Layer 2 Weekly Roundup #38
Welcome to the latest edition of the Layer 2 Weekly Roundup.
Every week, this newsletter covers the latest and most important updates from across Ethereum’s Layer 2 ecosystem.
Catch up on the previous edition HERE
Protocol Updates
@optimismFND - Applications for Optimism’s RetroPGF Round 3 are now open. Builders, artists, creators and educators can now sign up to be eligibile for their third public goods round.
@BuildonBase - Have announced that Chainlink’s CCIP is now LIVE on Base.
@fuel_network - The Fuel Wallet has been updated for Beta-4 compatability and is now available on the Chrome web store. The new beta-4 testnet introduces public P2P access, multi-token support and more.
@0xPolygonLabs - Google Cloud has become part of the decentralized validator set for Polygon PoS providing an added layer of security for PoS users.
@EspressoSys - Cortado, the Espresso Sequencer’s latest testnet is now open to the public. This public demo supports multiple different rollup stacks, and with this milestone, Espresso are taking the first strides towards serving as a neutral, open layer that can connect across all L2’s regardless of stack or ecosystem.
@EspressoSys - Have co-deployed Vienna, a publicy hosted OP Stack rollup with modular blockchain platform @calderaxyz.
@arbitrum - The new Arbitrum Portal is now LIVE. The gateway provides an inclusive place for the Arbitrum and Ethereum communities to discover the app ecosystem.
@zksync - Will be hosting a $1.1M USDC competitive audit on @Code4rena. This audit will cover L1 and L2 system smart contracts, circuits, and VM implementation.
@StarkNet - The Starknet feeder gateway will be undergoing changes in Q4 2023. They will stop serving multiple types of queries and only retain synchronization-related endpoints for Full Nodes.
@0xPolygon - Released their latest monthly developer update exploring Polygon Miden, the novel ZK rollup designed to extend the EVM’s feature-set.
@StarkWare - Have released Cairo’s short-term roadmap which includes upcoming features and information on Cairo v2, the new contract syntax.
@optimismFND - Have raised the RPC rate limit nearly 5x with support from Quick Node for devs building on Optimism.
@arbitrum - Have moved the remaining unclaimed ARB tokens to the Arbitrum DAO Treasury as outlined in their AIP-7 proposal: Arbitrum One Governance Parameter Fixes.
@zksync - Is serving as an anchor protocol of @Quark_ID’s initiative to bring digital identity to millions of citizens in Buenos Aires.
@arbitrum - Round 1 of the Arbitrum DAO Security Council Election is complete with 24 out of 41 candidates passing. Round 2 of the Security Council Election will begin on October 6th.
@arbitrum - Arbitrum Odyssey is back! Users can now embark on a seven week journey exploring the biggest communities on Arbitrum One.
@aztecnetwork - Two Aztec community members have taken the lead on building ‘Barustenberg’, a Rust implementation of Barretenberg - Aztec’s C++ proving library. Barustenberg is now open for developer/community contributions.
@zksync - Status page on @UptimeDotCom has been updated to include details on individual components for both Mainnet and Testnet.
Ecosystem Highlights
@Xangle_Official - A research and onchain data based infrastructure service have launched their Base explorer. The explorer provides immediate data for users, and allows them to monitor the real-time status of Base’s blocks and transactions.
@HerodotusDev - Have collaborated with StarkWare to build two Herodotus Historical Block Hash Accumulators that will each contain over 18M provably valid block hashes.
@Scroll_ZKP - Released their latest ecosystem update, highlighting three new projects building on Scroll.
@arbitrum - Released their latest ecosystem update, highlighting the latest developments, community news and projects launching on Arbitrum.
@0xPolygonLabs - Have announced that native $USDC will launch on their PoS chain on October 10th. This launch will enable institutional on/off ramps, provide future support for CCTP and over time will grow and replace the bridged USDC liquidity that comes from Ethereum via the Polygon PoS bridge.
@BwareLabs - The Arbitrum Stylus Testnet Faucet is now LIVE. Users can now get their test tokens and test their dApps risk-free.
@Bitso - The largest exchange in Mexico and a prominent exchange in LATAM, have enabled ETH deposits and withdrawals via Arbitrum.
@arbitrum - The Arbitrum Foundation has announced a strategic partnership with protocol studio, Fracton Ventures, to expand Ethereum L2 solutions in Japan.
@taikoxyz - Have launched their community education campaign on Galxe. Users can now learn about the Taiko protocol by completing tasks to collect points.
@PudgyPenguins - Have recently launched ‘Pudgy Toys’, a gateway into Pudgy World, an open-world digital player experience powered by zkSync Era.
@zerolendxyz - Is going gas-less with zkSync. Users now do not have to pay any transaction fees when supplying assets with ZeroLend above $1000.
@HoldstationW - Has become the first ever smart contract wallet in the zkSync Era with account abstraction.
Media - Twitter Spaces and Podcasts
@OffChainLabs - Have released their fourth Stylus developer tutorial where Integration Engineer @josefp_crypto, uses AssemblyScript to build a Stylus smart contract using Rust.
@BuildonBase - Jesse Pollak, joined Farokh on Rug Radio to discuss L2’s, online vs onchain and the general L2 space.
@Starknet - In the latest Satoru Starknet Community Call the team covered the latest project updates and insights on Satoru’s modular architecture, building a frontend for decentralized exchanges and more.
@optimismFND - Hosted their latest episode of OP Radio with RetroPGF Lead Jonas, where they discussed everything you need to know about RetroPGF 3.
@Scroll_ZKP - Raza from the DevRel team at Scroll was joined by Hadrien, Ekrem and Benedikt for a Twitter Space discussion on ‘Leveraging ZK for privacy and digital ownership.
@Scroll_ZKP - DevRel lead, Daniel Helm, was joined by Decrypt Media to talk about Scroll’s unique approach to scaling Ethereum and their commitment to upholding Ethereum’s developer experience.
@StarkWareLtd - Business Development Head, Liron Haymen, joined Kacper from the Zero Barriers podcast to discuss how StarkWare’s L2 technology provides the capacity to scale and bridge the blockchain system.
@0xPolygonLabs - Hosted an AMA with ZERO to discuss their protocol launching on Polygon zkEVM, Univ3, DEX+ launchpad and more.
@StarkWare - Co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson joined The Delphi Podcast to discuss StarWare as end game ZK technology and the pros and cons of launching ZK on Ethereum.
@0xPolygonLabs - Hosted a Twitter Space with Astar Network to discuss how they are unlocking web3 in Japan.
@optimismFND - Hosted the 49th episode of OP Radio with Binji from Optimism to discuss why they are optimistic about the superchain.
@arbitrum - Have hosted seven Twitter Spaces over the past seven days with projects building and growing the ecoystem. You can find a link to the recordings here.
@taikoxyz - Have released a recap on their time at ETHCon and Korea Blockchain Week in Seoul. You can find a comprehensive thread with links to all of their talks and panels throughout the event, as well as a list of their hackathon winners.
@MantaNetwork - Hosted their latest ZK Fireside Chats episode with Daniel, the co-founder and CEO of Taiko.
@fuel_network - Hosted a Twitter Space with Fuel Lab’s CEO Nick Dodson, and Head of Product Research David Mihal to provide an update on the Beta-4 testnet and dsicuss the upgrade and design choices that went into the testnet.
@aztecnetwork - Have released a YouTube series covering the basics of Aztec’s privacy-first rollup.
Articles & Threads
@protolambda - Explores the design of the OP Stack’s FPVM and how the full fault proof system advances both technical and social decentralization in the Optimism ecosystem.
@vex_0x - Explores the use of dispute games for decentralized fault detection in the OP stack’s fault proof system.
@Covalent_HQ - Deep dives into Optimism’s OP Stack and superchain in a Twitter mega thread.
@getclave - Explores how zkSync’s native account abstraction model works in their latest Twitter thread.
@class_lambda - Have published an overview analyzing the Stone Cairo STARK Prover’s components, and explaining how they function and their implementation.
@OffChainLabs - Co-Founder and Chief Scientist, Ed Felten, shares his thoughts on why Optimistic proving is here to stay in their latest blog post.
@asn_d6 - Has published the latest tech report on Sigmabus, a ZK gadget enabling efficient computation of elliptic curve group operations in generic SNARK circuits.
Events
0xPolygonLabs - Announced the #DevXGlobalTour online hackathon. Builders from America and now register to build on Polygon during the month of October.
@arbitrum - Have released a recap from the ETHGlobal NYC hackathon highlighting what each hacker built in a range of categories.
@encodeclub - Applications are still open for the zkSync zkEVM Bootcamp. The bootcamp is a virtual, multi-week course that will dive into analyzing L2’s, zkEVM implementations, and ZK-proofs through a custom curriculum shaped by zkSync.
@aztecnetwork - Join Aztec at the ETHLondon Hackathon from the 27th to the 29th of October.
Metrics and Stats
Sum of all value locked in the L2 ecosystem.
Transaction capacity of Ethereum including all Layer 2s under its security.
Number of unique addresses interacting with one or multiple Layer 2s weekly.
The number of daily transactions executed by users/smart contracts.
How much does it cost to transact on Layer 2?
This newsletter is for educational purposes only, and should never in any way be considered as financial or investment advice.
Thanks for reading!