Web3 Builder News 5/27-6/2: ImmuneFi and Fuel Launched Record-Breaking $1.3M Audit Contest

Grants & Accelerators

• Starknet Foundation is launching the Catalyst Program, an accelerator program with 20M + STRK(~$23M) to ignite and accelerate transformation in the Starknet ecosystem and recognize dApps that have created significant value for Starknet users.
• Pyth Network launched Pyth Ecosystem Grants Program and announced  Research and Developer bounties are now available on the Superteam Earn platform.
• Radix expands the Radix Ecosystem Fund to 250M $XRD(~$10M) for the Radix Foundry program and booster grants.

Hackathons & Events 🧑‍💻

• Aspecta and NEAR Protocol launched the Decentralized AI buildathon, a buildathon with a $50k reward pool for developers building on these tracks: AI Agent, Compute, Flock-AI-Model, and zkPass-Data.
• EigenLayer introduces AVS MicroHacks, a virtual mini-hackathon lasting 21 days with over $50k in prizes.
• ImmuneFi and Fuel launched Attackathon, the largest audit contest with a total reward pool of $1.3M. This program will start with a $1M open contest focused on the Fuel code base followed by a $300K reward pool for invite-only programs for 4 Fuel based projects.
• MagicBlock announces Solana Speedrun 3, the community-organized Solana Game Jam co-organized with the Solana Foundation and The 76 Devs. The total prize for the main track is 10k USDC and the special track is coming soon.
• Movement Labs launched a hackathon with a $35,000 prize pool, encouraging developers to build DeFi, GameFi, and DAO projects based on Movement’s modular framework.

Research 🧑‍🔬

• cryptskii published “Plasma Next Next (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice)”, a system that ensures instant transaction finality using off-chain payment channels and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), similar to the Lightning Network.
• Jonah B published “The Future of MEV”, analyzing the economics of Execution Tickets (ETs), a novel MEV capture mechanism.
• Toni Wahrstätter published “Big blocks, blobs, and reorgs”, guiding developers to decide whether to increase the blob count, raise the gas limit, or implement peerDAS.
• Vitalik Buterin proposed EIP-7708, an Ethereum Improvement Proposal aimed to emit a log for every ETH transfer, similar to ERC20s.
• Vitalik Buterin published “Layer 2s as cultural extensions of Ethereum”.
• ciamac moallemi and Dan Robinson, researchers at Paradigm, published “Loss-Versus-Fair: Efficiency of Dutch Auctions on Blockchains”.
• linoscope published “Strawmanning Based Preconfirmations”. This research explores a method called 'based preconfirmations' which aims to make blockchain transactions faster and more user-friendly.
• aelowsson published “FAQ: Ethereum issuance reduction”, discussing why Ethereum should reduce the amount of new ETH it creates (issuance).

Tooling 🛠

Ethereum

• Frontier Research introduces OneBalance, a framework for creating and managing accounts on credible commitment machines, enabling chain abstraction.
• Coinbase announces Coinbase Platform APIs, releasing a set of SDKs that provide access to Coinbase's internal services and simplify building crypto apps.
• zkSecurity announces that noname, a programming language to write ZK circuits, now supports R1CS. This update allows developers to write ZK circuits in a rust-and-golang-inspired language and deploy them to Ethereum using SnarkJS.

Solana

• fabiano shares a thread of the best tools and websites on Solana.
• Solchat SDK v1.0 is out. Solchat SDK is a TypeScript SDK that adds a chat feature to Solana dApps.

Education/Mechanism 🧑‍🏫

• Yanshu explains SIMD-0096, a Solana Improvement Document that aims to improve how transaction priority fees are distributed.
• Four Pillars published “Sei DB: Why Database Optimization is Crucial for Blockchain Scalability”.
• chrisdior.eth summarizes the key points of the video “What is security in Web3”.
• Helius published “Stake-Weighted Quality of Service: Everything You Need to Know”, exploring SWQoS, Solana’s transaction processing model, and how SWQoS influences it.
• Toly, co-founder of Solana Labs, published “What is the State Growth Problem on Solana?”.
• RareSkills published “Understanding ABI encoding for function calls”.
• HackerOne published “GDPR and Pentesting: What You Need to Know”, explaining how to use pentesting to meet GDPR compliance standards.
• Buffalu introduces JIP-3, a Jito Improvement Proposal that seeks to transfer Jito stake pool management to StakeNet.

Infrastructure 🏗

Ethereum

• Ethereum Name Service introduces ENSv2, proposing to migrate some of the core ENS functionalities from the Ethereum mainnet to an L2 network.
• Chainbound soft-launched Bolt, a trustless protocol that allows Ethereum proposers to offer credible commitments about their block contents. Bolt V1 unlocks trustless inclusion preconfirmations.

L2s

• Taiko is live on the Ethereum mainnet with the deployment of Based Contestable Rollup (BCR), a type of based rollup that combines based sequencing and a contestation mechanism with multi-proofs.
• OP Labs announces that the beta version of the custom gas token feature is now live for the OP Stack. Chain operators can enable this feature during L2 or L3 chain deployment and launch with an ERC20 token other than ETH for gas fees.

L1s

• Sei launched the first parallel EVM blockchain, and the platform is now open to builders and early adopters. Validators have upgraded their software to bring Sei V2 onto mainnet.
• Galxe introduces Gravity, a Layer-1 blockchain designed for mass adoption and "an omnichain future". Gravity aims to simplify chain interactions with technology like ZKPs, cutting-edge consensus mechanisms, and restaking-powered architecture.
• EnsoFinance introduces the Enso Intent Engine, the "first fully decentralized shared network state for building transactable data across all blockchain frameworks".

Security 👾

• Velocore, a DEX protocol on zkSync and Linea, suffers a $10M hack. Hackers already transferred over 700 ETH across chains to the Ethereum mainnet.

Bug Bounties 🐞

• Olas, the network for co-owning AI, launched an audit contest on Code4rena with a total reward of $90,500.
• Inverter, a modular protocol for Primary Issuance Markets, is launching a bug bounty program on Hats finance with rewards of up to 24K $UMA.
• Floki, a community-powered ecosystem that aims to give people control of their finances, launched a bug bounty program on ImmuneFi with bounties of up to $50,000 USDC.
• Tapioca, a decentralized Omnichain stablecoin ecosystem comprised of multiple sub-protocols, launched an audit competition for its lending engine on Hats finance with rewards of up to 48,000 USDC.
• Metis, a permissionless Layer 2 network powering the next generation of dApps, launched a bug bounty program on HackenProof with bounties of up to $100,000 USD.
• Telcoin Wallet, a digital wallet on the Polygon Network is launching an audit contest on Sherlock with total rewards of 24,500 USDC.

Product Launches 🚀

• Taiko L2 has launched on the Ethereum mainnet. Taiko will launch its token a few weeks after the mainnet goes live, and will introduce a points incentive program called Trailblazers to engage its community.
• Sei V2 is live on mainnet. Users can now connect to Sei using EVM wallets like Metamask and Compass.
• Astaria, an intent-based, fixed-rate lending protocol led by ex-Sushi CTO, is live on Ethereum mainnet with tokens available (WETH, GEAR, PEPE, etc.)
• Velar, the first perp dex on Bitcoin, launches its testnet on Bitlayer L2. Testers can trade perps on Bitcoin-based assets with up to 10x leverage.
• Soul Labs launched the web version of Soul, a cross-chain lending protocol based on LayerZero. Soul enables lending & borrowing for native assets without the need for bridging or synthetics.
• Mind Network launched a testnet for the first FHE (Fully Homomorphic Encryption) Restaking Layer for PoS and AI Networks. FHE allows for direct computation of encrypted data without the need for decryption.
• Stargate V2 pools and incentives are live. LPs can now deposit their liquidity into V2 pools to earn STG token rewards.
• DFlow mobile trading app launches beta on Solana with faster onboarding and improved security. The app is now for Phase 0 & 1 users and will be available to everyone by the end of June.
• Forma, a modular blockchain focused on NFTs, is live. Forma is built on Astria and Celestia.
• Mastercard launches 'Crypto Credential,' allowing users to send and receive crypto using a username instead of a wallet address.

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