• Kraken unveils its Ink Layer 2 network.

• Arbitrum Orbit supports fast withdrawals.

• Synthetix Perps V3 goes live on Arbitrum.

• Celestia plans v3 upgrade on testnet.

Kraken introduced Ink, a new Layer 2 built on the OP Stack, designed to streamline access to DeFi and onboard users onchain by connecting Kraken’s centralized services with a decentralized ecosystem. Ink will feature 1-second block times, settle transactions on Ethereum, and is being developed with the Gelato Network RaaS platform. Similar to Coinbase’s Base, Kraken anticipates migrating its infrastructure onchain. As a member of the Superchain, Ink will support interoperability, governance standards, and shared upgrades and contribute a portion of its sequencer revenue to the Optimism Collective. The testnet launch is scheduled for November 2024, with the mainnet launch expected in early 2025. Users can currently mint a commemorative NFT on OP Mainnet.

Arbitrum Orbit, a tech stack for building L2 and L3 chains, now supports fast withdrawals, enabling withdrawals transactions to be finalized in as little as 15 minutes for Orbit L2 chains and 15 seconds for Orbit L3 chains. Optimistic Rollups typically require a seven-day challenge period for fraud proofs, leading to long withdrawal periods. Fast withdrawals are initially available for Arbitrum Orbit chains built using the AnyTrust architecture and rely on a Data Availability Committee (DAC). The implementation is facilitated through a committee-based validation process. Arbitrum Orbit chains that meet the prerequisite criteria can customize their own withdrawal configurations.

Synthetix Perps V3 is now live on Arbitrum One through the Kwenta interface with support for 81 new markets. Synthetix V3 introduces multi-collateral support, cross-margin trading, account-based access controls, and improved liquidation mechanisms, allowing traders to use their entire portfolio as collateral across multiple positions. Supported collateral types include ETH, tBTC, USDx, and USDe. Kwenta features one-click gasless market orders, integrated bridging via Socket, and delegated wallets. According to DefiLlama, Synthetix V3 on Arbitrum currently holds about $8.5 million in TVL.

• Funki unviels OP Stack L2

• Discussions to increase gas limit

• Upcoming Celestia v3 upgrade

• ZachXBT has recovered $500m

• OnchainKit introduces Checkout

• Uniswap now supports bridging.

• Base plans to activate Fault Proofs.

• OP Chain Delegation recipients.

• Conduit releases research on DA costs.

Uniswap integrated support for permissionless bridging across nine networks directly into the web app and mobile wallet. Users can access a new “Swap across networks” option within the swap interface, allowing them to seamlessly bridge native assets and stablecoins by selecting their preferred input and output networks. This functionality is powered by Across Protocol, a permissionless cross-chain bridge protocol that leverages liquidity pools and relayers for fast, secure transactions. Uniswap and Across are also co-developers of the ERC-7683 cross-chain intents standard, a standard that expands the range of order fillers available to execute user intents.

Base announced that Fault Proofs will go live on mainnet on October 30th, 2024. The upgrade introduces permissionless output proposals and permissionless challenges, empowering anyone to submit state claims about the chain and challenge fraudulent withdrawals. The activation brings Base to Stage 1 decentralization. In Stage 1, rollups are equipped with functional proof schemes and a multi-sig override mechanism, such as the Security Council. Bridge operators on Base are advised to notify their users and update their bridging logic to align with the new contracts. Optimism first implemented Fault Proofs on OP Mainnet earlier this year in June 2024.

Optimism unveiled the first participants in its OP Chain Delegation Program, an initiative that allocates OP token delegations to OP Stack chains to encourage their involvement in Optimism governance. The program grants between 250,000 and 1.5 million OP to eligible chains, equipping them with sufficient governance power to approve or reject proposal drafts. Among the first recipients are Cyber Network and Mint, both OP Stack chains. Each delegation is active for 12 months, providing the chains with a boost while they grow their user-based delegations organically. To maintain eligibility, participating chains must uphold a voting participation rate above 70% throughout the delegation.

Conduit, a rollup-as-a-service provider, released a research post analyzing the cost per MB of data availability across Ethereum blobs, Celestia blobs, and Celestia SuperBlobs. Developed through a partnership between Celestia and Conduit, SuperBlobs enable rollups to publish larger data batches on Celestia. The study found that the average data availability cost was $20.56 per MB on Ethereum mainnet, $7.31 per MB on Celestia, and less than $1 per MB using SuperBlobs.

• Vitalik: Possible Futures Part 4

• Erigon 3 Alpha 5 release

• Arbitrum Stylus case study

• Gitcoin releases Mint Attestations

• RedStone introduces its AVS

• Privy integrates Relay

• First phase of STRK staking

• Stack introduces Teams

• Abstract Builder-in-Residence program

• OP Retro Funding Round 5 results.

• Celestia launches the Mammoth Mini testnet.

• DELV introduces Fixed Borrow.

• Ethereum upgrades and catalysts.

Optimism announced the results of its fifth retroactive funding round, distributing 8 million OP tokens, currently worth approximately $13.6 million, to 79 projects. The round prioritized contributions to the OP Stack, including core Ethereum infrastructure, research and development, and tooling that improves accessibility and usability. Ethereum core contributors received 3.2 million OP tokens, while 2.8 million OP tokens were awarded to OP Stack research and tooling development contributors. The overall distribution was mostly flat across projects, with the lowest-ranked project receiving 37,000 OP tokens. The allocations were determined by votes from approximately 110 badge holders from the Optimism Citizens' House.

Celestia, a modular data availability blockchain, launched Mammoth Mini, the latest testnet in its roadmap to scale to 1GB blocks. Mammoth Mini achieved 88 MB blocks with 27 MB/s throughput and introduced key innovations like Compact Blocks, which reduce bandwidth by transmitting only transaction identifiers, and the Vacuum! Protocol, which synchronizes validator mempools pre-consensus using Validator Availability Certificates (VACs). The launch also introduced Simulated Fast Blocks Slow Squares (FBSS), decoupling block, and square construction to enable sub-second block times with single-slot finality. Celestia plans to roll out the features on public testnets before deploying them on Mainnet Beta in 2025. The next focus is achieving 1GB blocks with 83 MB/s throughput on testnet. The 1GB blocks aim to boost data throughput and lower transaction fees for rollups.

DELV, in partnership with the Morpho lending protocol, introduced DELV Fixed Borrow, a DeFi product that lets users lock in fixed interest rates on their loans, protecting them from unpredictable rate hikes. Borrowers can close their fixed-rate position anytime, but they still remain exposed to liquidation risks from collateral fluctuations. The product uses DELV’s Hyperdrive Protocol, which opens a short position on Hyperdrive linked to the borrower’s Morpho loan. The strategy helps offset variable borrowing costs with potential lending profits, simulating a fixed-rate effect. DELV Fixed Borrow is currently available on sUSDe/DAI and USDe/DAI Morpho markets on Ethereum mainnet.

Christine Kim, a researcher at Galaxy, published a post detailing upcoming Ethereum upgrades and catalysts. She highlighted Ethereum's continued commitment to a rollup-centric roadmap, noting that the Pectra upgrade may be among the last significant Layer 1 (L1) updates to directly impact end-users. Initially planned to include 20 EIPs, Pectra was split and will feature only about 9 EIPs, with the upgrade expected to launch in H1 2025. Pectra will introduce improvements in user experience, data availability, and network efficiency. The remaining EIPs have been pushed to future forks, such as Fusaka, which will focus on implementing EOF and PeerDAS.

• Ethereum Cheat Sheet

• Personal Privacy Stack for Ethereum

• Agora OP Treasury Execution Proposal

• Vitalik compliments Fileverse progress

• Karpatkey raises $7 million

• SCR claim goes live

• Scroll claim triggers blob spike