Layer 2 Weekly Roundup #85
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
@Starknet - Ownership of the LINK token contracts and bridge contracts on StarkGate has been transferred to Chainlink, allowing bridging of LINK to Starknet.
@StarkWareLtd - Launched a $4M venture fund to fuel blockchain startups in Africa. This initiative backs early-stage founders building on Starknet, empowering them with funding, mentorship, and technical support to drive blockchain adoption across the continent.
@OffchainLabs - Offchain Labs are building a universal intents engine that will seamlessly connect Arbitrum chains and other Ethereum L2s with <3s crosschain swaps and transfers to achieve flawless UX.
@Optimism - Retro Funding is back with 8M OP to support the builders behind essential developer tools that make onchain apps possible.
@Agglayer - Agglayer v0.2 mainnet is live. This upgrade brings flexibility via the pessimistic proof, allowing chains with different security models to connect while still providing safety for cross-chain interoperability.
@arbitrum - The Arbitrum Ambassador Program is expanding to Korea and Brazil. Everyone who enjoys building communities from the ground up are encouraged to apply, to grow alongside global community of Arbitrum ambassadors.
@Optimism - The Optimism Docs AI Assistant is live and ready to assist you in navigating Optimism docs.
@taikoxyz - Taiko are renaming their mainnet to ‘Taiko Alethia’ to reiterate their fearless approach to scaling and dedication to openness, and truth.
Ecosystem Highlights
@nufflelabs - Staking for AI is here with nuffle — stake your Base-native assets, starting with Virtuals, directly on Base.
@Balancer - Balancer v3 is live on Arbitrum, offering 100% Boosted Pools, Hooks, and Custom AMMs.
@hyperlane - Hyperlane is now live on Swellchain. Users can now move assets such as Renzo ezETH and pzETH to the Swell network from a wide variety of blockchains such as Ethereum, Linea, Sei, Optimism, Base and many more.
@EverclearOrg - Everclear has deployed on Scroll, bringing efficient settlement and rebalancing to the zkEVM. Users can now deposit on any Scroll app from any chain with one click, while solvers handle liquidity rebalancing behind the scenes, ensuring sustainable crosschain flows.
@VaultCraft_io - VaultCraft have expanded to Base — combining Safe’s best-in-class security and management with tokenized yield on Base.
@layer3xyz - Layer3 intel by Layer3 is now live allowing users to deploy, interact, and engage with AI Agents on Arbitrum.
@SOCKETProtocol - SOCKET’s chain abstraction protocol & Agglayer, developed by Polygon Labs and other core contributors, are coming together to allow developers to compose contracts across chains without cross-chain messaging or bridging, and provide users with a seamless transaction experience.
@UseLatch - Latch, an innovative interoperability protocol, has integrated Base — enabling seamless deposits and withdrawals on the Base chain.
@G7_DAO - G7 Network mainnet is live. G7 is a gaming Arbitrum chain optimized for gamers and creators building onchain games.
@gate_io - You can now trade and stake FUEL on Gate.io launchpool.
@Galxe - Galxe Smart Savings now supports Base. Smart Savings, powered by Latch, lets you earn yield via liquid staking and enjoy seamless cross-chain transactions on Base.
@zkp2p - Introducing ZKP2P V2 — the next iteration of a trust-minimized, instant on/offramp protocol on Base. Onramp to USDC, ETH, cbBTC and more across any chain using Venmo, CashApp, Wise, or Revolut, with no fees, no extra ID checks, and in under 60 seconds.
@HurupayApp - Introducing Hurupay — a dollar account on Base.
@reclaimprotocol - You can now pay with USDC at any store with P2P.me.
Articles and Threads
@arbitrum - Dive into how Stylus fuels Uniswap Hook innovation in this blog post.
@NethermindSec - Explore about how Nethermind’s pioneering formal verification work is helping secure ZKSync.
@base - The Base Engineering team breaks down how they built a framework with Hexagate, and created monitoring solutions for the entire OP stack.
@base - Base detail their progress in scaling Base so far, and how they are planning to get to 250 Mgas/s in 2025 in this technical deep dive.
@0xcodyx - Codyx breaks down ‘Storage Proofs’, the data they can hold, and what use cases can leverage them, and they they’re helpful, in this article.
@Ingo_zk - Dive into the full breakdown of ICICLE-STWO — a GPU-accelerated STWO prover that delivers up to 7x faster proofs than StarkWare's SIMD-optimized backend.
@arbitrum - Dive into why teams like AISweatShop, Kudai, and AikaVerse, are all choosing Arbitrum as their home for DeFAI operations in this blog post.
@EliBenSasson - Eli shares their thoughts on Starknet’s journey, from technical excellence to mass adoption, as we move into 2025.
Media - Spaces and Podcasts
@Optimism - Experience a demo by OP Labs Hamdi, of an app on one chain determining outcomes from other chains.
@HammerToe - Matt Hamilton hosted a workshop on how to create an AI Agent that trains and executes entirely on-chain — built on Arbitrum, using Arbitrum Stylus, and written in Rust.
@Scroll_ZKP - Scroll were joined by Arcana to explore how Arcana's SDK improves app capabilities across different chains, and the secret to building seamless multi-chain apps.
@RaylsLabs - Discover how Arbitrum Orbit is powering the Rayls Public Chain, enhancing scalability, privacy, and institutional adoption in this Space.
@levelupweb3 - Dive into understanding liquidations with API3.
@fuel_network - Join Fuel and Griffy for an in-depth look into Griffy’s history, technical achievements, and the decision to build on Fuel.
Events
@safe - Registrations for the Safe Agentathon — the single largest Crypto x AI agent online hackathon — close on February 14th.’
@fuel_network - Fuel are collaborating with Scribble DAO and to launch the Fuel Write-a-thon — a chance for threadooors to put their skills to the test.
@base - Base are hosting a number of Based community meetups all over the world — including Dubai, Seoul, Sydney, Hong Kong, Zurich and more.
@levitate_labs - Levitate Labs will be hosting an Based Builders Meetup in Hong Kong on the 20th of February.
@Gambit_Fi - Calling all Base builders in Singapore! Gambit Finance are hosting their first BASE community meetup on the 12th of February.
@reddy_builders - Reddy Builders are hosting a Base game night at ETH Denver.
@karnotxyz - Build you own Starknet chain with all the support you need by applying for the Karnot Chain Accelerator program. Grants, networking, mentorship, and technical support, the Karnot Chain Accelerator provides builders with every type of support possible.
@Agglayer - Devs, builders, and curious Web3 minds can come together to explore how scaling and interoperability are evolving at AggDay ETH Denver.
@SuperchainEco - Enter Superchain Space, a two-day coordination hub and meeting ground for the Superchain Ecosystem at ETHDenver.
@jillrgunter - The community is hosting ETH Denver Brand Hack - a marketing-focused hackathon dedicated to crafting what Ethereum's "ingredient branding" should look like. Hosted on Jokerace, running on Arbitrum.
Metrics and Stats
Sum of all value locked in the L2 ecosystem.
Tracks user operations of Rollups on Ethereum, including regular transactions and actions bundled into a single transaction.
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!