Synapse(SYN)

Based on the precedent set by many crypto projects, including this week's example with Arbitrum's airdrop of its ARB token, the speculation over a possible zkSync airdrop isn’t totally unfounded.

After launching ZkSync Era for developers-only last month, the project took the additional step Friday of opening it to general users. The latest push comes just days ahead of Polygon’s planned rollout on Monday of its own “zero knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine.”

A new Era has dawned with the launch of the first Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible ZK rollup, enabling projects like Uniswap and Sushi to easily port over for scaling.

Denmark, Copenhagen, 24th March, 2023, ChainwireNarwhal Finance Secures $1M in Seed Funding Led by Animoca VenturesNarwhal Finance, the decentralized cross-market perpetual trading platform built on BNB Chain and Arbitrum, announced a $1 million seed round funding led by Animoca Ventures, with participation from Hailstone Ventures and various angel investors.Narwhal Finance empowers users to engage in leveraged trading across an extensive array of pairs, including crypto, forex, indexes, and stocks, with leverages up to 1000x. Through its copy trading function, users can seamlessly follow top traders, earn substantial profits even with limited market knowledge, and enjoy an exceptional trading experience.With the vision of becoming the #1 decentralized cross-market trading platform, Narwhal Finance combines the best of DEX experience and social trading to offer users full transparency, confidence, and an effortless trading experience."We are thrilled to have received such strong support from our investors in this seed funding round,” said Coco, Lead Developer of Narwhal Finance. “This funding will enable us to execute our vision of providing an exceptional decentralized leveraged trading platform accessible to all. We are grateful for the opportunity to bring our innovative solution to the market and are excited for what the future holds."As a leading investor in the blockchain industry, Animoca Ventures recognizes Narwhal's potential to disrupt the decentralized perpetual space. "We are excited to support Narwhal Finance's journey to revolutionize decentralized leveraged trading," said James Ho, Head of Animoca Ventures. "We believe that the team's expertise, combined with the platform's innovative technology, can potentially disrupt the decentralized perpetual trading space. We see tremendous potential in this partnership and look forward to supporting Narwhal Finance as it grows and innovates."About Narwhal FinanceNarwhal Finance is a cross-market decentralized perpetual exchange that offers a unique solution for social trading by enabling leveraged trading of all asset classes through synthetic assets. Liquidity providers on Narwhal earn a yield from trading fees and top traders' performance, making it a profitable opportunity for all parties involved.For more information or media inquiries, please contact [email protected] [email protected]

Over $8 million worth of tokens has been bridged to the network in the past week alone in the anticipation of an airdrop, one that’s not yet been confirmed.

Last Friday, Layer One X (L1X) announced a landmark development in the blockchain space by becoming the first layer one blockchain to achieve a decentralized transfer of assets between an EVM chain and a Non-EVM chain. This achievement allows the fast, secure and decentralized transfer of assets between blockchains without the use of bridges. The latest achievement was launched on the Layer One X testnet and will be fully launched once the mainnet is unveiled in August this year. Layer One X is a new layer 1 blockchain, currently in testnet, that aims to revolutionize decentralized cross-chain asset transfer. According to its website, the platform delivers the ‘Blockchain quartet’ of “interoperability, decentralization, scalability, and security” without compromising one over the other. The latest development, allowing interoperability between EVM and non-EVM chains, is a game-changer for blockchain users and developers, as it removes the need to use bridges. Speaking on the successful test, Layer One X Founder Kevin Coutinho believes the development will drastically alter the ease of asset transfer across the broader blockchain ecosystem. "We are excited for the opportunity this presents to allow projects and developers to build asynchronous features on blockchains through a decentralized source of truth,” he said. Simply, EVM chain refers to blockchain networks that are compatible with Ethereum Virtual Network (EVM), such as Polygon, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), and Ethereum itself. On the other hand, non-EVM chains are not compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine and do not share the same programming languages. Some examples of non-EVM chains include Solana, Polkadot & Cosmos. Since the advent of blockchains, transferring assets between EVM and non-EVM chains has been a challenge. As the decentralized finance ecosystem grows, the safety and security of decentralized cross-chain asset transfers becomes more and more critical. The most significant advantage that L1X brings to users is removing the need for bridges to transfer assets across blockchains. In 2022, of the $2 billion hacked from DeFi protocols, $1.6 billion was associated with bridges including Wormhole, Ronin bridge, Nomad and Wintermute. Crucially, bridges are soft targets for hackers hence the need for safer and more secure solutions. Finally, bridges are often expensive and complex solutions for cross-chain asset transfers. Apart from replacing bridges, L1X also allows the development of more interoperable DeFi solutions. The connectivity of EVM and non-EVM chains will enable developers to build DApps that work seamlessly across different blockchain networks, giving them access to a larger pool of assets. This means that decentralized applications will have more choices of assets, enhancing capital provision and efficiency. L1X shaping the future of blockchain interoperability Layer One X’s latest innovation aims to shape the future of blockchain asset transfers and the DeFi ecosystem. This new paradigm of blockchain interoperability is expected to drive increased adoption and offer additional value for users and blockchain-based businesses. "We are now focused on bringing generic messaging and event-based interoperability with the same virtual machine in the coming few months that will open markets such as decentralized identification and multi-chain utility,” Coutinho added. As interoperability across EVM and non-EVM chains become more scalable, users will be able to open up new business models and earning streams quickly and efficiently. The combination of these factors will help increase the adoption of blockchain technology by making it more accessible and easier for developers and end-users. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Airdrops were created as a marketing tool before the ICO era, rewarding traders for promoting the project and holding its token for a certain period of time,

Derivatives liquidity protocol Synthetix seals new partnership with DWF Labs, landing a $20 million investment from the quantitative trading firm.

DWF Labs purchased $15 million worth of Synthetix's native token SNX on March 16 with a further purchase of $5 million to follow.

Singapore, Singapore, 16th March, 2023, ChainwireOraichain is partnering with DoraHacks to advance the adoption of its Layer 1 ecosystem for AI and Data Economy. Over the coming months, our teams will work together on a number of initiatives to support the next generation of AI + blockchain innovations, including AI-enhanced dApps, AI Oracles, and key infrastructure. DoraHacks is a global hacker movement and the world's most active multi-chain Web3 developer incentive platform. More than 3,000 projects from the DoraHacks community have received over $30 million in grants and hackathon prizes. DoraHacks has around 250,000 active users worldwide, with the platform offering hackathons, bounty, quadratic funding, privacy voting, and other resourceful community governance/funding toolkits. Oraichain is proud to partner with DoraHacks to attract talent and support new projects on the network, joining the ranks of 80+ major Web3 ecosystems currently using Dora infrastructures to successfully fund their open-source communities. Oraichain’s IBC-enabled Layer 1 provides a complete infrastructure for an open data economy, providing tools for data scientists to structure data, train, test, and publish models to Oraichain’s AI Oracle and monetize with maximum transparency and inclusivity. With this partnership, both teams aim to foster innovations in blockchain and AI, leading to the creation of AI-enhanced dApps on Oraichain and AI Oracle services compatible with smart contracts on many networks. To advance the adoption of this AI Layer 1 for the data economy, Oraichain and DoraHacks will work together to accomplish the following: Co-Hosted Hackathons Leveraging DoraHacks’ developer community and platform traffic, the core goal of this partnership is to promote Oraichain’s ecosystem, tech stack, and toolkits to a wider audience, attracting BUIDLers from every corner of the world to innovate AI + blockchain use cases. DoraHacks will lend its expertise to organize virtual and in-person hackathon events, workshops, and demo sessions with the goal of creating a rich and rewarding experience for all participants. In addition, both teams will work together to identify synergies with other major ecosystems, building relationships that can further expand Oraichain’s impact within the broader blockchain space. Planning for the first co-hosted hackathon is currently underway. Details regarding the date/time, registration, judges, and prize pool will be announced in the near future. We look forward to this event with great anticipation, excited to recognize and reward the most promising innovations in AI x Web3. Stay tuned. DoraHacks Node In addition to providing support for upcoming hackathons, DoraHacks will also join Oraichain Mainnet as a validator, actively participating to secure the network. This action reinforces long-term commitment and mutual confidence for both parties, and to support, the Oraichain Foundation will initially delegate 50,000 ORAI to bootstrap DoraHacks’ node. Join Us This is a very exciting time for the Oraichain ecosystem. We look forward to welcoming hundreds of new developers and projects over the coming year, working with DoraHacks to streamline onboarding and fund promising use cases. As the relationship deepens, we are committed to exploring the many ways DoraHacks and Oraichain can work together to support talented developers. If you are interested in learning more about Oraichain and exploring AI x Web3 technologies, we invite you to join our community! About DoraHacks DoraHacks is a global hackathon organizer and one of the world's most active multi-chain Web3 developer platforms. It creates a global hacker movement and provides crypto-native toolkits to help developers around the world team up and fund their ideas and BUIDLs via hackathons, bounties, grants, grant DAOs, and public good staking. By far, more than 4,000 projects from the DoraHacks community have received over $30 million in grants and other forms of contributions from supporters worldwide. A large number of open-source communities, DAOs, and more than 40 major blockchain ecosystems are actively using Dora's infrastructure (DoraHacks.io) for open-source funding and community governance. Website｜ Twitter｜Telegram｜Discord ｜Binance Live｜Youtube｜LinkedIn About Oraichain Oraichain is the world’s first AI-powered oracle and ecosystem for blockchains. Beyond data oracles, Oraichain aims to become the first AI Layer 1 in the Blockchain sphere with a complete AI ecosystem, serving as a foundational layer for the creation of a new generation of smart contracts and Dapps. With AI as the cornerstone, Oraichain has developed many essential and innovative products and services including AI price feeds, fully on-chain VRF, Data Hub, AI Marketplace with 100+ AI APIs, AI-based NFT generation and NFT copyright protection, Royalty Protocol, AI-powered Yield Aggregator Platform, and Cosmwasm IDE. Oraichain | Telegram | Twitter | YouTube | Discord | GitHub | Medium | Commonwealth ContactDuc [email protected]

The IMF warned the G20 nations that the widespread use of crypto assets could impact banks significantly. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned the Group of 20 (G20) nations that the widespread use of crypto assets could result in banks losings deposits and may impact lending. In a report issued to the G20 in February but only made public on March 13, the IMF says: A widespread proliferation of crypto assets comes with substantial risks to the effectiveness of monetary policy, exchange rate management, and capital flow management measures, as well as to fiscal sustainability. Moreover, changes may be required to central bank reserve holdings, and the global financial safety net, yielding potential instability. Finally, banks may lose deposits and have to curtail lending. The “Macrofinancial Implication of Crypto Assets” was made public just days after the collapse of three crypto-friendly banks: Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Silvergate Bank. In the report, the IMF argues that the benefits of crypto assets currently being touted, such as faster and more cost-effective cross-border payments, more integrated financial markets and increased financial inclusion, have yet to be realized. Further, the IMF says that while the benefits of crypto have yet to be seen, the widespread adoption of crypto assets threatens the effectiveness of monetary policies. CoinDesk reports that the paper was produced after “very helpful discussions with the Indian Ministry of Finance, as well as international focus group participants” and contributed to the G20’s decision to establish a global crypto framework which has yet to be created. G20 Outcome: FSB, IMF, and BIS to Provide Global Crypto Framework Following meetings of the G20, the Group of the world’s 20 biggest economies, issued a document stating the Financial Stability Board, the IMF, and the Bank for International Settlements would release reports and recommendations for establishing standards for a global crypto regulatory framework. The FSB will offer guidance on regulating, supervising, and overseeing global stablecoins and crypto asset activities. The FSB and IMF will jointly submit “a synthesis paper integrating the macroeconomic and regulatory perspectives of crypto assets.” The IMF will independently report on the “potential macro-financial implications of the widespread adoption” of central bank digital currencies. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Euler Finance became the victim of a flash loan attack where the exploiter managed to drain hundreds of millions worth of decentralized stablecoins and synthetic ERC-20 tokens.

Kwenta, which uses Synthetix’s infrastructure for its perpetual product, has seen trading volumes surge in the past few weeks.

San Francisco, California, 8th March, 2023, ChainwireUnstoppable Women of Web3 Leads Initiative to Provide Web3 and Metaverse Education for 6 Million African Women The initiative will consist of free digital identities, educational streams, online courses, in-person networking, and more to bring more women in Africa into Web3 and the metaverse Metaverse — 8 March 2023 — To celebrate International Women's Day, Unstoppable Women of Web3 (Unstoppable WoW3), a diversity and education group on a mission to equalize the playing field in Web3, today announced a commitment to providing Web3 and metaverse education for six million women in Africa over the next five years. The initiative is launching in partnership with 19+ companies including the African Leadership Group, Africa Women CEOs Network, Chipper Cash, NFT Domains, Polygon Labs, Sankore 2.0, Unstoppable Domains, Uoma Beauty, and the Virtual Brand Group, along with 17 other companies. As a first step towards their goal of onboarding six million women in Africa to Web3 and the metaverse, Unstoppable Women of Web3 and Unstoppable Domains will expand access to user-owned digital identity through free Unstoppable domains, which people can claim for the next 30 days. Web3 domains, like dranino.nft, give people ownership of their identity data – allowing them to create a portable, user-owned reputation across Web3 and the metaverse. “Africa has one of the most rapidly growing Web3 sectors today, but it’s not exempt from the gender equality issues we see across the globe, and we need to make sure everyone has a seat at the table,” said Sandy Carter, Founder of Unstoppable Women of Web3 and COO and Head of Business Development at Unstoppable Domains. “Empowerment starts with education, which is why we’re thrilled to lead this initiative to educate six million more African women on the metaverse and Web3.” In order to meet this commitment, the partner organizations will offer Web3 and metaverse education via a wide assortment of educational streams, programs, learning materials, in-person events, and online courses: The African Leadership Group will offer master classes and content on Web3 and the metaverse to their ongoing training and lifelong learning programs across Africa. Africa Women CEOs Network will present a CEO Education in Masterclass Program designed specifically for women in Africa. Educational programs will be available online on the Unstoppable Women of Web3 official website, and will be translated into Portuguese, French, and Arabic. Chipper Cash will surface Unstoppable Women of Web’s Web3 and metaverse education within its app. Sankore 2.0, an Africa-focused blockchain community builder, will develop and organize online and physical courses on metaverse knowledge and blockchain code development to empower African women in Web3 technology. Unstoppable Women of Web3 and Unstoppable Domains will provide free Web3 domain addresses to expand access to user-owned digital identity. They’ll also launch a set of blogs on digital identity on the Unstoppable Women of Web3 website, available in French and English, and issue special NFT-based Education Badges for women who complete the education programs. Unstoppable Domains and Unstoppable Women of Web3 will launch a blockchain education stream in partnership with Alchemy. Today, Africa is one of the fastest-growing adopters of blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and Web3 technology globally. The continent already features the world’s second-largest Bitcoin market and a government-backed central bank digital currency. Africa also witnessed a 1,200% increase in crypto payments from 2020 to 2021, showing a massive and rapidly growing demand for the nascent technology. “Having started my entrepreneurial career in Nigeria at 17, I know the power and opportunity of Africa. I see technology and innovation as the way to unlock this next generation of women,” said Sharon Chuter, CEO & Founder of Uoma Beauty. However, like many male-dominated tech and engineering sectors, Web3 suffers from uneven representation. In 2021, for example, out of the 121 leading crypto companies, it was discovered that less than 5% were founded by women, and women only represent 10% of partners at crypto funds. Fred Swaniker, founder and CEO of African Leadership Group, said: “By 2035, Africa will have the largest and youngest workforce in the world and will be the primary driver of the 4th industrial revolution. Considering the burgeoning nature of the Web3 industry and the fact that women currently make up 50% of the African continent, it is incredibly important to educate and empower our women with the tools they need to succeed in this field. This partnership will champion not only diversity in Web3 but also enable Africa to continue establishing itself as a global Web3 hub.” Jennifer Kattula, SVP of Marketing at Polygon Labs said: “We believe in diversity and its impact on the web3 industry. We support women on this International Women’s Day and 365 days of the year. We are proud to support Unstoppable Women of Web3 and the Metaverse as they expand into Africa and beyond.” Dr. Anino Emuwa, Managing Director of Avandis Consulting and Founder of Africa Women CEOs Network, said: “This initiative will give women in Africa a chance to participate in one of the fastest growing industries in the modern world. The tech and Web3 industries have historically faced issues with diversity and a lack of representation, but with this new initiative, women in Africa can learn about a burgeoning industry and be part of building its future.” Justin W. Hochberg, CEO and Co-Founder of the Virtual Brand Group, said: “If you can defy gravity in the metaverse, why can’t we defy convention as to who has a voice and the technical skills? This is a once in a generation opportunity to empower diverse talent which will benefit everyone as we collectively build this brave new interconnected world from games to fashion, loyalty to art, sports, music, entertainment and beyond. I challenge everyone to be the change you wish to see in the metaverse and web3 starting here and now with the women of Africa where humankind originated and which over the next decades will be a leading global technology hub.” Laura Kennedy, VP of Corporate Development at Chipper Cash, said: “We are delighted to pledge our support to the Unstoppable Women of Web3 initiative. Chipper Cash is a company deeply committed to unlocking global opportunities to connect and uplift Africa. When Chipper launched a crypto product more than two years ago, it was in response to a need expressed by our customers. With this initiative, Chipper and Unstoppable Women share a vision that inclusive access and education are critical to building an equitable online ecosystem where everyone can thrive.” Other partners supporting this initiative are: African Women in Fintech & Payments (AWFP), Afrilabs, Bookings Africa, Ejara, Eloy Awards Foundation, Emerging Africa Group, Futuresoft, Google Cloud, Kenya Blockchain Ladies DAO, Mission Impact Academy, Miss O Cool Girls, NairaEx, SpaceYaTech, The Product House, Thousand Faces NFT, UTU, Women in Management Africa (WIMA), and Women in Tech. This is not the first time Unstoppable Women of Web3 has launched an educational initiative to onboard women from underrepresented communities to Web3. Last October, the organization also announced its mission to educate and onboard over five million Latinas into Web3 by 2030. About Unstoppable Women of Web3 Launched in 2022, Unstoppable Women of Web3 is a diversity and education group focusing on training the next generation of talent, with a mission to equalize the playing field early in the Web3 era. All 206 collaborators have pledged to feature work created by historically marginalized groups in at least half of all materials used for Web3 education. About Unstoppable Domains Launched in 2018, Unstoppable Domains is a Web3 domain name provider and digital identity platform working to onboard the world onto Web3. Unstoppable Domains offers Web3 domains minted on the blockchain that give people full ownership and control of their digital identity, with no renewal fees. With Unstoppable Domains, people can replace lengthy alphanumeric crypto wallet addresses with a human-readable name and log into and transact with more than 720 apps, wallets, exchanges and marketplaces. The company was named by Forbes as one of America's Best Startup Employers in 2022. About African Leadership Group The African Leadership Group (ALG) is an ecosystem of independent entities with a shared vision for transforming Africa by developing three million ethical and entrepreneurial leaders by 2035. Anchored in its unique and effective learning model, ALG has been at the forefront of developing diverse talent for the past two decades, equipping and harnessing the potential of African youth to meaningfully engage with — and contribute to — the global digital economy as leaders and innovators. As a leading technology training provider, its mission is to solidify Africa’s place as the final frontier for technology, while providing a lasting solution to the global technology talent shortage. ALG was named by Fast Company as one of the 50 most innovative companies in the world in 2019. About Africa Women CEOs Network Africa Women CEOs Network, is a community of women leading businesses. Our peer network helps women combat the lonely-at-the -top syndrome supporting their professional growth through the provision of bespoke leadership development and access to business opportunities. As UN Women Generation Equality Action Coalition commitment makers, we collectively contribute to accelerating progress towards gender balanced leadership across the continent through our advocacy and DEI initiatives. About Chipper Cash Chipper Cash is a financial technology company serving more than five million customers across the African continent. In 2018, Chipper Cash revolutionized moving money in Africa with the introduction of fee-free transfers for personal payments—providing a frictionless way to send and receive money cross-border and enabling financial inclusivity across the continent. Since then, Chipper has increased its product suite by offering personal investments and digital business transactions, and expanded its reach into the US. Led by co-founders Ham Serunjogi and Maijid Moujaled, Chipper Cash is focused on its mission to provide the most trusted and accessible financial services for people living in Africa and beyond. For additional information, please visit www.chippercash.com. About Polygon Labs Polygon Labs develops Ethereum scaling solutions for Polygon protocols. Polygon Labs engages with other ecosystem developers to help make available scalable, affordable, secure and sustainable blockchain infrastructure for Web3. Polygon Labs has initially developed a growing suite of protocols for developers to gain easy access to major scaling solutions, including layer 2s (zero-knowledge rollups and optimistic rollups), sidechains, hybrid chains, app-specific chains, enterprise chains, and data availability protocols. Scaling solutions that Polygon Labs initially developed have seen widespread adoption with tens of thousands of decentralized apps, unique addresses exceeding 220.8 million, over 1.18 million smart contracts created and 2.48 billion total transactions processed since inception. The existing Polygon network is home for some of the biggest Web3 projects, such as Aave, Uniswap, and OpenSea, and well-known enterprises, including Robinhood, Stripe and Adobe. Polygon Labs is carbon neutral with the goal of leading Web3 in becoming carbon negative. About Virtual Brand Group The Virtual Brand Group (VBG) is an award-winning metaverse pioneer transforming businesses by strategizing, building, and operating brands in virtual worlds. VBG works in partnership with global intellectual property across entertainment, fashion, retail, lifestyle, and beauty to deliver immersive experiences, social games, digital marketing campaigns, virtual fashion, and next-level token reward programs. The company won Licensing International's "Best Digital Licensed Product" for its work building Forever21's Shop City into the #1 retailer on Roblox (the first-ever metaverse winner). VBG was recently credited with making Forever 21 one of the "top 10 metaverse companies for 2023." Additionally, the company has been featured in over 500 top-tier media outlets for its work with other brands, including Barbie, for which it designed the iconic character's first-ever virtual fashion line and putting "The Voice" singing competition with NBC - airing in 145 territories - into the metaverse for the first time securing record-breaking numbers. VBG is credited with developing "Infinite Loop Marketing,™" the first-ever avatar-to-ecommerce program where items can be sold simultaneously in the metaverse and real life. #GetMetaversed on Twitter and LinkedIn. For more, visit virtualbrandgroup.com. ContactNora [email protected]

In 2021, online payment fraud grew 14%, from $17.5bn to over $20bn. At the same time, 46% of organisations surveyed by PwC reported experiencing fraud, corruption, or economic crimes in the last 24 months, with 70% of those coming via an external attack or collusion. There are hundreds of different statistics that all mark the same point: the internet can be a dangerous place where there’s money changing hands. When you compound that with the rise of remote working, new digital security issues, and corporate information policies, data appears more exposed than ever. Cybercrime has surged over the last decade, as more and more platforms create new opportunities for digital thieves and hackers to scam and swindle at will. However, it’s really in the last three years that the data has taken a giant leap. Of all global fraud, it’s thought that around 40%, though likely more, is platform fraud, with the scams originating on platforms including social media, streaming services and marketplaces. Anywhere that a user can attempt to build trust or make communications there is an opportunity for cybercrime to take place. That’s the unfortunate reality of Web2. It is the Wild West of data privacy. What Did Web 2.0 Get So Wrong? The first thing to acknowledge is that they probably didn’t set out to. The internet was never designed to be secure internally, it assumed that if you were on the network you could be trusted. Nor was the World Wide Web designed to be secure, it was just a way of making data stored for public consumption on the Internet accessible. Web 2.0 brought the age of platforms with vast numbers of users consuming often ephemeral, but highly addictive services, the problem was how to make money from them. When the answer turned out to be data and advertising based on data the problems started: Verification - With Web2.0, you have to prove you are you. It’s a usually asymmetric, and always deeply flawed system which relies more heavily on assumptions and inference than it does on actual data. SMS codes, uploading your ID, or taking selfies do little to actually protect users or platforms, but they do help build valuable data sets. From the consumer's perspective this whole premise is flawed. Our identity should be ours, and it should be possible to confirm it online as effectively as we do at passport control. Web2.0 never figured out how to make that happen, or perhaps it didn’t want to, because giving you back your data meant giving away their control. Data Storage - Our data is not under our control. Do you want your credit report? You need to apply for it. Do you want to know your spending history? Ask Mastercard or your bank. Do you want to know about your insurance, mortgage, and student loans? All of that data exists at their end, not yours, and you have no choice but to trust that they will take care of it. How many hundreds of millions of trusting people has that stung in recent years? Passwords - The fraudsters’ holy grail. Most of us are bad at creating, managing and remembering them, and we’re lazy. So passwords are an open goal for anyone wanting to steal our data and feature in most of the biggest data breaches. Inconvenience - In trying to tame the excesses of Web 2.0 regulators have imposed ever tougher restrictions on what can be done with consumer data. GDPR, Cookie preferences CCPA, the list goes on. While there have been some significant consumer benefits, the biggest impact has been in how inconvenient using the internet has become. Much of the value of the regulations has been eroded because it’s simply easier to click “accept all '' and then your data is gone from your control forever. Impersonation - You could quite easily gather enough information about your best friend or a family member to make a strong fake profile and impersonate them for a joke. But, what if it was a stranger, it wasn’t a joke, the intentions were malicious, and they already had your data without you knowing it? Your digital identity is up for grabs in Web2.0, and all it takes is a few clicks to create a false identity. The Value Exchange is Broken - the native currency of Web2.0 is data, and the biggest spender is the advertising industry. Remember, when you use Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, you are not the consumer, you are the product. The business model relies on them using your data to target ads to you. All of these platforms are cleverly designed to farm your attention and put you in front of more and more ads Fixing the problems of Web2.0 with Web3 At the dawn of Web 2.0, nobody knew that was where they were. Web3 is different, apes aside, it is very deliberate in its intent to fix the problems of Web 2.0. Our personal data has been used and abused for far too long, and Web3 is about taking a stand, stamping out data exploitation and creating a better way forward, giving you back your data so that you control your identity exactly as you wish. It is also minting a new data model for platforms to follow, one where the owner of the data can benefit, whilst the platforms and advertisers can provide a service that has synchronous value. One such solution is Self. Where similar protocols such as Civic and Web5 are looking to identify users through better code, trustless systems and online verification processes, Self is building trust by extending real world verification of humans into the Web3 space, so you know exactly who you are dealing with at all times.Trustless systems are great at controlling the interaction between machines by relying on keys, but sometimes, actually most times, we need to know who has the keys and that’s where Self comes in. Their use of Web3 technology to tie humans to the technology they rely on has fixed things: Verification - You verify yourself when you join the app, and this self-verification grants you access to partnered services, without having to hand over your data Passwords - No passwords, just biometrics Inconvenience - By supporting the concept of regulation, Self makes the Web frictionless again. Data Storage - All identifiable information is encrypted on your device, in a highly secure app. There’s nothing retained on Self’s network Impersonation - Impossible. Only you have the potential to verify yourself and your credentials. Nobody else could get as far as verifying themselves unless they had access to you physically, as well as all of your documents Value Exchange - Services must pay a microtransaction fee to engage with you, and in time, you’ll earn a share of this. Imagine being paid to give companies access to your data! Verdict: Web 3 - Ending the Wild West By owning and controlling data which is about us we can shift the balance of power over data away from the web 2.0 platforms. By being able to verify facts in real time we can prevent fraudsters from stealing from us and the people we care about and by controlling and democratising communications we can simplify and remove friction from the web experience. Barbed wire brought the Wild West to an end. Platforms like Self, Civic and Web5 are deploying technology that, once it starts to gain mass adoption, will cut cyber criminals out of the equation, just as the barbed wire did for the cowboys. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

ConsenSys has announced that it is set to begin a public test of its zkEVM rollup network. Public testing has been scheduled to commence on the 28th of March, 2023, and will clear the path for an eventual mainnet merger sometime in 2023. The announcement was made after the firm completed a private beta phase of its zkEVM network. Public Test Set To Begin Blockchain development firm ConsenSys has announced that it is set to begin the public testing of its upcoming zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) on a public testnet. The testing is scheduled to begin on the 28th of March and will allow the team to stress-test the layer-2 scaling solution. The zk-rollup network offers scalability solutions by performing off-chain computations on a secondary layer, resulting in faster and cheaper transactions and prioritizing the Ethereum network’s overall security. ConsenSys successfully completed the private beta phase of the rollup, which saw the network process over 490,000 transactions from a number of decentralized applications. The testnet enabled Solidity developers to build, test, and launch decentralized applications and test the zkEVM at scale. “Onboarding for our zkEVM is in full flow, and activity is at peak levels. We’ve successfully executed 300k total transactions and are processing more than 50,000 transactions per day.” A Collaborative Effort The ConsenSys zkEVM is the result of the culmination of work by a host of teams from MetaMask, Infura, and Truffle and developers on Gnark and Besu. The rollup consists of features and integrations designed to improve security, expedite onboarding times, and remove developer complexity. “Our zkEVM is the culmination of years of research by ConsenSys R&D and offers fast finality, high throughput, and the security of Ethereum settlement.” The announcement by ConsenSys highlighted several benefits, such as zero switching costs, which could be beneficial to projects in the ecosystem. Developers can quickly build on the zkEVM or migrate existing dApps without rewriting smart contracts or changing code. Furthermore, gas fees are charged in ETH, removing the need for third-party code translation. Built-In Integrations The rollup will also feature a number of integrations with popular Ethereum tools, including RPC Service Infura, Truffle, and the MetaMask wallet. The integration with MetaMask will expedite the onboarding of users, while Infura integration will allow developers to ship decentralized applications at scale. Furthermore, Truffle will allow developers to build, test, debug, and deploy Solidity smart contracts with layer-2 developer environments. The zkEVM will also be open-source once it is launched. According to the head of research and development at ConsenSys, Nicolas Liochon, the public beta testnet will allow the team to test the system in the same conditions as that of the mainnet. “Users and developers will be able to permissionlessly interact with our technology stack allowing us to stress-test the system under challenging and adversarial conditions.” Highly Competitive Landscape zkEVM technology is the next significant step in Layer-2 solutions. However, most solutions are still in the testing phase. While more scalable than existing solutions such as Arbitrum and Optimism, zk Layer-2 solutions are held back due to a lack of compatibility with Ethereum. Several teams are competing to devise a solution to the issue, including teams from zkSync, Starknet, and Polygon. While ConsenSys will be in the testing phase for the foreseeable future, Polygon will be releasing their zkEVM in beta on the Ethereum mainnet on the 27th of March, a day before the ConsenSys public testnet goes live. zkSync has also released an alpha mainnet to onboard select applications. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Singapore, Singapore, 28th February, 2023, ChainwireHuobi, a v irtual asset trading platform, announced to join the BTTC (BitTorrent Chain) ecosystem and to support the development of a layer 2 network based on BTTC. The goal is to promote an on-chain open financial system. BTTC, the L2 solution for Ethereum, TRON and BNB Chain, was launched in December 2021 with ZK (Zero Proof of Knowledge) technology to be introduced later this year. This enables users to build decentralized applications anywhere and provides a secure, low-cost and fast development environment for dApps, thus creating an on-chain open ecosystem. At its core, BTTC is a cross-chain solution that enables seamless asset exchange through digital asset connectivity of mainstream public chains such as Ethereum, TRON and BNB Chain, spanning a super network linking all blockchains. The addition of Huobi to the BTTC ecosystem will further promote the development and usage of decentralized applications onchain and enhance the exchange’s own ecosystem. Huobi has over 50 million users across the globe with over $100 trillion in cumulative assets traded. The exchange enables blockchain developers to serve a great number of verified users and connect voluminous digital assets worldwide. According to a report released by Huobi Research Institute at the end of 2022, global crypto users have reached 320 million. Huobi has the capacity to provide virtual asset trading services to hundreds of millions or even billions of users worldwide through the BTTC L2. As a member of the Huobi global advisory board, H.E. Justin Sun commented, "Huobi joining the BTTC ecosystem reflects the industry's latest focus on L2 developments and also demonstrates the pioneering status of BTTC among its peers in the field of building a complete and pragmatic layer 2 cross-chain network structure and platform." By supporting the L2 network developments of mainstream public chains including Ethereum and TRON, Huobi provides an open, secure and diverse environment for all relevant developer teams. As such, users of the Huobi trading platform also enjoy first-hand access to the best quality projects. In November 2022, Huobi completed its brand upgrade, launching a new growth strategy. The exchange seeks to promote responsible use of crypto for a wide range of users, and educate more people about everyday crypto adoption by introducing them to an ever-changing network of quality digital assets, ensuring the free flow of value created by each individual as a global citizen. Huobi values the voice of its community and creates every opportunity for users to participate in the early stages of quality projects. The addition of the BTTC L2 ecosystem will certainly create new synergies that in turn nurture further growth of Huobi. About Huobi Founded in 2013, Huobi has evolved from a crypto exchange into a comprehensive ecosystem of blockchain businesses that span digital asset trading, financial derivatives, wallets, research, investments, incubation and other areas. Huobi serves millions of users across international markets. Please refer to Huobi's official website for more information: www.huobi.com ContactMichael [email protected]

The G20 announced that the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Bank for International Settlements (BIS) would soon publish recommendations for establishing a global crypto regulatory framework. The group of the 20 biggest economies in the world, collectively known as G20, announced in a document summarizing the outcomes of meetings held with finance ministers and central bank governors that the FSB, IMF, and BIS are to deliver papers and recommendations establishing standards for a global crypto regulatory framework. The FSB will offer guidance on regulating, supervising, and overseeing global stablecoins and crypto asset activities. The FSB will be the first to release documents, expected in July. In September, the FSB and IMF will jointly submit “a synthesis paper integrating the macroeconomic and regulatory perspectives of crypto assets.” The IMF will also independently report on the “potential macro-financial implications of the widespread adoption” of CBDCs. The G20 statement said: We look forward to the IMF-FSB Synthesis Paper, which will support a coordinated and comprehensive policy approach to crypto-assets, by considering macroeconomic and regulatory perspectives, including the full range of risks posed by crypto assets. Finally, the BIS will provide a report on analytical and conceptual issues and possible risk mitigation strategies related to crypto assets. According to reports, a G20 financial task force will also examine the use of crypto to fund terrorist activities. IMF: Banning Crypto Should Not Be Dismissed In a recent interview with Bloomberg, the IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said banning cryptocurrencies should not be dismissed should they pose a greater risk to financial stability. We are very much in favor of regulating the world of digital money, said Georgieva. She added that regulating the crypto sectors is a top priority for the FSB, IMF, and the BIS. She, however, said: “if the regulation is slow to come and crypto assets become a higher risk for consumers and potentially for financial stability,” banning crypto “should not be taken off the table.” The IMF chief added that if greater predictability and consumer protection are in place, such measures will not be needed, “but we are not yet in this world.” Georgieva: Cryptocurrencies Are “Not Money” Georgieva added, “there’s still a lot of confusion” about digital money, and the Fund’s “first objective is to differentiate between central bank digital currencies that are backed by the state and publicly-issued crypto assets andstablecoins.” She reasoned that state-backed stablecoins have “reliability” and “reasonably good space for the economy.” Non-backed crypto assets, she said, “are speculative, high-risk investment, and not money.” Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

The Solana Network faced a significant slowdown in block production after a planned upgrade, adversely impacting transactions and forcing validators to downgrade their software to restore performance. The network freeze continued over the weekend as validators were preparing a second restart of the network. The Latest Solana Outage The Solana Network faced yet another network slowdown following an upgrade initiated in the validator software. The incident, which took place on the 25th of February, resulted in a significant disruption in transactions on the network. As a result, validators scrambled to downgrade the validator software in an attempt to restore performance on the network. The issue began at 6:00 am UTC when the network upgraded the validator software to 1.14. With the network stuttering, validators were forced to downgrade the network back to version 1.13 to restore network performance. Solana’s Compass website noted, “The network experienced a significant slowdown in block production that coincided with an upgrade to validator software. Engineers are still conducting a root cause analysis.” However, the downgrade failed to restore normal operations on the Solana network, forcing validators to attempt a restart of the network on 1.13.6. The network announced the plans for a restart on Twitter, stating, “The Solana network is currently restarting after an issue during the upgrade from 1.13 to 1.14 that slowed block finalization. Once validators with 80% of stake have restarted, the network will resume.” The Root Of The Issue According to the information available, the problem is linked to an upgrade from version 1.13 to version 1.14, leading to a slowdown in block validation. In order to restart the network, 80% of active validators are required to resume operations. “As more validators complete their restart, this number will rise in line with the amount of stake they have delegated: this means larger validators such as CEX have an outsized impact on restart times.” Solana validators remained in discussions regarding the incident over the weekend, with infrastructure provider Chorus One noting that the incident demonstrated the level of decentralization on the network. “Without all these debates, we would be back up in an hour. But, every decision along the way - whether to downgrade, whether to restart, when to switch from the downgrade approach to the restart approach - is debated. Voting happens. We end up taking 8-10 hours to recover instead of 1.” Freeze Drags On The network freeze on Solana spilled over into the weekend, as it continued on Saturday, with validators preparing a second restart attempt to restore services to users. By evening, validators concluded that the best way to move forward would be to synchronize a restart and fork the chain. However, the first attempt had to be abandoned as validators discovered they had picked the wrong starting point for the restart, further prolonging the outage. A Near Complete Shutdown The issue, which began as a simple slowdown in processing transactions, spiraled into a near-complete shutdown of any type of activity on Solana, with block production halted, leading to transactions not being processed or validated. As a result, on-chain crypto assets have been rendered immovable until the network comes back online. Key players in the Solana ecosystem were still looking to identify the issue over the weekend, with one theory suggesting that a “fat block” messed up the mechanics of the blockchain. Not The First Network Outage This is not the first time Solana has had a problem with network outages. In September 2021, the network was hit by intermittent instability due to what the protocol’s Twitter handle described as “resource exhaustion.” The network was in the news again in December 2021 after it emerged that technical difficulties and congestion of the network led to another slowdown in the network. Just a month later, in January 2022, a 48-hour outage wreaked havoc on the Solana network, forcing some users who had taken loans to liquidate their holdings. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Rebranding and restructuring their operations allowed some ransomware syndicates to strengthen anonymity amid Western sanctions.

Going forward, the basis of global crypto rules will be formed on a new synthesis paper, jointly produced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB).

Evidence found that Australians were one of the top countries targeted in a sophisticated cryptocurrency investment scam network, which has suspected kingpins in Israel.

Synthetix holds over $500 million in locked tokens over the Ethereum and Optimism networks.

Matter Labs has renamed zkSync 2.0, its zero-knowledge rollup platform, to “zkSync Era” and is making its code open-source.