Protocol Village: Stellar Targets Feb. 20 as New Date for ‘Soroban’ Smart Contracts

Jan. 30: Stellar Development Foundation published a blog post on Tuesday revealing a new target date of Feb. 20 for the Protocol 20 upgrade that will introduce smart contracts to the Stellar blockchain as part of the “Soroban” project. The upgrade was delayed from the originally targeted Jan. 30 after a bug was found. “The bug fix is already in the works, and the SDF anticipates that a new stable release with it will be available Friday, February 2,” according to the blog post. “On Tuesday next week, February 6th we will deploy this version to our Testnet validators and perform a reset. Anyone who runs Stellar infrastructure will then have until February 20th to install the new version since validators, should they choose to do so, will arm their software to vote for Protocol 20 on that date.” {XLM}

Jan. 30: Cartesi (CTSI), an app-specific rollup protocol with a virtual machine that runs Linux distributions, announced today an allocation for $1 million to the Cartesi Grants Program. According to the team: “Independent developers, founding teams, DAOs, communities and collectives have the opportunity to receive up to $50,000 USDC per project, subject to community vote. Through this grants program, Cartesi aims to increase the number of long-term contributors and developers building novel applications on Cartesi.”

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Jan. 30: Immunefi, a bug bounty and security services platform for Web3, published its “Crypto Losses in January 2024” report, revealing that the ecosystem lost $126 million of funds due to hacks and scams. According to the team: “This represents a 6x increase when compared with January 2023 at $21 million; and a 2.8x increase from December 2023 ($45.37 million). Hacks continued to be the predominant cause of losses, totaling $122 million compared to fraud events at $4 million. DeFi was the primary target for attacks, accounting for the entire $126 million loss, while CeFi did not witness any reported attacks.”

Jan. 30: Magic, a wallet-as-a-service (WaaS) provider powering over 25 million wallets, announced its WaaS integration with zkSync. According to the team: “This collaboration assists developers and businesses in building mainstream-ready Web3 applications. The seamless integration of Magic’s WaaS to zkSync’s unparalleled scaling capabilities opens the door for efficient gateways to DeFi, NFTs, and the vast potential of blockchain.”

Jan. 30: Decentralized communications platform Diode launched on Moonbeam Network, offering a censorship-resistant alternative to traditional products like VPN, Slack or Microsoft OneDrive, according to the team: “Diode’s DePIN solution provides a secure, trustless and decentralized medium for people and companies to communicate, in line with the original vision for Web3 created by Gavin Woods, the co-founder of Ethereum and founder of Polkadot.” For more information go here.

Jan. 30: LightLink, an Ethereum layer-2 blockchain, is partnering with Animoca Brands to integrate its technology into selected Animoca projects and portfolio companies, according to the team: “This will include enabling gas-free operation for integrated applications, reducing friction and complexity for end users. In return, Animoca Brands will provide advisory resources for LightLink’s tokenomics and go-to-market strategies, with the shared goal of improving mainstream blockchain adoption across dApps and Web3 gaming projects.”

Jan. 30: Linera, a layer-1 blockchain protocol pioneering microchains to give users their own blockspace, announced deployment of its Devnet, “a significant stride in its mission to redefine Web3 scalability,” according to the team: “With its unique blockchain model, the company is enhancing user experiences for projects that require support for a vast number of active users and real-time interactions.”

Jan. 30: Peaq, a blockchain for real-world applications, has introduced the DePIN Data Verification Framework, now used by NATIX and Silencio in the peaq ecosystem, according to the team. “It comprises three tiers: Tier-1 for device data signing, Tier-2 using machine learning for data pattern recognition and Tier-3 employing trusted oracles for cross-referencing. This ensures accuracy, even in cases like cargo temperature monitoring in delivery trucks.” DePIN, a Web3 sector for community-owned devices offering services like solar energy sales, faces data verification challenges, unlike Web2’s centralized controls, according to peaq.

Jan. 30: Talisman, a non-custodial wallet for Polkadot and Etheruem, announced the Private Beta program launch of its Signet multisig capability. According to the team: “Their native integration with Talisman Wallet allows Signet Multisigs to connect with thousands of dApps throughout the Polkadot ecosystem. Signet is the only multisig with the ability to connect to any existing dApp (including Polkadot dApps) with no changes. You add Signet Multisig Vaults to the Talisman extension then go to a dApp. You connect your Talisman Wallet extension, then select the Signet Vault. Now you can use any of the functionality on the Staking Dapp to craft multisig transactions.”

Jan. 30: Waterfall Network, an layer-1 protocol solving blockchain scalability, integrated with Portal Defi, a Bitcoin-based DEX eliminating reliance on traditional bridges, according to the team: “The integration, featuring Portal’s layer-2 atomic swaps, enables secure bridgeless cross-chain transactions between Bitcoin and digital assets. AMM contracts on compatible chains enhance the integration, ensuring swift, cost-effective, and private swaps. This synergy boosts transaction speed, cost efficiency, and overall security, representing an industry first by Waterfall Network and Portal Defi in addressing blockchain challenges.”

Jan. 30: Nym Technologies, a privacy-focused project, announced the first recipients of grants from the Nym Innovation Fund, according to the team. They include “three privacy-preserving technologies utilizing the Nym mixnet: StarShell wallet for the Secret Network, Nodies DLB for privacy-enhanced RPC networks and PasteNym for private text drops. The Innovation Fund aims to boost the health of the privacy ecosystem by connecting promising projects to the influential venture capitalists that back Nym.”

Jan. 30: The foundation supporting decentralized crypto exchange dYdX has requested $30 million in funding from the project’s governing decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) to be spent over the next three years. Switzerland-based dYdX Foundation provides legal, R&D, marketing and technical support to the crypto trading project, which includes a perpetual futures contract exchange and specialty blockchain in the Cosmos and Ethereum ecosystems. The Foundation’s goal is to grow dYdX into “the exchange layer of the internet,” according to its pitch.

Jan. 30: Portal, a San…