Chart of the Week

zkSync Era has officially reached over US$500 million in total value locked (TVL) — a 12% increase in a week and 90% in a month. It has been seeing tremendous growth since its mainnet launch in March and is already the third-largest scaling solution by TVL today. There have been robust activities in ZK rollups recently with other key players hitting milestones, such as Polygon zkEVM reaching the 1 million transaction mark and StarkNet continuously seeing growth in its TVL.

News Highlights

• Ethereum developers recently submitted a proposal to increase the maximum validator balance on the network from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH, which sparked debate in the community. According to the team behind the proposal, raising the validator balance cap could curb the growth of active validators, thereby boosting network efficiency and enabling finality within a single Ethereum slot. 

• Leading stablecoin Tether (USDT) experienced a dip below its dollar peg on 15 June, dropping to a low of $0.997. The event was attributed to an imbalance in Curve’s 3pool; USDT’s price has recovered to $1 as of writing.  

• The Uniswap Foundation officially named Wormhole and Axelar as preferred bridges for potential cross-chain deployments on its network. The selection was the result of a comprehensive review by its Bridge Assessment Committee from a range of protocols. 

• Polkadot recently revamped its governance system and launched its Polkadot OpenGov platform. The change aims to give complete control of the network to DOT holders by replacing its first-class citizens, like the Polkadot Council and the Technical Committee, with Polkadot Fellowship.

• Polygon unveiled a new proposal that seeks to upgrade its Proof-of-Stake chain to a zkEVM ‘validium’ version. If implemented, the new version of the chain will rely on zero-knowledge proofs to increase security. 

• Binance’s BNB Smart Chain (BSC) introduced opBNB, its EVM-compatible Layer-2 testnet chain based on the Optimism stack. Harnessing the power of Optimistic Rollups, opBNB is designed to further enhance BSC scalability while preserving affordability and security, and adopts a fraud-proving scheme to ensure the validity of transactions. 

• Frax Finance shared its plans to launch its own Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain called Fraxchain, scheduled for the end of 2023. It will be a hybrid rollup made up of optimistic rollup architecture and zero-knowledge proofs, and will utilise its stablecoin frxETH as the gas token.

• EigenLayer’s three restaking smart contracts all reached their limit of 3,200 liquid staking tokens the first day the protocol was deployed on the Ethereum mainnet. The contracts allow users to natively restake ETH, which pulled in 9,600 tokens worth roughly $16 million.

Recent Research Reports

• Research Roundup Newsletter [May 2023]: In our latest issue of Research Roundup, we feature trending market insights in May, charts of the month, and our latest research reports exploring memes — what makes them successful, their role in crypto and Web3, and the resurgence of meme mania. 

• The Evolution of Memes and What Makes Them Successful: What are memes, how have they evolved, and what makes them successful? We also explore the role they play in crypto and Web3, and what the future holds for memes

• Alpha Navigator: Quest for Alpha [May 2023]: Asset classes mostly dipped in May and crypto remains the best performer YTD. US debt ceiling dispute defused. Interest rate decisions from multiple central banks in the coming month.

Recent University Articles

• What Are Block Explorers and How Do They Work? Block explorers allow anyone to view transactions on a blockchain. Here’s how they work and how to access them.

• What Are Blockchain Forks? This guide explains what blockchain forks are, the differences between hard and soft forks, and how they can change the functionality and price of cryptocurrencies.

• What is Cryptocurrency: Still wondering what cryptocurrency actually is, how it works, and how to use it? We’ve got the answers in this crypto beginner’s guide.

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