Developers of Polkadot, the blockspace ecosystem for boundless innovation, will start testing a new process that will provide radical scaling solutions for the network within a matter of weeks.

The plans were unveiled at sub0, the Polkadot Developer Conference, by Sophia Gold, Engineering Lead at Parity Technologies, a leading contributor to Polkadot.

She said asynchronous backing would enable Polkadot to more than triple its number of validators by the end of 2024 to around 1,000, describing this as “the most significant evolution of parachain consensus since we launched parachains almost two years ago.”

She added: “What’s unique about backing in Polkadot is that it’s enshrined – it’s implemented natively on the protocol level and not on the smart contract level, which gives us capital efficiency and censorship resistance. Asynchronous backing enables flexible scheduling for our future scaling work through elastic scaling and instantaneous coretime. We have a credible roadmap to get Polkadot to support 1,000 parachains and 1m+ transactions per second. The design is there – we know how to scale Polkadot for the indefinite future.”

A release of asynchronous backing is due to be deployed to Polkadot’s Rococo testnet in about two weeks.

Habermeier expands blockspace narrative

Sophia Gold was followed on-stage by Polkadot cofounder Robert Habermeier, who unveiled new concepts and architectural components that would enable roadmap features first outlined at Polkadot Decoded in June.

These features, including those known as ‘agile coretime’ and ‘elastic scaling’, would enable more flexible and efficient use of Polkadot’s blockspace and computing power, better serving innovators at all stages of growth, and taking the network beyond the existing parachain model.

He outlined a proposal for a new process of submitting work to Polkadot that would enable the network to process a much wider range of activity than parachains alone, including the ability to deploy smart contracts directly to a Polkadot core.

He explained: “This is how you would get to the point of cores being used by different parachains or bundled in all these different ways without having to enshrine that directly into Polkadot’s protocol. Rather, we make it possible through experimentation at higher levels.”

This new model would also enable a much anticipated feature known as atomic composability, enabling simultaneous execution of operations from multiple parachains at a time for more complex cross-chain transactions.

Accelerating smart contract delivery

The second day provided some important updates on the work carried out by OpenZeppelin on the OpenBrush contract library, intended to ease the development of Polkadot’s native ink! smart contracts. This includes the creation of easily implementable and extensible smart contract standards and translating Solidity contracts into ink!.

Felix Wegener, Security Services Manager of OpenZeppelin, said: “We made suggestions on how to change design choices, tooling, upgradeability and macros, and moving forward we see great promise in the ongoing developments of the Polkadot ecosystem.”

João Santos, Project Manager of OpenZeppelin, said his team had proposed open-source parachain runtimes and underlying FRAME pallets to accelerate the development and deployment of new and secure parachains.

He added: “We believe the initial step here is a generic runtime to allow projects to have a common base and start building immediately. Then we can start taking the learning we had developing this runtime, take the community feedback and then think about what’s next.”

New Ledger app coming

Juan Leni, CEO of Zondax, a major software developer for the Ledger hardware wallet, explained how his team is developing a new Ledger app for Polkadot that depends on verifiable metadata. He said: “I haven’t seen anything similar in other ecosystems. It will feature very minimal updates to the runtimes and to the wallets, we started research and development back in June.”

The single Ledger app can support any parachain in the Polkadot ecosystem, a boost for user experience of cold wallets on Polkadot, as previously, a separate app was required for each network. The app will feature clear signing of all transactions for maximum security.

His colleague Fernando Theirs said: “The integration for new parachains should be super simple. If you respect the metadata protocol it should be almost out of the box.”

Attendees also heard how Snowbridge, an Ethereum bridge to be built on the Polkadot Bridge Hub, is in position to deploy on the protocol’s canary network before the end of the year.

The plan is for each parachain to have its own dedicated messaging channel to Ethereum, unlocking a high degree of flexibility. Snowbridge is a trustless, decentralized mechanism for linking the Ethereum and Polkadot ecosystems, and is designed for general purpose.

About Polkadot

Polkadot is the blockspace ecosystem for boundless innovation. It enables Web3’s biggest innovators to get their ideas to market fast, with flexible costs and token options. By making blockchain technology secure, composable, flexible, efficient, and cost-effective, Polkadot is powering the movement for a better web.

While many solutions for blockchain scalability have been proposed, they remain unable to crack the blockchain trilemma, sacrificing security and decentralization. Quai is the first blockchain protocol that is simultaneously decentralized, censorship resistant and infinitely scalable. Quai, in contrast to traditional cryptocurrencies, functions as a network of many interoperable blockchains braided together. Due to a breakthrough discovery that occurred during research on proof-of-work, Quai Network utilizes a new consensus mechanism, proof of entropy minima (PoEM), which eliminates all consensus-based forks and enables all Quai nodes to remain in “perpetual consensus.”

Solar Dex began as the first United States-based decentralized exchange on Solana, and will now be pivoting to build on Quai as one of its first DEXs. Due to a loss of TVL on Solana and many Solana-based projects moving strictly to NFTs, the Solar team has decided to get ahead of the DeFi curve and take advantage of Quai’s low-cost, high-speed decentralized network in order to better position Solar Dex for the next bull run. The team at Solar is building on top of Quai Network to “ensure a more sustainable future for Solar Dex.”

Roy Fardin, chief business officer, said: “After talking to the Quai Network team, we have never been more bullish about a layer 1 with scalability and its passion for growth. It was a clear eye-opener that they care about DeFi and want other projects that utilize this network to succeed. The vision behind Quai brings the best of Ethereum and Solana all together into this new network.”

Solar Dex will be reworking the DEX into several components as it builds on Quai. The DEX will not only support traditional swaps, but also add in customizable swap themes. In addition, Solar Dex’s Solar Sentries NFTs will allow staking as a yield opportunity derived by all exchange fees earned from Sentry Mode projects.

Richard, CEO of Solar Dex, said: “On top of traditional DEX swaps, Solar Dex will be adding limit orders on Quai. “We’re doing a total revamp of the website and DEX which should be very aesthetically pleasing and simplistic to onboard new users to DeFi and also Quai.”

With Quai’s Iron Age Testnet beginning in September 2023, Solar Dex will be prioritizing its deployment on Quai for the coming months. There will be incentives to beta-test Solar DEX on Quai and additional generalized rewards will be provided by Quai for participating in the Iron Age Testnet. On top of this, the Solar team will be adding a surprise feature to the DEX to build excitement for Quai’s testnet launch, as well as utilizing its incentive program to reward holders.

With backing from Polychain Capital and an expert team with backgrounds at Apple, GridPlus, Tesla, Consensys, Circle and more, Quai is excited to usher in a new generation of innovative applications that don’t sacrifice decentralization.

Unveiling a new era in cryptocurrency trading, LeveX brings to the fore an unprecedented integration of social trading into its platform, fostering a vibrant and connected trading community. Beyond this landmark feature, LeveX also offers a plethora of innovations, enhancing the trading experience like never before.

LeveX: A Leading Edge in Cryptocurrency Exchanges

At its heart, LeveX presents itself as a superior cryptocurrency exchange platform that provides a robust, fast, and efficient interface for trading. Users have access to a wide array of spot and derivatives pairs, including prominent ones like BTCUSDT, ETHUSDT, and LTCUSDT among others, creating an ample scope for diverse trading opportunities. Coupled with professional perpetual contracts offering up to 100x leverage, LeveX stands on par, if not ahead, of other leading exchanges in the crypto landscape.

However, what sets LeveX apart is its pioneering leap beyond the conventional trading experience. The platform does not merely match industry standards but goes beyond to provide additional, unprecedented features. These unique offerings bridge the gap between trading and community engagement, leading to its next innovative feature: Social Trading.

Social Trading Reimagined: Trading, Sharing, and Thriving Together

LeveX introduces a revolutionary social content feed directly integrated into users’ dashboards, akin to Twitter, yet optimized for the crypto trading ecosystem:

• Transparent Trading Posts: Influential Traders can share detailed transaction information, such as pairs traded, quantity, direction, price, and date. Media, videos, and specific trade IDs are shareable for seamless follower interaction.
• Custom Tournaments: Both platform-wide and exclusive tournaments created by Top Traders for their followers, with incredible prize pools.
• Custom Funds Creation: Leading traders can curate specific altcoin funds, allowing followers to view details and invest directly.
• Native Analytics Tools: LeveX plans to introduce analytics and data within the platform to provide equal knowledge and access for all users.
• Trader-Influenced Platform Choices: Recognizing the invaluable insights and preferences of its user base, LeveX has integrated a voting system tied to trading volume. Users earn voting power proportionate to their trading activity, allowing them a say in pivotal decisions of the platform. Whether it’s casting a vote for the next cryptocurrency to be listed, suggesting novel trading tools, or recommending feature implementations, traders can actively shape their LeveX experience, reinforcing the community-centric approach of the platform.

The innovation of LeveX’s social trading stems from the seamless integration of its unique features. This distinct platform eliminates the prevalent fragmentation in the crypto trading community. It no longer requires prominent traders to maintain a presence across various platforms, creating a centralized hub for them to grow their following, share their insights, and directly engage with their followers through custom tournaments and funds.

For users, this cohesiveness amplifies their trading experience as they are equipped with more information and choices than ever before. It’s as simple as logging in to see what their trusted veteran trader is doing, copying a trade, or joining a fund or tournament — all in real time. Plus, the forthcoming analytics tools, typically available through separate subscriptions, will now be integrated into the platform and accessible for free.

The cumulative effect of these innovations is a robust and inclusive platform that harmonizes social interactions and trading activities. LeveX thus provides a stronger edge and enhanced opportunities to its users, cultivating an environment where everyone has a chance to thrive.

The LeveX VIP System and Pioneer Phase Campaign

Distinguishing itself from the industry norm, LeveX offers a VIP System with an unprecedented 25 levels of exclusive rewards, allowing traders of all volumes to reap substantial benefits. The perks culminate at VIP25, where spot fees are waived entirely, and traders have the chance to win up to $500,000 in a lucky draw.

In conjunction with the VIP system, LeveX is planning a Pioneer Phase Campaign for the platform’s inaugural period. The campaign will consist of multiple rewarding events that encourage and allow users to trade, test, and report feedback, generously rewarding these inaugural platform pioneers with a total of $90,000 for their contributions.

1. Top Traders: A Volume-Based Leaderboard with a reward pool of $30,000 USDT, incentivizing active traders and harnessing the energy of competition to refine the platform’s robustness.
2. Feedback Champions: An interactive program inviting users to share invaluable feedback, with a chance to partake in a $10,000 USDT lucky draw prize pool. This embodies their belief in co-creation, valuing the insights from those they serve.
3. Bug Bounty Hunters: A reward initiative with a pool of $50,000 USDT, targeting different aspects like Spot trading, perpetuals trading, and more. It exemplifies the commitment to excellence and trust in the community to help achieve it.

Whether it’s through active trading, providing valuable feedback, or identifying system bugs, LeveX recognizes and rewards the combined efforts that go into refining its platform. This initiative is a testament to LeveX’s core vision: creating a collaborative trading ecosystem, where innovation is fueled by collective insights and effort. The final systems that will enable this campaign are under development, but users should keep a keen eye on all channels for the eventual announcements.

Users are welcome to become a part of a thriving community and register now at: https://levex.com/en/register

About LeveX

LeveX is a cutting-edge cryptocurrency exchange designed to empower every trader. The platform brings together state-of-the-art trading tools, game-changing social trading features, and an unwavering commitment to transparency, fairness, and inclusivity. Born out of the frustrations experienced by traders on traditional platforms, LeveX redefines the crypto trading landscape by prioritizing user needs and bridging the information gap between professionals and everyday traders. With a strong community focus, LeveX fosters an environment “Where Traders Thrive Together,” delivering an unmatched crypto trading experience that puts traders first.

Today, Espresso Systems and Offchain Labs announced that they have formed a partnership towards bringing decentralized and open shared sequencing technology to Ethereum rollups. The collaboration will see the teams undertake joint research on Timeboost, a transaction-ordering design previously proposed by Offchain Labs, and will support technical integrations between the Arbitrum technology stack, Timeboost ordering, and the Espresso Sequencer.

Espresso Systems is the lead developer of the Espresso Sequencer, a platform designed to decentralize sequencing for Ethereum rollups, offering developers and users across different rollups a more seamless and secure path to interoperability while maintaining the fast response time available to users today. Espresso Systems, with the support of Offchain Labs, is now prioritizing integration with the Arbitrum technology stack, aiming to support any Arbitrum technology chain that chooses to leverage its decentralized, shared sequencer platform including support for distributed Timeboost ordering.

Timeboost is a new transaction ordering policy designed by Offchain Labs that relies on sealed-bid priority gas auction ordering. The Timeboost system limits harmful forms of MEV (frontrunning) while supporting efficient markets allowing chains to internalize other forms of MEV like backrunning. Timeboost prioritizes user experience and ensures the timely processing of all user transactions. In collaboration with the Offchain research team, Espresso Systems will develop a production-ready, open-sourced, and distributed implementation of Timeboost that can be adopted by any network, including any Arbitrum chain and can integrate directly with the Espresso Sequencer.

The Espresso Sequencer itself is a consensus protocol that supports proposer-builder separation (PBS). This enables other advanced transaction ordering policies to be implemented at the builder level, such as MEV auctions and rebate protocols like SUAVE. Rollups can choose to enshrine a builder protocol (like Timeboost) or, by default, use PBS. Espresso Systems is glad to lend its research and development resources to support a variety of ordering approaches that align with user needs, such as Timeboost.

The Espresso Sequencer recently released its third testnet and currently supports the OP Stack, the Polygon zkEVM stack, and has a dozen independent rollup teams working on integrations with the technology. Support for the Arbitrum technology stack will enable Arbitrum chains to integrate with the Espresso Sequencer and further Espresso’s implementation of a neutral and open protocol that is compatible with all of Ethereum’s rollups.

Ben Fisch, co-founder and CEO of Espresso Systems, said of the partnership: “We are excited to have Offchain Labs’ support in bringing an open, freely accessible shared sequencing platform to all ecosystems on Ethereum and it is a pleasure to partner with their team to improve user experience on rollups as we innovate on transaction ordering policies. Offchain Labs has pioneered many of the breakthroughs behind the most widely-adopted scaling solutions in the industry, and it is a privilege to partner deeply with them.”

“We’re thrilled to work with the Espresso team on researching Timeboost and bringing shared sequencing technology more broadly to Ethereum rollups,” added Steven Goldfeder, Co-founder and CEO of Offchain Labs. “The technology will enable fair and efficient ordering policies and open possibilities for deeper integrations among rollups which opt to participate in shared sequencing.”

Offchain Labs and Espresso Systems will be sharing a roadmap soon for their research and implementation of the Timeboost builder module and for the ability to integrate the Espresso Sequencer with Arbitrum technology chains. The two teams look forward to the advancement of the partnership as they share a vision for the decentralized, and user-aligned future of shared transaction sequencing on Ethereum rollups.

Follow along with the work @OffchainLabs and @EspressoSys on Twitter and on the Arbitrum Research Forum for more.

About Espresso Systems

Espresso Systems is the lead developer of the Espresso Sequencer, a platform offering decentralization, speed, scale, and interoperability to rollups. The Espresso Sequencer currently has testnets that are compatible with the OP Stack and the Polygon zkEVM ecosystems with 10+ rollup teams actively building integrations. Espresso Systems is backed by over $30mm from funds including Electric Capital, Greylock, and Sequoia.

About Offchain Labs

Offchain Labs is a venture-backed, Princeton-founded company that has dedicated over five years to blockchain research and development. As the original contributors to Arbitrum, Offchain Labs has been instrumental in revolutionizing the industry through this leading network scaling solutions. The team continues to build upon this foundation by innovating and enhancing products such as Prysm, Arbitrum Orbit, Stylus, and Arbitrum Nitro. In October 2022, Offchain Labs acquired Prysmatic Labs, the leading consensus client for Ethereum, further cementing Offchain Labs alignment with Ethereum.

CipherBlade, a leading name in blockchain forensics, will collaborate closely with MacNerd, a pioneering force in blockchain technology and software development. While both companies bring unique strengths to the table, this collaboration will predominantly focus on bolstering crypto security and investigation services.

CipherBlade’s track record of recovering millions of dollars in stolen cryptocurrency, coupled with MacNerd’s technical prowess, creates a formidable alliance. This partnership will offer:

• Enhanced Blockchain Security: MacNerd and CipherBlade’s collaboration will result in heightened security measures for clients involved in blockchain technology. By pooling their resources and expertise, they will provide increased protection against cyber threats, making the blockchain ecosystem safer for users.
• Comprehensive Crypto Forensics: CipherBlade’s proficiency in investigating cryptocurrency-related crimes will merge seamlessly with MacNerd’s technical capabilities. This union ensures a more thorough and effective approach to detecting and recovering stolen crypto assets.
• Rapid Response: In the event of cryptocurrency incidents, clients can count on a swift response from MacNerd and CipherBlade. Their joint resources, including exchange partnerships, legal support, advanced technology for risk detection, and top-tier expertise, ensure a quick and efficient response to mitigate losses and initiate investigations promptly.

Steve (Mac) McKeon, CEO of MacNerd, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership: “This is an exciting collaboration between two pioneering companies in the blockchain industry. Working with CipherBlade gives us the opportunity to strengthen our existing client relationships and cultivate new ones. This partnership will help protect them all from black hats and bad actors, and keep their data, networks and servers secure.”

“We are excited to partner with MacNerd to expand our reach and offer our services to a wider audience,” said CipherBlade’s CEO of America, Justin Maile. “Our partnership with MacNerd reflects our commitment to delivering actionable solutions that empower individuals and organizations to protect their digital assets. Together, we’re taking a proactive stance against crypto-related crimes, and our expertise will shine a light on the path to a more secure blockchain ecosystem.”

About CipherBlade

CipherBlade is a blockchain forensics agency that provides cutting-edge solutions in cryptocurrency investigations. With a team of experienced investigators, they track cryptocurrency in all cyber enabled cases using blockchain forensics. CipherBlade’s services cover a variety of ways to tackle cryptocurrency related crimes, from the basic scam cases to extensive cryptocurrency exchange hacking incidents. Their record of success and close collaboration with law enforcement, regulators, cryptocurrency exchanges, intelligence communities and law firms make them the go-to agency for digital asset investigations. For more information, please visit https://cipherblade.com.

About MacNerd

MacNerd is a software development company specifically dedicated to security in the blockchain space. The company was created to explore the near-endless application possibilities for the technology and to ensure that the security this technology provides underscores its need for adoption. A part of the FBI InfraGard, MacNerd also works hand-in-hand with local and federal organizations on certain cases, providing deep technical forensics to help resolve data breaches, cyberattacks and hacking incidents. For more information, please visit macnerd.io.

Alchemy Pay is deploying its payment services on Polygon’s new zkEVM chain, to be one of the first fiat-crypto on-ramp providers to support the zkEVM ecosystem. Users of the network from all over the globe can now purchase cryptocurrencies using their preferred local fiat payment methods.

Developers building on the new zero-knowledge proof network can now benefit from Alchemy Pay’s direct-to-customer plugin, which can be easily integrated and deployed by dApps and platforms with minimal cost and hassle. Alchemy Pay has supported tokens and projects on Polygon mainnet since 2021, and as one of the world’s premiere fiat-crypto payment gateways, it has been selected as one of the first ramp providers to integrate its on-ramp service on Polygon’s new chain.

“It’s exciting to see projects like Alchemy Pay help to improve the onboarding and usability of the Polygon zkEVM blockchain” Jack Melnick, Head of DeFi BD at Polygon Labs, “Alchemy Pay truly acts as a user-friendly gateway to the crypto spaces for users. The Polygon zkEVM ecosystem is very excited for this deployment.”

Polygon zkEVM Architecture & Benefits

Polygon zkEVM is an Ethereum Layer 2 scalability solution that uses cryptographic zero-knowledge proofs to offer validity and quick finality to off-chain transaction computation, also known as a ZK-Rollup. Developers on Polygon zkEVM can use the same code, tooling, apps, etc that they use on Ethereum, but with higher throughput and lower fees.

The ZK-Rollup executes smart contracts transparently, by publishing zero-knowledge validity proofs, while maintaining opcode compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine. This documentation explains the finer details of zkEVM’s sub-components, including the zero-knowledge Prover (zkProver), the State Machines used in the zkProver, the zkEVM Bridge smart contract, and the special toolings that enable the Polygon zkEVM to achieve its objectives.

Developers are able to deploy their existing smart contracts to the zkEVM, and users can deposit assets from Ethereum and transact off-chain. These transactions are grouped into batches with zero-knowledge proof attesting to the validity of each transaction. This means the network inherits the security of Ethereum.

Alchemy Pay: Truly Global Fiat-Crypto Services

Alchemy Pay’s payment gateway enables payments using Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and Diners Club across 173 countries, along with domestic transfers and mobile wallets in developing markets. Its user-friendly KYC process, low fees, and exceptional conversion rates make buying and selling cryptocurrencies with local currencies as convenient as any typical online payment. Alchemy Pay’s extensive network features over 300 fiat payment channels, allowing its checkouts to go beyond card payments and tap into local mobile wallet options.

Founded in Singapore in 2017, Alchemy Pay seamlessly connects crypto with traditional fiat currencies with its on & off Ramp solution, NFT checkout, white label crypto-funded cards and crypto payments.

Polygon zkEVM Further Information
https://polygon.technology/polygon-zkevm

About Alchemy Pay

Founded in Singapore in 2017, Alchemy Pay is a payment gateway that seamlessly connects crypto with traditional fiat currencies for businesses, developers, and end users. With its On & Off Ramp solution, NFT Checkout, Crypto Card and Crypto Payments, Alchemy Pay supports payments in 173 countries. The Ramp is a one-stop solution to buy and sell crypto and fiat, easily integrated by platforms and dApps according to requirements. The NFT Checkout enables direct purchases of NFTs using fiat payment methods. The Crypto Card solution empowers businesses and token issuers to provide users with branded virtual and physical cards for instant global spending. ACH is the Alchemy Pay network token on Ethereum and BNB Chain.

In a significant stride towards revolutionizing data privacy and verification, zkPass, the innovative privacy-preserving protocol for private data verification, announces that its Pre-alpha Testnet is open for public testing.

A Glimpse into the Future: zkPass Pre-alpha Testnet

The zkPass Pre-alpha Testnet presents a transformative approach to private data verification. Built on the bedrock of Multi-Party Computation (MPC), Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP), and Three-party Transport Layer Security (3P-TLS), zkPass introduces TransGate—a gateway empowering users to selectively and privately validate their data from any HTTPS website. This encompasses diverse data types, including legal identity, financial records, healthcare information, social interactions, work history, education, and skill certifications. zkPass achieves these verifications securely and privately, obviating the necessity to reveal or upload sensitive personal data to third parties.

The Power of Scalability

zkPass can be readily incorporated into multiple application scenarios, including composable decentralized identity passes, DeFi lending protocols based on off-chain credit, privacy-ensured healthcare data marketplaces, and dating apps featuring verifiable zkSBTs, etc. Wherever there is a need for trust and privacy, zkPass can provide a solution.

By employing cryptographic technologies like MPC, ZKP, and others, zkPass enables users to validate their private data through the verification of their HTTPS-based web session—eliminating the need for file uploads or the exposure of sensitive details.

For example, through zkPass, Alice can prove:

• Based on her server response to the Steam/GOG website, she has purchased 10+ games with 100+ hours of gameplay and is not required to disclose any other private information about her account to a third party.
• Based on her server response with the Harvard Alumni website, she has a Bachelor’s degree and is an alumnus of Harvard University, but does not disclose any of her other superfluous personal data.
• Based on her server response with the Porsche website, she owns a Porsche, but does not disclose her frame number, purchase order, or other private data.
• Based on her server response with the bank’s website, she owns assets greater than $100K, but does not disclose any of her specific account assets, transfer records, or other private data.

zkPass can be applied in various scenarios to enhance user experience, trust, and privacy:

• The Metaverse/GameFi program is looking for gaming ambassadors to participate in a test and offer a reward, and they can easily verify that Alice is their target user.
• Alice can seamlessly access the Alumni DAO via her zkPass zkSBT while ensuring privacy and trustworthiness.
• Alice leveraged her RWA ZKPs to establish a reputation for high ratings, which allowed her to access a DeFi lending platform and secure lower mortgage and borrowing rates, ultimately boosting her capital efficiency.

By redesigning the TLS protocol to Three-party TLS, zkPass makes it seamless for any HTTPS-based website to be used as a trusted data source for provenance of zero-knowledge metadata without having to authorize any APIs.

Open Invitation to Shape the Future

zkPass launched its Pre-alpha Testnet in July, receiving an overwhelming response with over 200,000 waitlist signups. Currently, tens of thousands of whitelisted users have already generated more than 100,000 zero-knowledge proofs, each representing their respective private data, identity, or ownership.

User feedback holds immense importance as it helps refine and enhance their solution. The public release of the Pre-alpha Testnet extends a warm invitation to technology enthusiasts, privacy advocates, and individuals who deeply value secure data practices. This invitation aims to shape the future landscape of data privacy alongside zkPass collectively.

Participating in the Pre-alpha Testnet not only grants users early access to an advanced solution but also empowers them to actively contribute towards its improvement. This collaborative effort is a key driver in tailoring zkPass into a privacy-focused protocol that empowers users in an increasingly data-centric world.

How to Get Involved

Getting involved in zkPass’s Pre-alpha Testnet is simple:

1. Users can Install the TransGate Extension from Google Chrome Web Store.
2. Interested users join pre.zkpass.org to be a part of the Pre-alpha Testnet and experience firsthand the power of private data validation.

More tutorial details can be found on the doc wiki and engage with the zkPass community. Users are invited share their insights, and become an integral part of shaping this groundbreaking technology.

About ZkPass

zkPass is an advanced privacy-preserving protocol for private data verification. It allows users to securely and selectively validate their data from any HTTPS website, making it highly versatile for various applications, including banking and DeFi lending protocols. zkPass is the ideal solution whenever trust and privacy are essential.

Offchain Labs, the initial contributor to Arbitrum, today released the code and testnet for Arbitrum Stylus, a new technical implementation that allows developers to build smart contracts in Rust, C, and C++, alongside previously offered EVM languages. Multi-language support encourages developers to build on Arbitrum Nitro, the leading scaling solution for Ethereum, by utilizing the familiar WASM-compatible languages and facilitating cheaper dApp interactions due to lower gas costs. Offchain Labs will make Stylus available to the Arbitrum DAO for a vote on adoption of the tool.

For software engineers looking to enter the blockchain space, a constant barrier to entry is the limited number of languages in which they can code. Currently, there are estimated to be 3 million developers using Rust and 12 million developers using C, both of which will now be available via Stylus, compared to approximately 20 thousand developers using Solidity. Stylus removes this barrier by letting programmers use one chain with various programming languages alongside the unparalleled security, maturity, and scalability of Arbitrum technology. An entire new class of developers can now access the largest community of protocols and partners in the Ethereum ecosystem.

“Growing and building the most inclusive developer community is incredibly important to us,” commented Steven Goldfeder, CEO and Co-Founder of Offchain Labs. “We want to open access for as many people as possible to create new applications and there is uncapped potential for innovation on the chain and technology stack. I look forward to a continuously flourishing ecosystem and collaborative community that will push the Web3 space forward.”

Blockchain use cases that were previously impractical will now be possible due to Stylus’ computational speed, improved cost efficiency, and access to the mature WASM ecosystem. Having a faster runtime than the EVM, WASM results in a faster execution – generally, a 10x improvement has been seen for contracts using WASM languages compared to contracts using EVM-based Solidity. Cryptography, mobile applications, high-compute gaming, and AI projects are specifically primed to take advantage of Stylus’ language flexibility and improved computational efficiency. Additionally, Stylus will offer security benefits to avoid exploits, as reentrancy is disabled by default and can only be manually overridden.

In the future, any systems programming language that can compile to WASM is expected to be supported. While there are other blockchains execution environments that support a WASM virtual machine, Arbitrum’s Stylus upgrade is unique as it is a dual virtual machine that can process both EVM and WASM contracts while also maintaining interoperability and provability over Ethereum.

For more information, please visit the Offchain Labs blog: https://medium.com/offchainlabs/stylus-now-live-one-chain-many-languages-eee56ad7266d

About Offchain Labs

Offchain Labs is a venture-backed, Princeton-founded company that has dedicated over five years to blockchain research and development. As the original contributors to Arbitrum, Offchain Labs has been instrumental in revolutionizing the industry through this leading network scaling solutions. The team continues to build upon this foundation by innovating and enhancing products such as Prysm, Arbitrum Orbit, Stylus, and Arbitrum Nitro. In October 2022, Offchain Labs acquired Prysmatic Labs, the leading consensus client for Ethereum, further cementing Offchain Labs alignment with Ethereum.

Maximizing earnings from liquidity provision and strengthening the Arbitrum ecosystem

August 31, 2023 — Yield IQ, the revolutionary liquidity provision tool that seeks to unlock new revenue streams for cryptocurrency token holders, is now live on the Arbitrum chain. Developed by a team of visionary developers and innovators in the DeFi space, Yield IQ limits impermanent loss and opens up new possibilities for individuals to effortlessly earn through liquidity provision.The launch presents an unprecedented opportunity for token holders, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and other DeFi projects to maximize their earnings through Yield IQ’s innovative strategies of yield optimization and liquidity management—while actively contributing to the growth and resilience of the broader Arbitrum ecosystem.

Arbitrum was chosen for this latest launch due to its scalability and efficiency, which will allow Yield IQ to maximize performance and better empower liquidity providers to generate substantial returns with improved liquidity, reduced costs, and enhanced trading opportunities. Yield IQ Vaults are also available on the Ethereum and Polygon networks.

Among the myriad benefits, Yield IQ’s introduction to the Arbitrum chain offers liquidity providers:

• Improved Liquidity: Pairing Arbitrum tokens (ARB) with another token of choice can both enhance liquidity and foster a healthier, more vibrant ecosystem.
• Additional Earnings for DAOs: When a Yield IQ deposit widget is integrated to a partner’s frontend paired with Chainlink Automation, projects become eligible for an additional 5% of the trading fees generated by the token’s pool. These earnings flow directly into the users’ DAO treasury, strengthening their financial position.
• Lucrative Returns: To ensure a promising investment opportunity for DAOs seeking stable and reliable returns, Yield IQ offers a 25% Internal Rate of Return (IRR) for ARB deposits paired with ICHI over the next 12 months, backed up with up to 50k ICHI tokens.

“Right now, arbitrage traders are winning the battle over liquidity,” said Coburn Murray, CEO of values-driven investment firm Ethos Capital. “For most providers, it is not profitable or practical to ensure liquidity. Yield IQ, however, empowers providers to earn the most from their deposits, and we are excited to partner with the Arbitrum community to deliver optimal results and trading opportunities.”

Developed and launched by Offchain Labs in August 2021, Arbitrum was designed to improve transaction speeds, enable scalability and ensure increased network privacy. The ecosystem sparked industry conversations earlier this year by airdropping $120 million worth of tokens to projects built on its network—and, in the process, both highlighting the potential for blockchain projects to utilize incentives and rewards for participation.

Since inception, Yield IQ has achieved remarkable success—boasting a median 30% annualized return on Polygon and partnering with Retro—a leading ve(3,3) DEX and a new automated liquidity management marketplace. By accessing Yield IQ via Retro’s front end, users are able to lock their tokens for voting and gain influence over emission destinations, earning fees and rewards from the pools they support. This incentivizes users to thoughtfully consider their votes and helps steer the DEX in the right direction, promoting a community-driven ecosystem.

Yield IQ efficiently deploys liquidity to Uniswap V3 concentrated liquidity pools. With a single token deposit, projects can passively earn returns while the algorithm actively manages their preferred token and generates trading fees from liquidity pools. By leveraging a fully automated, on-chain liquidity provision strategy, Yield IQ enables liquidity providers to mitigate common challenges in generating consistent profits, capital inefficiencies, and a lack of expertise in liquidity provision strategies.

The launch on Arbitrum further strengthens Yield IQ’s commitment to empowering users and contributing to the growth and resilience of the broader DeFi ecosystem. When ARB tokens are deposited into Yield IQ Vaults, token holders contribute to the strength and growth of the entire Arbitrum ecosystem. This means more stable prices, more efficient trades, and a wealth of opportunities for projects to flourish.

Learn more by visiting the ICHI Website, Medium, Twitter, Telegram, or Discord.

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About Yield IQ

Yield IQ is a fully automated, single sided concentrated liquidity provision strategy. By making rebalancing decisions based on token composition instead of token price, Yield IQ limits impermanent loss and generates industry leading results. True to the spirit of DeFi, Yield IQ is governed by a self-executing smart contract, ensuring impartiality and decentralization. This ensures unrestricted, permissionless access and unalterable protocol behavior, serving as a truly decentralized financial tool.

In an exciting continuation of its cross-chain expansion plans, Terraform Labs PTE Ltd. (“TFL”) announced Warp Protocol’s launch on Neutron today. A powerful automation application designed by TFL, Warp enables developers to create innovative DeFi features and experiences that expand their user base by leveraging resource-efficient, decentralized automation.

“For developers, the appeal is straightforward,” says TFL’s Head of Apps Vlad Jidkov. “By allowing developers to integrate features that queue any transaction, or atomic list of transactions, to be executed in the future based on any available on-chain data, developers can create novel DeFi experiences that attract new users, reduce in-house automation and DevOps costs, and increase scalability.”

Transactions within the Warp economy are called ‘jobs,’ and the circumstances under which they become executable are called ‘conditions’. When conditions are met, anyone running a Warp keeper bot can execute the job in exchange for that job’s reward (paid in the chain’s native token). Warp thus creates a decentralized marketplace for transaction execution, connecting job creators with job executors once conditions have been met.

Neutron stands tall as a permissionless Cosmos smart contract platform secured by the Cosmos Hub, aiming to revolutionize interchain DeFi by facilitating the seamless deployment of smart contracts and providing tools to interoperate between protocols and appchains. With today’s launch, Warp is bringing its limitless on-chain automation capabilities to developers and users across the Neutron ecosystem. Developers can seamlessly integrate Warp functionality into their front or backend in just a few lines of code using Warp’s advanced SDK or experiment on the web app.

Warp’s flexible design, including custom conditions, generic messages, and recurring jobs, has the potential to unlock a myriad of DeFi experiences for Neutron users. Conceivable use cases include dynamic NFTs, yield-generating limit orders that earn yield while resting, and automated liquidity management. Warp’s debut feature on Neutron will be Astroport limit orders. Compared to market orders that execute at current token prices, limit orders allow users to place buy or sell orders above or below current prices, providing better trade execution.

“Warp allows developers to tap into a decentralized network of keeper bots and bring their ideas to life in the form of new platform features for users,” concluded Jidkov. “We designed Warp to capture the full potential of a developer’s imagination, so when it comes to the experiences Warp can enable, the sky’s the limit.”

About Terraform Labs

Established in 2018 and based in Singapore, Terraform Labs (TFL) is a leading software development company specializing in blockchain technology. Powered by a globally distributed workforce of experienced Web3 developers and crypto natives, TFL is one of the few companies to have developed an end-to-end Web3 experience, inclusive of a blockchain, wallet, block explorer, RPC solution, set of apps, and a suite of developer tools. Aiming to enable the next evolution of the Internet built on robust, decentralized economies, TFL serves as a core contributor to the Terra blockchain and is the creator of products and tools such as Alliance, Warp, and Enterprise.

About Warp Protocol

Warp is a decentralized automation protocol that enables developers to integrate cutting-edge new features into their platforms using decentralized, cost-efficient automation. Using Warp, developers (and their users) can schedule transactions for future execution, drawing from any available on-chain data. The transactions are called ‘jobs’, and the circumstances under which they become executable are called ‘conditions’. When conditions are met, a job can be executed by anyone running a Warp keeper bot in exchange for that job’s reward (paid in the chain’s native token). Limited only by the developer’s imagination, Warp’s flexible design (including custom conditions, recurring jobs, atomic-list jobs, and generic messages) unlocks numerous use cases, including dynamic NFTs, automated liquidity management, automated trading strategies, efficient stakeholder reward systems, streamlined fund migration, and much more.

About Neutron

Neutron is the most secure cross-chain smart-contracting platform. It combines the security of a top 10 blockchain by staked capitalization with bleeding-edge cross-chain infrastructure to enable DeFi applications to securely scale across a growing network of 51+ interconnected blockchains.