Layer 2 Weekly Roundup #97
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
@ethereum - The Ethereum Torch is now lit. The Torch is an NFT honoring the people and values that have shaped Ethereum’s first decade and will help build its future that will be symbolically passed from wallet to wallet in the 10 days leading up to Ethereum’s 10 year anniversary.
@base - Introducing the Base app - an everything app to create, earn, trade, discover apps, and chat with friends in one place. Sign up for the Base app to automatically get Base Pay, the fastest way to checkout with USDC.
@arbitrum - Robinhood is now onchain with Arbitrum. Arbitrum will serve as Robinhood’s rails to merge DeFi and TradFi in what is a 0 -> 1 moment for the entire industry — all while onboarding millions of net-new users into crypto.
@0xPolygon - Polygon Heimdall v2 upgrade is live on mainnet. As Polygon PoS’s consensus layer, Heimdall v2 has been retrofitted with a modern, streamlined engine that runs faster and more efficiently. This upgrade is cleaner for apps, making operations simpler and paving the way for future improvements like instant finality and native support for large-scale apps.
@Starknet - Starknet is now supported on Hyperlane, making onboarding easier. Builders can deploy custom bridges connecting Starknet to 140+ chains.
@base - Flashblocks are live on Base, speeding up effective block times from 2 seconds to 200 milliseconds and making it the fastest EVM chain today.
@StarkWareLtd - The first delegation round of the StarkWare Delegation Program has been executed, and a new round of applications is now open. If you want to be part of the StarkWare Delegation Program and missed the first round, the next registration window for active validators is now open.
@arbitrum - Paypal is expanding $PYUSD to Arbitrum. As companies around the world realize their products should run on crypto rails, Arbitrum will stand out as the obvious platform to scale their businesses.
@Optimism - Superchain Upgrade 16 just passed OP Governance and will go live next week. Key components of this upgrade include: smart contract changes to support the road to interoperability, increased decentralization and security, and additional improvements to the OP Stack. Read the full proposal to learn more.
@wormhole - Asset manager Hamilton Lane have expanded their flagship Senior Credit Opportunities Securitize Fund ($SCOPE) multichain to Optimism and Ethereum mainnet.
@fuel_network - Fuel Mainnet is now posting blobs on EigenDA. This milestone unleashes the full potential of Fuel, bringing their 150K TPS vision closer to reality.
Ecosystem Highlights
@RFLOnBase - Reflect’s Automated Drome Asset Manager (ADAM) is now live on Base, built natively for Aerodrome. Deposit into a strategy and ADAM handles the rest automatically, every day.
@huddle01com - Huddle has entered the Arbitrum yap arena. Yap Huddle. Yap Arbitrum. Climb the leaderboard and get rewarded!
@kasarLabs - Cairo Coder v0.1.0 is live, allowing you to generate the most powerful provable language in seconds with your favorite toolings (Starknet Foundry, Scarb etc.)
@boundless_xyz - Boundless Mainnet Beta is live on Base. With it, Boundless are launching The Signal: an industry-wide collaboration to ZK prove all chains.
@TopCutFinance - TopCutFinance are now live on Arbitrum, introducing a new primitive to DeFi: Precision Markets. Place a prediction that ranks among the most accurate 9% settlement to be rewarded.
@SpaceIDProtocol - Trace identity, transactions, and more with .arb domains in Arbitrum's explorer. Instantly visible and searchable - your key to everything blue!
@eulerfinance - Introducing Swype - the first Euler-powered credit card launching on Base. Swype makes your crypto usable without top-ups or conversions, and lets you borrow in real time directly from your positions on Euler.
@Bantr_fun - Project leaderboards for Base, Farcaster, and Ethereum are live on Bantr. Find top creators by impact, onchain stats, creator buzz and more.
@Novastro_xyz - Novastro Ignition is now live on Arbitrum Sepolia. A full preview of the Novastro Property Marketplace built for tokenized onchain real estate is available now — explore the testnet today.
@HYTOPIAgg - HYTOPIA is transitioning its gaming ecosystem to Base. This move will enhance platform utility, improve marketplace participation, and make onchain gaming more accessible for the community.
Articles and Threads
@0xPolygon - Here is your 101 guide on staking POL, which secures Polygon and powers Agglayer, with stakers reaping the benefits of their work through staking rewards and airdrops.
@arbitrum - Learn how Fluid is unifying DeFi lending, trading, and borrowing into one capital-efficient system through its powerful liquidity layer.
@ArbitrumPlay - Arbitrum Play is bringing you the most exciting news from the world of video games on Arbitrum, check it out.
Media - Spaces and Podcasts
@aarnasays - Do you wonder why Arbitrum is the right place for âtv 111? aarnâ's Founder, @srikmisra, and @_ryandesouza, APAC Partnerships at Arbitrum discuss how the L2's modularity makes the vault the right place to go.
Events
@EspressoSys - Espresso are launching a 6-week accelerator to transform the most promising crosschain projects from our Build & Brew Hackathon into production-ready apps with up to $80k in funding.
@fuel_network - Applications for Fuel Forge I, a 3-week founder residency for those building what’s next, are now open — apply today!
Metrics and Stats
Sum of all value locked in the L2 ecosystem.
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!