• Celestia launches Blobstream on Base.

• Blobs hit a 100% utilization rate due to inscriptions.

• A judge drops the SEC’s claims against Coinbase Wallet.

• E announces its ENA token launch.

Celestia Launches Blobstream On Base

Celestia deploys Blobstream on Base mainnet. Blobs hit a 100% utilization rate due to inscriptions. A judge drops the SEC's claims against Coinbase W...

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Celestia launched Blobstream on Base Mainnet, allowing developers to deploy Base L3 chains that access Celestia for data availability. Blobstream is a one-way data attestation bridge that streams Celestia's DA layer to other chains. Developers can access efficient blockspace that is independently priced from gas fees on their base chain. The implementation allows L2 and L3 rollups to use Celestia light clients for Data Availability Sampling. Blobstream uses Zero-Knowledge Proofs to authenticate the validity of Celestia block headers for confirmation on targeted EVM chains. Blobstream is in an experimental phase with planned support for other chains.

Blob transactions on Ethereum have hit a 100% utilization rate following a significant increase in Blob Inscription transactions on the network. Ethereum currently has a max limit of 6 blobs per block. Data from Hildobby’s Dune analytics dashboard reveals that 41% of recent blob transactions are attributed to blob inscriptions. Inscriptions are primarily used for storing data onchain, including image metadata, although the data from blob transactions only remains accessible for a limited period of up to 21 days. The surge in activity has also caused the base fee for blobs to rise. Data from Galaxy Research indicates that the median fee for a L2 transaction in the past 24 hours stands at approximately 4 cents.

A U.S. federal judge has denied Coinbase's request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the SEC, which accuses the exchange of operating without registrations for a securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency. Coinbase will now continue its legal battle against the SEC in court. Coinbase's Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, noted that it is common for early motions to dismiss cases brought by government agencies to be denied. The judge did agree to drop the SEC's claims against Coinbase Wallet, the exchange's non-custodial wallet. The SEC initiated the lawsuit against Coinbase in June 2023.

Ethena Labs announced the launch date of its ENA governance token set for Tuesday, April 2nd. 5% of the total token supply is allocated to the user airdrop. USDe is Ethena’s overcollateralized stablecoin that generates yield and is backed by stETH and balanced positions in derivatives markets. With a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, USDe ranks as the fifth-largest stablecoin.

• Azuki introduces AnimeChain

• Base increases its gas target

• Ethereum experienced missed slots and recovers

• Tornado Cash Trial Day 2

• Prysm v5.0.2 release

• Erigon v2.59.1 release

• Rarible supports NFTs on Base

• Base completes bridge maintenance

• Basescan supports ENS

• Vitalik: Supporting decentralized staking

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• RetroPGF rounds for 2024.

• Tornado Cash trail begins in the Netherlands.

• Angle Protocol introduces USDA.

• CFTC classifies ETH as a commodity.

Optimism Announces 2024 RetroPGF Rounds

Optimism announces new RetroPGF rounds for 2024. A Tornado Cash trail begins in the Netherlands. Angle Protocol introduces USDA. And the CFTC classif...

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Optimism unveiled a new phase for Retroactive Public Goods Funding (RetroPGF), introducing category-specific rounds in 2024. A total of 850 million OP tokens, which represent 20% of the total supply, have been allocated to funding public goods. 40 million OP tokens have already been awarded during the second and third RetroPGF rounds, which supported Optimism Collective Intents. Projects across any OP Chain, including Base, Mode, and Zora, are now eligible for retro funding. RetroPGF 4, set to commence in May, will target Onchain Builders. RetroPGF 5, scheduled for August, will focus on contributions to the OP Stack. In the same month, RetroPGF 6 will reward improvements in governance. RetroPGF 7 will take place in October, marking the final round for 2024, which will focus on rewarding development tooling projects.

Alexey Pertsev, a developer who helped write open-source code for Tornado Cash, has started a trial in the Netherlands. Pertsev is accused of facilitating money laundering through Tornado Cash, with Dutch officials alleging that he failed to prevent international hacking groups from laundering money on the platform. Pertsev was arrested on August 10th and was held in custody for nine months before being released on bail in April 2023. Crypto educator Eléonore Blanc, who has been closely monitoring the trial, reported that Pertsev spent the morning responding to questions from the judges regarding PepperSec’s liability, governance, and the Tornado Cash compliance tool. If convicted, the case sets a dangerous precedent for open-source developers.

Angle Protocol introduced USDA, a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar and backed by Real-World Assets (RWA) and DeFi assets. USDA holders who stake their tokens in Angle’s stUSD savings solution will earn a variable yield. According to Angle, users will be able to seamlessly convert between USDC and USDA. The new stablecoin shares the same framework as EURA, Angle's Euro-pegged stablecoin. USDA will be integrated into the Morpho Blue lending protocol, allowing users to lend and borrow the stablecoin. The yield will stem from the stablecoin's yield-bearing backing and the interest paid from USDA borrowers. USDA is not yet live but is expected to launch in April, subject to a governance vote.

In a legal action targeting KuCoin, the CFTC has reiterated its classification of ETH as a commodity, a perspective that diverges from the SEC's undefined stance on ETH. The CFTC's complaint alleges that KuCoin engaged in the facilitation of commodity futures transactions without the required registrations and did not enforce proper KYC procedures.

• Google displays ETH balances across chains

• Coinbase commits to store more on Base

• BuidlGuidl launches a grants program

• Munchables exploited for $62m

• Phi unveils Phi Protocol

• Optimism GovScore tool

• ERC-20 Base migration tool

• BasePaint integrates Relay

• Polygon ZK-EVM weekend outage

• EIP-3074 explained

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• Optimism Superchain Developer Console.

• Securitize formally introduces the BUIDL fund.

• EigenLayer outlines liquid restaking risks.

• Sablier raises a $4.5 million seed round.

Optimism Superchain Developer Console

Optimism launches the Superchain Developer Console. Securitize formally introduces the BUIDL fund with BlackRock. EigenLayer outlines the risks of li...

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Optimism launched the Superchain Developer Console, a new resource portal designed for developers building on the Superchain. The console includes resources for all seven Superchain members, including access to testnet funds, funded paymasters, Safe smart wallet integrations, quick start guides, and personalized UX feedback. The console features dedicated support channels for developers, up to $200 in contract deployment rebates, and marketing support opportunities. Alchemy, Gelato, Quicknode, and Thirdweb are also offering promotional credits for Superchain builders. The initiative aims to ignite growth and reduce the operational costs for developers.

Securitize formally announced its partnership with BlackRock to launch the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, a tokenized fund on Ethereum that offers accredited investors with access to USD yield. Coined as BUIDL, the fund offers a stable asset that is pegged to the US dollar and backed by U.S. Treasuries. BUILD is rebasing and accrued yield is distributed to investors as new tokens onchain. Securitize says it enables for onchain ownership and trading of fund shares, providing instant settlement and transparency to investors. Initial fund partners include Coinbase, BitGo, Anchorage, and Fireblocks. Mountain Protocol is also tapping into the fund as a seed client.

EigenLayer released an article outlining the risks involved with Liquid Restaking Tokens (LRTs), which are created by independent protocols that use native restaking on EigenLayer to provide a liquid solution. The article notes that while LRTs introduce innovation, they also add complexity and risk to the restaking ecosystem. The article notes that LRT projects could be under risk-taking pressure to compete with each other. EigenLayer highlights risks related to looping and leveraged strategies that could amplify losses, as well as the issues arising from liquidity challenges and unclear unstaking processes, resulting in losses when users are forced to sell their assets in markets with low liquidity.

Token streaming platform Sablier raised a $4.5 million seed funding round. The company intends to use the funds to grow its team, enhance its existing product suite, and launch a new payment platform dubbed Sablier V3. Sablier enables users to create token streams featuring various locking mechanisms, such as linear, cliff, timelock, and exponential. Sablier also supports voting power from streaming governance tokens. Data from DeFiLlama indicates that Sablier's TVL in its V1 and V2 releases is $5.3 million.

• Google supports ENS domains in search

• Arbitrum Security Council nominations vote

• And Succinct raises $55m

• Synthetix PYTH distribution details

• Optimism Grants Cycle 19 roundup

• Gravita launches Ascend 2

• Ethereum Staking Endgame

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