• Optimism Bedrock to support a ZKP system.

• Tiffany & Co sells pendant NFTs.

• Ledger to become compatible with MetaMask mobile.

• Quadrata launches on Ethereum Mainnet.

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Optimism software engineer Kelvin Fichter shared a thread about Optimism Bedrock, stating that Bedrock has been designed to be able to transition from an Optimistic to ZKP system. Optimism Bedrock is a Rollup client that will introduce an EVM equivalent fault proof called Cannon. The upgrade to Bedrock is expected to reduce Optimism’s codebase down to ~500 lines. According to Fichter, Bedrock is agnostic to the type of Rollup proof used. It will be capable of using both an Optimistic and ZKP system. Bedrock aims to maximize chain security by removing its dependency on upgrade keys. Optimism plans to do this by expanding client and proof diversity on the network.

Jewelry maker Tiffany & Co is selling 250 NFTs exclusive to CryptoPunk holders. Each NFT is being sold for 30 ETH and will allow the holder to redeem it for a custom handcrafted pendant of their CryptoPunk The pendants will include a combination of 30 diamonds and gemstones crafted in the shape and color pallet of a CryptoPunk. Once redeemed, holders will receive a render of their pendant in October, with the custom pendant on a necklace chain and a certificate of authenticity shipped at a later date. Holders will also receive an additional NFT version of their pendant. If sold out, Tiffany & Co is set to generate 7,500 ETH in revenue, currently worth $12 million. The sale opens on August 5th at 10 AM EST.

Ledger and MetaMask are working together to enable support for Ledger Nano X hardware wallets on the MetaMask mobile app. Ledger Nano X is Ledger’s Bluetooth-enabled device with a slightly larger screen than Nano S. The feature will only work for Ledger Nano X wallets as it will use Bluetooth for connecting to MetaMask mobile. Once connected, users will be able to approve transactions on the MetaMask mobile app via clear signing with their Ledger Nano X. The hardware wallet keeps private keys offline and protected at all times. The feature is expected to roll out by Fall 2022. Last November, MetaMask enabled support for Ledger devices within its browser wallet after facing connectivity issues with Chromium-based browsers.

Quadrata, a privacy-preserving KYC network, has launched on Ethereum Mainnet. Users who verify with Quadrata will be issued a non-transferrable ERC-1155 NFT to be used as their Web3 passport. Applications integrated with Quadrata can check to see if a Quadrata NFT holder owns a passport, the country the passport was issued, and the user’s AML risk score. According to the project, personally identifiable information is not stored on-chain. Once users undergo a KYC process to claim a Web3 passport, it can be used across all dapps integrated with the platform. Quadrata recently raised a $7.5 Million seed round led by Dragonfly Capital.

Vyper, a pythonic EVM smart contract language, has released v0.3.4. The release includes bug fixes, optimizations, and refactoring. The update features abi decode, create from blueprint, and uint2str builtins. Several custom enum types were also added, enabling developers to track the status of their protocol's users. Vyper is the second-most popular smart contract programming language among Ethereum developers.

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• Ethereum turns 7 years.

• WNBA issues its first POAP.

• Lenstube introduces short form videos.

• DeFiLlama plans to launch a portfolio tracker.

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The Optimism vault on prize savings protocol PoolTogether is now live. In addition to PoolTogether’s daily prize raffles, USDC depositors on the Optimism network will also receive a share of OP tokens. A total of 100k OP tokens are being distributed over 28 days. The OP rewards come from the Optimism Ecosystem Fund, which supports proposals that bring sustainable growth to the Optimism network. The current APR on PoolTogether inclusive of OP rewards is roughly 9%. Since the launch of OP tokens in May, Optimism has more than doubled its TVL to more than $1.2 billion.

It’s now been 7 years since the launch of the Ethereum blockchain. On July 30, 2015, the Ethereum genesis block was mined into existence, referred to as the Frontier launch. Frontier, the first mainnet release of Ethereum, provided miners with a block reward of 5 ETH per block. Ethereum was the first smart contract blockchain. Over the years, Ethereum has undergone several upgrades, including Homestead, The DAO Fork, and Metropolis. Each upgrade has improved the usability of the protocol and given rise to ICO fundraising, DAOs, DeFi, NFTs, and Layer 2 networks. Ethereum now holds the largest developer community and has held its position as the leading altcoin over the past three years.

The WNBA issued its first POAP NFT during the 2022 WNBA Commissioner's Cup on July 26th. Attendees at the Coinbase-sponsored event had the chance to scan a QR code on the jumbotron at the Wintrust Arena. Roughly 700 email addresses were submitted via the QR code. Instructions on how to claim the POAP NFT were then sent over email. A total of 91 POAP NFTs were claimed by attendees of the Las Vegas Aces vs Chicago Sky game. POAP’s enterprise service team had worked closely with the WNBA to issue the collectable badge. The WNBA shared a flyer with details about the POAP, stating collectors will be able to unlock future WNBA rewards and benefits.

Lenstube, an open-source video-sharing platform built on top of LensProtocol, has added support for short form video clips called Lenstube Bytes. To upload a Byte, users simply add the #Byte to their video. Lens users are able to mint Bytes as NFTs, Like Bytes, and Mirror Bytes across the Lens ecosystem. Lenstube uses Arweave’s Bundlr Network to store videos permanently on IPFS. Anyone with a lens handle is now able to use Lenstube to watch or upload videos.

Swell Network, a liquid staking platform, announced that it has pushed its mainnet release candidate to production. According to the project, Swell Network is one step away from mainnet and anticipates to go live ahead of the Merge. Swell also allows node operators to set their own branding and commission rate within the protocol via the Swell dapp. The protocol is currently live on the Goerli testnet for stakers and node operators.

DeFi analytics platform DeFiLlama revealed that it will launch an open-source, permissionless, and privacy-conscious portfolio tracker called LlamaFolio. The landing page for ​​LlamaFolio.com only states that the new application is coming soon. DefiLlama is the largest TVL aggregator for DeFi, providing data and analytics from more than 100 chains.

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• Synapse Protocol launches an Optimistic Rollup chain.

• EF announces Academic Grants round grantees.

• Immutable releases early access for its GameStop wallet integration.

• Variant Fund raises $450 million.

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Synapse Protocol, a cross-chain liquidity network, announced the launch of its own Ethereum-based Optimistic Rollup. The so-called Synapse Chain will enable developers to execute their business logic across any blockchain. Synapse is building the smart contract execution layer as part of its V2 upgrade that includes a generic cross-chain messaging system. Synapse claims to be a sovereign execution environment dedicated to the development of cross-chain dapps. According to the project, developers that deploy on Synapse Chain can access deep liquidity from the existing cross-chain bridge. Just like Optimism and Arbitrum, Synapse Chain blocks will be produced by a sequencer and stored within a smart contract on Ethereum. Gas on fees the new chain will still be paid in ETH.

The Ethereum Foundation announced the grantees from its Academic Grants Round, a grant series allocated to support Ethereum-related academic work. A total of $2 million is being allocated across 39 selected grantees, which includes researchers and Ph.D. students. The foundation had increased funding from its initial budget of $750k. The six grants categories include: Economics, Consensus Layer, P2P Networking, MEV, Formal Verification, Cryptography and ZKPs, and other domains. Grantees are expected to produce a research paper or an experimental report within 6 to 12 months of accepting the grant. Any researchers who missed the deadline for the Academic Grants Round are encouraged to join the Ecosystem Support Program (ESP).

/Immutable, an NFT-focused L2 built on StarkEx, released an early access Immutable X integration for the GameStop browser wallet. GameStop wallet users can now connect to any Immutable X marketplace or dapp that uses Immutable’s “Link” connection path. GameStop will eventually release an Immutable X integration directly within their wallet extension. In the meantime, the GameStop wallet interacts with Immutable X by using Link, an authentication layer for connecting to Ethereum. Users will need to initiate actions, such as depositing, withdrawing, and viewing balances, directly from the UI of a dapp. Earlier this month, GameStop launched a public beta of its NFT marketplace on Loopring, an Ethereum ZK-rollup. Loopring has over 1 million NFTs minted on the network. GameStop NFT surpassed Coinbase NFT in all time volume within its first week of launching.

MetaMask released v10.18.0 of its browser extension wallet. The update includes new verbiage emphasizing when a transaction is requesting "Set Approval For All." This comes after a series of phishing attacks across NFT, airdrop, and DeFi deceiving victims to sign Set Approval For All transactions. Most recently, NFT access list tool premint.xyz suffered a phishing attack resulting in $400k worth of NFTs being stolen. The new verbiage on MetaMask lets users know they are “giving access to all” tokens when approving a setApprovalForAll transaction.

Variant, an early-stage fund, raised $450 million to support its portfolio of web3 projects. The raise included a $150 million seed fund with $300 million available as an opportunity fund. Variant is using the capital to expand its team to be able to offer guidance on go to market, token design, and community building. Variant’s portfolio includes Aztec Network, Flashbots, Foundation, Fractional, and Mirror among other projects.

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