Gm frENS, Happy April Fools Day! The news is a bit light today since not many projects make announcements on April 1st.
Franklin Crypto introduced.
L2BEAT lists Aztec Alpha Network.
Base App release on April 9th.
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Listen to this episode from Ethereum News on Spotify. Franklin Templeton introduces Franklin Crypto. L2BEAT adds Aztec as a Stage 1 rollup. And Base App will support all standard web apps. Read more: https://ethdaily.io/916 Sponsor: Lido Earn lets you deploy ETH or stablecoins into curated DeFi strategies for optimised yield.
](https://open.spotify.com/episode/79WisMg2rOUHlZ45C9NOMu)
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Franklin Templeton introduced Franklin Crypto, a new division dedicated to institutional-grade digital asset investment management. The firm is also acquiring crypto investment company 250 Digital to strengthen its capabilities in the space. Part of the deal will be executed using BENJI tokens tied to the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX). The move underscores Franklin Templeton's effort to become a leading global digital asset manager, building on its existing $1.8 billion crypto platform and its broader management of over $1.5 trillion in assets.
L2BEAT added Aztec Alpha Network to its L2 tracker as a Stage 1 rollup, noting that its decentralization and censorship resistance more closely resemble Stage 2. Aztec has immutable core contracts, a built-in exit window for users, a permissionless sequencer system, and no security council. In a Stage 1 rollup, only a security council can intervene, whereas a Stage 2 rollup is fully trustless, and no one can interfere with the system. L2BEAT said it classified Aztec as Stage 1 because some critical parameters are still controlled by a DAO, and transaction inclusion delays can reach several days in worst-case scenarios.
Base App, the self-custody wallet from Coinbase, announced that it will support all standard web apps in an upcoming release scheduled for April 9, 2026. Farcaster mini app developers are advised to register their projects on Base.dev, transition authentication from the Farcaster SDK to Sign-In with Ethereum (SIWE), and review their existing Farcaster SDK integrations for compatibility. The move comes as Base App transitions from an onchain social focus to a trading-first experience.
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Safe presents Private Safes
SEC approves options on crypto commodities
SteakHouse DNS incident update
Circle acquires Liquity
MetaMask TradFi Mode
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