announced a new version of Diva Operator Testnet on Goerli with enhanced performance, improved syncing status, and other improvements.
  • Lodestar team shared their proposals on the next Electra/Cancun hard fork. The team focused on three areas: Validator Efficiency, Data Optimization (SSZification), and Data Availability/User Interaction.
  • Nimbus client releases the v24.1.2 upgrade. This is a `low-urgency` point release bringing full support for the upcoming Cancun-Deneb hard fork on the networks Sepolia, Chiado (Gnosis Chain testnet), and Holešky.
  • Galaxy researcher Christine summarizes the latest ACDC #126:
    • Devs agreed to prioritize EIP 6110 (Supply validator deposits on chain), EIP 7002 (Execution layer triggerable exits), and EIP 7549 (Move committee index outside attestation) in Electra.
    • They also agreed to remove EIP 6914 (Reuse validator indices) and EIP 7547 (Inclusion lists) from consideration for the upgrade.
    • Devs are still debating whether to prioritize EIP 7251 (Increase the MAX_EFFECTIVE_BALANCE), EIP 7594 (Peer Data Availability Sampling) and SSZ-related EIPs for Electra.
    • Re:Dencun, devs are still on track for upgrading the Sepolia and Holesky testnets next week and the week thereafter. See EF blog post for the latest client releases.
  • Lido community proposes that Node Operators make public commitments about their plans to further decrease majority client (currently geth) utilization with regards to validators that they run as a part of the Lido protocol (and in general).
  • Solidity v0.8.24 is out. The latest version of the compiler brings readiness for "Cancun" network upgrade, including support for transient storage (EIP-1153), shard blob transactions (EIP-4844), & more.
  • Allnodes has fully transitioned to Besu: "No single Ethereum validator of our 23895 is on Geth anymore."
  • UMA protocol launches Oval, an oracle that enables protocols to capture MEV that is created as a result of Chainlink price updates. Oval wraps Chainlink data feeds allowing lending protocols to capture "Oracle Extractable Value" 

L2s

  • Scroll unveils its architecture for a new multi-proof system, built in collaboration with Automata Network, starting with a TEE prover.
  • Polygon Labs introduces Aggregation Layer (AggLayer), a solution combining the benefits of monolithic & modular designs by unifying liquidity via safe, near-instant atomic cross-chain txs using ZK proofs.
  • Last week, leading L2s including Aevo, Lyra, Hypr, Orderly, and Public Goods Network migrated to Celestia for modular data availability.
  • Blobs are now live on the Base devnet: Base and OP Labs successfully activated the Ecotone hardfork on their respective Goerli devnets, and today enabled posting of batches via EIP-4844 blobs.
  • Espresso Sequencer integrates with Arbitrum in its latest testnet release. Arbitrum stack developers and users can now enjoy the fast pre-confirmations that the Espresso Sequencer offers. Developers can also deploy to the Espresso Sequencer.

EigenLayer

  • EigenLayer co-founder Sreeram Kannan detailed a new security model that is intended to reduce collateral damage suffered by EigenLayer’s users in the event some of them fail or are successfully hacked.

Solana

Tooling 🛠

Ethereum

  • Axiom V2 is now live on the Ethereum mainnet. Axiom allows smart contracts to access historical on-chain data trustlessly. V2 allows smart contracts to compute over the entire history of Ethereum, including transactions and receipts.
  • Pimlico Labs announces that stateful bundle compression is live on Pimlico bundlers. Developers can now create custom compression contracts for their app, allowing user operations to be potentially 80%+ cheaper on rollups.
  • Developer ross proposed Dagon as a hyperstructure to service all DAOs and allow any account to become a group account instantly. Dagon is now deployed to Gerli, Sepolia, Optimism Sepolia, and Base Sepolia.
  • Reth Alpha.16 is released by Paradigm developer Alexey Shekhirin. The release includes:
  • OP Labs is open-sourcing a range of tools and libraries specifically designed for app development on the OP Stack.
  • Thirdweb launches Unified Accounts. Developers can now link multiple wallets to one thirdweb account without switching between wallets to build their app.
  • ApeFramework releases Ape 0.7.5-6 updates with large doc updates, more network customization, and better default RPCs.

Solana

  • Solana explorer SolanaFM now supports Token Extensions and Verifiable Builds.

Research 🧑‍🔬

  • Offchain Labs co-founder Ed Felten wrote an article on Chain-cluster development in the Arbitrum forum. Chain-cluster is a set of L2/L3 chains that would allow communication between chains in the cluster, trustlessly, faster than the settlement times of the individual chains.
  • Ethereum researcher mikeneuder wrote up a doc to answer some common questions on why supporting in-protocol validator consolidation is a must-have feature in EIP-7251 (increasing the MAX_EFFECTIVE_BALANCE).
  • a16z crypto researcher Pranav Garimidi published a new paper on Proposer-builder separation (PBS). The research results formalize the forces toward centralization in block-building and the pushback provided by PBS.
  • Offchain Labs Prysm team shares thoughts on EIPs that are feasible for the Electra upgrade (the next upgrade after Dencun)
  • Blockchain developer Oana Barbu introduces MEV BooTEE, a trusTEE Solution for Partial Block Building.

Education 🧑‍🏫

  • Axiom announces the second cohort of the Axiom ZK Intensive, a 5-week program for smart contract developers interested in building ZK-enabled on-chain applications. Applications open Jan 25 and close Feb 7. The program will start the week of Feb 20.

Security 👾

  • Nethermind Client encountered a consensus issue on EL block 19056922 and the issue has been fixed. Node operators should update to 1.25.2 if they're on 1.23-1.25. Versions up to 1.22 don't have that bug.
  • OpenZeppelin's Nominations for Top 10 Blockchain Hacking Techniques of 2023 is ongoing and users can still submit a nomination.

Bug Bounties 🐞

  • Velodrome Finance is a revolutionary new AMM based on Solidly launched on Optimism. Velodrome's new Slipstream contracts are now a part of its bug bounty program.
    • Smart Contract: 1,000-100,000
  • Poolshark Protocol is a collection of noncustodial smart contracts that acts as a decentralized exchange offering both directional and bidirectional liquidity.
    • Smart Contract: 2,000-10,000
  • DeXe Protocol is an innovative infrastructure of 50+ smart contracts for building and governing effective DAOs.
    • Smart Contract: 1,000-50,000
  • PRINT3R is a gamified decentralized derivatives platform that focuses on ease of use and encouraging user loyalty through engaging user interactions, and sharing revenue.
    • Smart Contract: 1,000-25,000
    • Website: 1,000-5,000

Notable Product Launches 🚀

  • Sturdy launches V2. V2 employs a two-tier architecture and can isolate risk between pools without creating liquidity fragmentation.
  • ethOS's first "Phone mint" will be in February. ethOS is the world's first Ethereum mobile operating system.

DeFi Dev News is put together by Today in DeFi. If you have questions or comments, please reach out to support@todayindefi.com

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