Ethereum's final test merge will occur next week. The Goerli testnet is scheduled to merge with Prater, its associated beacon chain, between August 6 and August 12. If it is successful, the real Merge will be deployed on or around September 19. Previous test merges have been successful.
Step Finance, a Solana analytics platform with 110,000 monthly active users, has acquired NFT data insights platform SolanaFloor for an undisclosed amount. Step is looking to expand its platform to encompass NFTs. It will work with the SolanaFloor team to implement a blue-chip index for NFTs to give broader insights into the Solana ecosystem.
Synapse Chain is a smart contract execution layer built on top of Synapse's generic cross-chain messaging system and value bridge. Developers can deploy apps on the bridge protocol rather than deploying them on multiple chains. Synapse Chain is designed as an Ethereum-based optimistic rollup. More information on the chain and Synapse's plans for the future is available in the article.
Clearpool is a decentralized marketplace for uncollateralized institutional lending that is launching on Polygon. The platform has already facilitated over $180 million worth of institutional loans on the Ethereum network. Launching on Polygon will significantly improve speed and transaction fees and provide an improved user experience. Lenders to the genesis liquidity pools launched on Clearpool/Polygon will be able to farm MATIC rewards for a limited time.
Token lockups are a fundamental part of venture funding in crypto. Founders tend to align incentives by implementing token lockups as tokens are notably more liquid than traditional equity. The lockup period can vary widely and last up to several years. This article analyzes data points across three funds to see the current industry standards for lockups and how they have changed over the past couple of years.
Velodrome is an Automated Market Maker (AMM) based on Solidly. Solidly was an AMM that incentivized trading fees rather than passive liquidity. It implemented a system where token stakers' rewards depended on the volume of the pools they voted for. Velodrome is a fork of Solidly on Optimism that offers very low trading fees. Users who locked their VELO before July 28 will receive an OP airdrop. Many more details about Velodrome and its locking incentives are available in the thread.
Smart Contract Wallets are Ethereum wallets managed by smart contracts instead of private keys. They allow for whitelisting, multisig transactions, daily transfer limits, and emergency account freezing. As the wallets are created through code, they can have almost unlimited functionality. Smart Contract Wallets will help with scaling efforts and simplify bundles of transactions.
Solana's active validator count is much higher than other chains. Most validators are in the US and Germany and hosted on AWS and Hetzner. While there are issues with Solana's decentralization, these problems aren't exclusive to Solana and many other blockchains have similar issues. The Solana Foundation has a server rental program to help validators begin staking. There is no minimum amount of SOL required for staking. Many more details about the Solana blockchain, Solana Foundation, and the decentralization of the network are available in the article.