EthHub Weekly #135
MetaMask announces that they have 1 million MAU's, Curve implements zkSync, Shell Protocol now live, Kyber details new strategy and much more!
Curated by Anthony Sassano (@sassal0x) and Eric Conner (@econoar)
đ Zinken is Go
The latest eth2 phase 0 âdress rehearsalâ testnet, Zinken, is now live and producing blocks! Network participation is at 86% with 126,240 gETH staked and finalization is happening! This is great news as if all continues going well, the will be the last dress rehearsal before an eth2 phase 0 mainnet release date is given - we may even see a date given within the next few days along with the deposit contract going live!
In case you missed it, Matthew Leising published his new âOut of the Etherâ book which you can check out and purchase here.
Have a great week everyone!
-Â Anthony
News of the Week
đ John McAfee Sued by SEC for ICO Promotions and Arrested on Tax Evasion Charges
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit against crypto investor and promoter John McAfee for his past promotion of initial coin offerings (ICOs) on social media.
Per the complaint:
"From at least November 2017 through February 2018, McAfee leveraged his fame to make more than $23.1 million U.S. Dollars (âUSDâ) in undisclosed compensation by recommending at least seven âinitial coin offeringsâ or ICOs to his Twitter followers. The ICOs at issue involved the offer and sale of digital asset securities and McAfeeâs recommendations were materially false and misleading for several reasons."
Specifically, McAfee was accused of not disclosing "that he was being paid to promote the ICOs by the issuers," that he "falsely claimed to be an investor and/or a technical advisor when he recommended several ICOs," that he "encouraged investors to purchase the securities sold in certain of the ICOs without disclosing that he was simultaneously trying to sell his own holdings and had paid another third-party promoter to tout the securities" and that he "engaged in a practice known as âscalpingâ as to at least one digital asset security, by accumulating large amounts of the digital asset security and touting it on Twitter without disclosing his intent to sell it."
âď¸Â UK Regulator Bans Sale of Crypto Derivatives to Retail Users
The U.K.âs Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today officially banned the sale of cryptocurrency derivatives and exchange-traded notes to retail users, more than a year after first proposing such a ban.
The FCA said these products are âill-suitedâ for retail consumers due to various reasons, including âextreme volatilityâ of cryptocurrencies. There is no legitimate investment need for retail consumers to invest in these products, said the regulator. Hacks, inadequate understanding, and cryptocurrenciesâ âno reliable basis for valuationâ are some other listed reasons for the ban.
âThis ban reflects how seriously we view the potential harm to retail consumers in these products," said Sheldon Mills, interim executive director of strategy and competition at the FCA. "Consumer protection is paramount here."
The ban will come into effect on January 6, 2021. The FCA estimates that retail consumers will save around ÂŁ53 million (~$68 million) from the ban on these products.
Project Updates
Eth2 Bounty Program Announced
The previous spec and attacknet programs are now deprecated in favor of this general program for all of eth2. Head here to learn more.
Lighthouse Update #30
This update covers the teamâs work on the Zinken tsetnet, improvements to key management, API work and much more.
EIP-1559 Updates
Lots of information in this thread about the recent implementers call including updates from implementers, testnet progress, research updates and more. Tim Beiko also published a community outreach report for EIP-1559 here.
OpenEthereum Bug Bounty Program Announced
The new OpenEthereum bug bounties goal is to deliver a stable and secure Ethereum client while rewarding the community for helping us find and address significant security gaps.
MetaMask Adds Token Swaps Feature
MetaMaskâs swaps feature will seek the best exchange rate for any given trade, accessing all the best-known places to conduct an exchange. Services such as Uniswap, Kyber, ParaSwap, 1inch.exchange and dex.ag will be used.
MetaMask also published an update announcing that they have reached 1 million monthly active users.
Espresso Ethereum Testnet Launched
Espresso is a small, flavorful network brewed under pressure. It builds off the geth team's work on Yolov2, and supports EIPs 2537 and 2539
Kyberâs New Strategy Detailed
Kyber put together this strategy update to share some thoughts with the community regarding how they perceive the current environment and elaborate on their plans for Kyber moving forward.
The Graph Adds State Channels
The Graph announced that they are bringing generalized state channels to the Ethereum mainnet, through a collaboration with State Channels in the Consensys Mesh R&D group and Connext.
The Graph also announced their new foundation structure.
Curve Implements zkSync
This week, The Matter Labs and Curve revealed a zkSync layer 2 smart contracts testnet with Curve Finance as the first resident app. Check out the live demo here.
Shell Protocol Now Live
The Shell Protocol launched its first stablecoin liquidity pool that offers deep stablecoin liquidity, reserve weights, protections against a broken peg, dynamic fees and interoperability with aTokens and cTokens.
Aztec Unveils Ethereum Layer 2 Network
Aztec 2.0 is a layer scaling solution for Ethereum with privacy at its core. It uses zkRollup technology, social-key recovery baked in, provides a 200x gas reduction compared to Aztec 1.0 and much more.
Introducing Catnip
Catnip is built on Augur and hopes to deliver a prediction market experience with less friction and more fun for everybody, including those new to the world of crypto.
PieDAO Updates
PieDAO announced the launch of their new DeFi+L index product, announced a liquidity mining program and put together a thread on Twitter that explains it all.
Covalent Raises $3.1 Million
The funding round was co-led by investors Woodstock Fund, 1kx Capital and Mechanism Capital. Other strategic investors â AU21, Brilliance, TRGC, Alameda and CoinGecko also participated in the funding round.
Yearn Vaults v2 Design Detailed
Fubuloubu from the yEarn team submitted a YIP that proposes a redesign of the Yearn Vaults system to accommodate several improvements meant to increase the robustness, security, and flexibility of the Vaults moving forwards.
The Index Cooperative Launched
The Index Coop is s a global community that will launch and maintain the worldâs best crypto index vehicles on Ethereum.
Gauntlet Network Raises $4.3 Million
Gauntlet Network has raised $4.3 million in a new funding round led by venture firm Paradigm. First Round, IA and Polychain â existing investors in Gauntlet â also took part in the round, as did Standard Crypto.
Quadraticvote.co Launched
Quadraticvote.co is the easiest quadratic voting tool on the planet - you can check out the demo tool here.
IntoTheBlock Adds DeFi Metrics
This new release includes over 60 DeFi indicators which will provide analysis about different segments of the market such as lending or DEXs.
Synthetix Deneb Release Now Live
This update brings with it debt pool snapshots, the re-enabling of paused synthx, a bug fix and a rebalance/unpause of the s/iDeFi products.
Rari Announces the RGT Token
RGT is a governance token native to the Rari Protocol with a focus on sustainability as 87.5% of the supply going to early supporters.
Flamingo DAO Announced
Flamingo is the first DAO incubated and formulated by The LAO community. Flamingo will support the expanding NFT metaverse, applying the hive mind approach of DAOs to opportunities in this emerging space.
LeverJ Tokenomics Update
In this update, LeverJ gives clarity on their tokenomics and supply, they announce a key initiative to bootstrap growth via liquidity rewards and ecosystem incentives, and detail their progress towards further decentralization.
Authereum Exits Beta
Authereum is out of beta and v1 is now live. You can check out the brand new Authereum here.
Endaoment Launched
Endaoment is the first Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) provider built entirely on Ethereum.
Interesting Tweets
Ecosystem Bits
Blog Posts
Public blockchain fee cyclicality and negative feedback loops
Everything you need to know about Ethereum 2.0 and Proof-of-Stake
Podcasts
NFTs & Rarible with Alex Salnikov - Zero Knowledge
Misc
Meme of the Week
Looking for Work?
Top jobs listed on Cryptocurrency Jobs this week:
Senior Frontend Engineer - Zerion
Senior Front-End Engineer - MyCrypto
Devcon.org Fullstack Web Developer - Ethereum Foundation
Technical Recruiter & HR Manager - Horizon Blockchain Games
+1000âs more on the Cryptocurrency Jobs website!
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