TLDR Crypto 2023-12-08

Jito, described by some as Flashbots + Lido on Solana, conducted an airdrop yesterday that took all of Crypto Twitter by storm. Close to 10,000 Solana addresses were airdropped a minimum of 4,941 JTO tokens, which ended up being worth nearly $15,000 by the end of the day yesterday. This airdrop was reminiscent of the Uniswap airdrop that kickstarted the Ethereum ecosystem last cycle.

Robinhood is launching its crypto trading app to all eligible users across the EU, marking a significant step in its international expansion. This move took place a week after the firm’s debut in the UK. Robinhood Crypto will be in compliance with the EU's comprehensive crypto regulation framework. This expansion marks a change in tone after Robinhood delisted tokens like Cardano, Polygon, and Solana earlier in the year.

Wormhole has launched Wormhole Queries, a service aimed at simplifying app development through a decentralized system for instant cross-chain data retrieval. This latest innovation improves upon Wormhole's traditional "push" attestation model by reducing latency and data access costs significantly. Its flexible method promises simplified cross-chain development, rapid requests, cheaper gas fees, and flexible data retrieval. Expected use cases include DeFi platforms, gaming, and cross-chain digital identity.

This thread highlights the idea of lApps or local apps. lApps are frontends meant to be run privately on individual users’ local machines, offering stronger security, quick loading, no forced updates, and no frontend fees. lApps operate through third-party software, like browser extensions or desktop applications. The idea is for users to access DeFi projects on their own devices independent of external web servers through a simple click on a link. While the exact implementation is still to be determined, this is an innovative approach to web3 frontends.

This thread explores the concept of sequencing in crypto, specifically its role in L2 scaling and MEV. It elaborates on how sequencing research is progressing, its crucial components, and the companies driving the change. It further discusses concepts like censorship resistance, centralized sequencing, consensus, data availability, and fair ordering.

This thread runs through a step-by-step guide on how to farm MarginFi’s upcoming airdrop within 10 minutes. The steps include logging into MarginFi, lending to the SOL module, borrowing USDC, converting that into SOL, and re-lending the SOL. The procedure can be repeated to increase the user's liquidation price, but the thread advises maintaining a health level of 20-30% and waiting for the airdrop.

The future of Solana's Saga Phone remains uncertain due to underwhelming sales, according to the company's founder Anatoly Yakovenko. The smartphone, which targets the blockchain industry, apparently requires a 25-50K user base to incentivize app developers. Yakovenko mentioned the growth of Progressive Web Apps and pass keys as significant factors narrowing the distinction between regular and specialized smartphones, potentially impacting Saga Phone's demand.

L2s are one of the focal points of the space right now as the Ethereum network continues to grow and is attempting to address scaling issues. With this narrative heating up and L2s competing with one another, the space is getting to see how reality compares with the theory of L2s. This post highlights some of those differences.

On the backs of successful recent airdrops like PYTH and JTO, LayerZero officially confirmed it will launch its much-anticipated token in the first half of 2024.

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele's Bitcoin reserve is finally in the green again, despite facing a couple of years of criticism and concerns about the high-risk investment and its impact on the country's economy.

Jamie King, co-founder of Rockstar Games, joined the Portal Foundation as an advisor to the crypto gaming project.

While awaiting approval alongside several other spot bitcoin ETF applications, Fidelity's Bitcoin ETF was listed on the DTCC.