• Dencun goes live on Ethereum mainnet.

• zkSync marks the first L2 to activate blobs.

• Swell announces its ZK-EVM restaked rollup.

• EtherFi unveils plans for a payments L2 network

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The Dencun upgrade has been successfully deployed on Ethereum Mainnet, bringing blob transactions to the network. Blobs represent a Type 3 transaction and offer an alternative data storage solution. Blobs are temporarily stored in the consensus layer for a duration of 18-21 days. With an independent gas market for blobs, they provide a more cost-effective data availability for rollups. The Dencun upgrade was initiated at beacon epoch 269568 and finalized a few hours later without issues. The upgrade also brings transient storage EIP-1153, beacon block root in the EVM EIP-4788, MCOPY EIP-5656, SELFDESTRUCT only in same transaction EIP-6780, valid signed voluntary exits EIP-7044, increase max attestation inclusion slot EIP-7045, add max epoch churn limit EIP-7514, and BLOBBASEFEE opcode EIP-7516.

zkSync became the first L2 to enable blob transactions on its network, offering significant cost reductions for its users. Token swaps now incur a cost of about 44 cents, and sending tokens costs around 18 cents on zkSync. Starknet was also swift to add blob transaction support to its rollup within hours of the activation on mainnet. The Ecotone hardfork by Optimism, which brings blob support, was activated approximately 10 hours after the mainnet activation. Superchain members such as Base, OP Mainnet, Zora, and Mode now support blobs. Arbitrum is set to roll out its ArbOS upgrade on March 14th, which will extend blob support to Arbitrum rollup chains, with a further reduction in fees scheduled for March 18th.

Swell Network unveiled plans to introduce a new ZK-EVM L2 network built on Polygon CDK. The network will use AltLayer’s restaked rollup framework, aiming to enhance rollup services using EigenLayer. The framework incorporates decentralized sequencing, verification, and fast finality using EigenLayer's Activley Validated Services (AVSs). Focusing on liquid restaked assets, Swell's L2 network will feature native restaking yield and integrations with LRTfi. It will use rswETH as its gas token and will be governed SWELL token holders. The network will use EigenDA for data availability. Swell Network is a liquid restaking token protocol with over $1 billion in total value locked (TVL). AltLayer is a rollup as a service infrastructure provider.

EtherFi introduced Stake, Liquid, and Cash, a new product suite leveraging its liquid restaking protocol. Stake, EtherFi’s first product, streamlines staking and re-staking into one service. Liquid, set to launch on Monday, March 18th, is a managed DeFi strategy vault for deploying ETH into DeFi apps with managed risk. Cash, which is in development, will allow users to spend and borrow against their EtherFi balances. Cash will feature an MPC-wallet mobile app and a connected credit card, alongside a planned Layer 2 solution for payment processing and dispute resolution. EtherFi plans to complete its suit development over the next year.

• ArbitrumDAO $400m gaming proposal

• Fxhash goes live on Base

• ETH Global London Hackathon

• The Future of Kwenta

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• Thirdweb launches Superchain App Accelerator.

• WalletConnect introduces Email Wallets.

• Applications open for the Summer Of Protocols.

• MakerDAO Endgame kicks off this summer.

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Thirdweb launched the Superchain App Accelerator, a developer fund with $3 million in grants for builders on the Superchain. The initiative aims to enhance onchain user experiences to facilitate smoother onboarding processes. The program will initially distribute $450,000 in gas credits for sponsored transactions on seven OP Stack chains. The program will gradually provide additional credits over time. The credits are intended to cover costs related to transaction fees, deploying smart contracts, creating NFTs, and accessing Thirdweb's tech stack, which includes in-app wallets, account abstraction, and IPFS storage solutions. Developers can apply for grants of up to $200,000.

WalletConnect introduced Email Wallets, a new wallet onboarding solution within its Web3Modal SDK. Email Wallets offer instant wallet creation linked to email addresses with password-free security and 2-factor authentication. Users have the option to transition their email wallet to a self-custody wallet. Web3Modal a feature-rich SDK for connecting wallets to dapps that also supports ENS resolution and injected wallets. The integration allows users to access multiple dapps with the same email wallet. Initial dapps that support sign-in with email via Web3Modal include Peanut Protocol, Moso, and Oku Trade.

The Summer of Protocols (SoP) is returning for a second cohort, inviting applications for a four-month program dedicated to research and development in the realm of protocols. Funded by the Ethereum Foundation, this year's iteration is segmented into three tracks. Firstly, the Protocol Improvement Grants (PIGs) track is offering grants of $90,000 each to five teams of two individuals. Secondly, the Protocol PILL Challenge aims to promote protocol literacy through popular media, providing 20 creative grants of $1,000 each. The third track, the Partner Program, seeks collaborations with institutions through specialized workshops. A town hall is scheduled for March 20th with the deadline for applications set for April 12th.

Rune Christensen, the founder of MakerDAO, released the launch strategy for the MakerDAO Endgame, a comprehensive protocol overhaul designed to boost DAI adoption. The first phase will introduce the SubDAO ecosystem, a new website and brand identity, the NewStable and NewGovToken, and the Lockstake Engine (LSE). SubDAOs are independent entities that can leverage MakerDAO infrastructure to their advantage. The introduction of NewGovToken will redenominate the MKR token at a ratio of 1 to 24,000. The LSE will offer rewards for the long-term locking of governance tokens. The first phase of the MakerDAO Endgame is planned for the summer of 2024.

• L2Beat DA dashboard

• EtherFI announces ETHFI

• LlamaLend goes live on Curve

• Snapshot supports Linea

• Base bridge maintenance on March 20th

• MetaMask tests payments with Mastercard

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• Gnosis Chain activates Dencun.

• Stack launches an L3 chain on Base.

• Optimism We Love The Art winners.

• Delivery At Dawn short film premiere.

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The Dencun upgrade has successfully activated on Gnosis Chain mainnet, bringing Type 3 blob transactions to the Ethereum sister chain. The new transaction type can now be executed on Gnosis Chain, with blob.fm being among the initial applications to leverage blobs, showcasing new use cases that are now possible. Blobs are part of EIP-4844, also known as Proto Danksharding, marking an initial step towards full data sharding on Ethereum. Blobs are designed to reduce data availability costs for rollups, leading to lower transaction fees and reduced storage requiremnts. The Dencun upgrade will activate on Ethereum mainnet this Wednesday, March 13.

Stack, a loyalty points management platform, introduced the mainnet launch of its points chain. Stack is a L3 chain, which operates atop Base using the OP Stack framework. It provides a scalable and low-cost solution for the execution of onchain point transactions. The chain was deployed through rollup-as-a-service provider Conduit. Stack introduces a specialized points protocol, consisting of a Solidity smart contract crafted to facilitate the creation and management of point systems. The protocol is integrated with Stack's user interface and software development kits. Stack successfully secured a $3 million seed investment for its points infrastructure platform.

Optimism revealed the winners of its We Love The Art contest, awarding 1.2 million OP tokens among 68 distinguished artists. Receiving more than 7,000 submissions across AI, one-of-one, generative, and music categories, the competition marks one of the largest globally-accessible art contests. Eight artists secured the top prize of 50,000 OP tokens, currently valued at about $225,000.

Stateful Works released the premiere of "Delivery At Dawn," an animated short film produced by Nouns, Agora, and The Line, centered on EIP-4844. The film showcases characters from Ethereum ecosystem projects benefiting from proto-danksharding. Users can mint a commemorative NFT on Zora for 0.004844 ETH, with the proceeds allocated towards production costs and supporting the Protocol Guild.

• Wormholde airdrop deep dive

• Starknet introduces a gaming committee

• RARI Chain opens ecosystem grants

• Ethena Shards campaign update

• Coinbase opening brief challenging SEC

• Reth v0.2.0-beta.1 release

• Lodestar v1.17.0 release

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