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News

Layer 2

ZkSync Launches ‘Era’ Public Mainnet

Matter Labs Wins Race To Release First zkEVM

By Samuel Haig

ZkSync Era, the second iteration of a Layer 2 network from Ethereum scaling team Matter Labs, has launched its public mainnet.

Era is a zero-knowledge rollup compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) — Ethereum’s core smart contract engine — meaning that developers won’t have to make major changes to their code to deploy applications between zkSync Era and the Ethereum mainnet.

The launch is a major milestone for Ethereum scaling, marking the first public launch of an EVM-compatible rollup secured by zero-knowledge proofs.

Era is now open to all developers to permissionlessly deploy code on the network.

Read the full story in The Defiant

Optimism

New Lending Protocol Boosts Optimism TVL

Deposits in Sonne Finance Have Quintupled Since Mid-February

By Aleksandar Gilbert

Optimism has grown faster in terms of total value locked (TVL) than any other top-12 blockchain over the past month, in part because of rising interest in a five-month-old DeFi lending protocol.

User deposits in Sonne Finance, a modified version of Ethereum lending protocol Compound, have almost quintupled since mid-February. On Thursday, user deposits stood at just above $150M, compared to $36M on Feb. 14.

It is now the second-largest protocol on Optimism. But it owes much of its success to the largest: Velodrome, a decentralized exchange with which it is deeply intertwined.

Read the full story in The Defiant

1-week left for the start of ETHSamba Hack 2023, a bootcamp, hackathon and 1-day conference in the sun of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Hackers get automatic access to everything, people can also register to only join the conference.

The event is free, however, there are limited spots so register fast.

Regulation

SEC

Coinbase’s Armstrong Pushes for Grassroots Crypto Advocacy in SEC Fight

Coinbase Calls on Voters to Defend Crypto After Wells Notice

By Owen Fernau

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is urging crypto enthusiasts in the U.S. to make their political voices heard.

Armstrong and three other Coinbase executives in a Twitter Space Thursday encouraged Americans to urge their local congressperson to adopt a pro-crypto stance, specifically through Crypto 435, an advocacy program Coinbase launched in February.

The push came a day after the SEC sent Coinbase a letter indicating the agency intended to file an enforcement action against the company.

“I think everybody realizes this is not just a Coinbase thing,” Armstrong said on the Space. “This is about our entire industry.”

Read the full story in The Defiant

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Weekly Recap

✊ Coinbase Is Ready To Fight The SEC

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How To Use Gains Network – Decentralized Derivatives Trading Tutorial

Podcast Video

Dan Finlay Explains How MetaMask Will Become The Google of Web3