Dear Bankless Readers 🏴

Welcome to another edition of the Recap, where we provide short summaries of the articles shipped during the previous two weeks. Our goal is simple and unwavering: provide the best, most diverse web3 educational content.

In this week’s Recap, we get cozy with ZK-rollups, see web3 through the eyes of enthusiastic college students, highlight the importance of thinking through incentive design to avoid unintended consequences, and conclude with an article that describes how web3 technology can help solve the data hacking crisis.

While it may seem that this is a disparate set of articles, there is a common thread. The thread is web3, and web3 is us, and we are all on this journey. A hearty shout-out to our contributors — based all around the world — for joining us on this journey!! Stay curious, stay SAFU, and most importantly, stay bankless.

This recap is a convenient way to access all our recent articles, but if you prefer to read Bankless Publishing content while it’s sizzling hot off the press, follow us on X or come and join us in Discord.

Contributors: Frank America, Kornekt, trewkat, HiroKennelly

Bankless Publishing is driven by a mission to ennoble its writers and showcase their content to a broad audience of crypto-interested readers. We also work with crypto’s leading protocols to help them get their message out to our audience. Whether you’re a writer or protocol team, we’re interested in talking with you.

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🏫 The hOPe Series

The hOPe Series makes eight Optimism-related Bankless Publishing articles available as free, open-edition digital collectibles, helping you to curate writings on one of the most impactful ecosystems in web3.

✍️ Article Summaries

A Non-Technical Primer on ZK-Rollups

Author: sianjon | Editors: Hiro Kennelly and Kornekt | Designer: Tonytad

ZK-rollups, a Layer 2 blockchain scaling solution, bundle multiple transactions into one, verifying their validity without revealing specific details. This technology operates by performing all computations offchain and storing just a hash of the results onchain for public verification. The benefits of ZK-rollups include enhanced privacy, quicker transaction settlements, and increased security via zero-knowledge proofs. However, they also pose challenges related to computational intensity. The concept originated in the 1980s and has been integrated into various modern blockchain projects, offering solutions ranging from anonymous payments to decentralized identity verification and combating disinformation.

"Optimistic rollups assume transactions are valid by default and only run computation via a fraud-proof. Fraud proofs are a type of ​​proof submitted by a verifier that challenges a transaction state."

Check out sianjon’s highly readable intro to all that is ZK-rollups! 

Students Are Key to Crypto Mass Adoption

Author: whales | Editor: trewkat | Designer: Chameleon

The author shares their personal journey as a student deeply immersed in the blockchain and web3 space. Despite initial apprehensions about not being on par with industry professionals, the author's trajectory began when they became the president of a local blockchain club in Singapore. Their involvement led to initiatives like CollegeDAO, which is a global network of more than 100 student-led blockchain clubs. 

"It is clear to me that students are a hugely underrated part of the web3 ecosystem. Student clubs represent clusters of early sprouting talent that organize themselves into tribes of people who feel like outcasts — students who rebel against the paved road of the corporate world and want to seek some fulfillment in their life by pursuing their own interests — and web3 seems to be the perfect Schelling point for these people."

Whales takes us on a motivational journey as seen through the eyes of the next generation of blockchain leaders.

Incentive Design: A Journey Into Systems Thinking

Author and Designer: trewkat | Editor: Kornekt

The article explores the importance of designing effective incentives, particularly for DAOs. While incentives are meant to produce particular outcomes, the complexity of human behavior can lead to unintended and even counterproductive consequences, exemplified by the "cobra effect." This effect is named for the story of British colonial officers in India who tried to cull the cobra population, only to inadvertently boost cobra numbers. The central lesson is the imperative for careful incentive design that examines the broader system and possible unintended consequences. 

"Clearly, coming up with an effective incentive must involve careful consideration of the actual end goal and what the implications of each proposed pathway to that goal are. It strikes me that incentivising certain behaviours or steps along that pathway could be more effective than pinning the reward to the results, but I think the most important takeaway for DAOs is that brainstorming, consultation, feedback loops, and holistic thinking are integral in the incentive design process."

Join BP OG trewkat as she charms us with her wit and critical mind, no snake oil required.

Web3 Can Solve the Data Hack Crisis

Author: Chris Were | Editor: trewkat | Designers: ab_colours and trewkat

Web2's centralized model makes it a lucrative target for hackers who can compromise vast amounts of personal information with a single breach. This infrastructure is proving increasingly untenable as data breaches continue to rise and all the corporations do is apologize. Web3's decentralized framework and the use of zero-knowledge proofs promise enhanced data agency and security, reducing the incentive for hackers by enabling individuals to control their data rather than have it stored in central repositories. Despite challenges, such as the need for intuitive user interfaces and public education on the benefits and operation of web3, it offers a future where users experience better privacy, security, and fairness in the digital realm.

"Things need to change, decentralization needs to become a priority, and hackers need to see their opportunities diminish even as projects continue to grow. Truly robust security is essential to eliminate economic incentives for fraudsters — and web3 is the answer."

Chris Were sees the future, and with his help, you can too in his second article for BP. 

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