Weekly Project Updates: BNB Beacon Chain to be Decommissioned, etc

1. BNB Beacon Chain to Phase Out within Six Months link

According to @48ClubIan, a validator on BNB Chain, the following summary was made after a phone meeting with BNB Chain developers: BNB Beacon Chain is set to exit the stage within the next six months; the BSC validator election mechanism will transition from BNB Beacon Chain to BSC; the first dual-chain hard fork is scheduled for April this year, activating the BSC election mechanism and gradually phasing out the election mechanism on the Beacon Chain; current validator stakers can choose to migrate to BSC or unstake and restake cross-chain; the Beacon Chain will eventually shut down, rendering assets inactive and affecting BEP-2, BEP-8, and BEP-5 Atomic Swap assets; cross-chain bridges based on Beacon Chain will be closed, preventing BNB from using IBC to Cosmos; after migration, staking assets with validator nodes will be more convenient for users.

2. Arbitrum Community Initiates Proposal Vote for Long-Term Incentive Pilot Program link

The Arbitrum community has initiated a proposal vote for a long-term incentive pilot program, aiming to test new long-term incentive designs. The pilot program plans to distribute 25 to 45 million ARB tokens to protocols built on Arbitrum, with the specific quantity to be determined by the vote and distributed over a 12-week period. As of the time of writing, the option to distribute 45 million tokens has received the highest number of votes, accounting for 50.73%, followed by the distribution of 25 million tokens at 45.85%.

3. Uri Kolodny, CEO, and Founder of StarkWare, Resigns from CEO Position link

StarkWare’s CEO and Co-founder, Uri Kolodny, has resigned from the CEO position due to serious medical challenges faced by his family. However, he will continue to serve as a board member for StarkWare and the StarkNet Foundation. Eli Ben-Sasson, the Co-founder and President of StarkWare, will assume the role of CEO. StarkWare has raised $261 million in funding to date, and its native tokens are expected to unlock in April this year.

4. Optimism Announces Results of the Third Round of RetroPGF Grants, Allocating 30 Million OP Tokens link

Optimism has announced the results of the third round of funding for RetroPGF, allocating a total of 30 million OP tokens to contributors to the Optimism Collective’s public goods. RetroPGF primarily rewards individuals and projects contributing to the creation of infrastructure, tools, and content to foster the growth of the Optimism ecosystem.

5. Base Unveils 2024 Strategy and Roadmap link

Layer2 network Base has released its 2024 strategy and roadmap. Base is now envisioned as an economic entity consisting of three parts: the developer platform, the application ecosystem, and the capital market. The focus is on accelerating decentralization, enhancing network availability, significantly reducing costs, setting the smart wallet as the default, streamlining on-chain processes, and integrating Coinbase onto the chain.

6. Near Foundation Announces Restructuring, to Reduce Team by Approximately 40% link

The Near Foundation has announced a restructuring plan, reducing its team by about 40%, affecting 35 colleagues, primarily from marketing, business development, and community teams. The Near Protocol engineering team will continue its operations as usual. The decision comes after a review of internal activities by the Near Foundation Council (NFC) received unfavorable feedback. Despite the restructuring, the foundation reports that its financial condition and management remain strong, with over $285 million in fiat, 305 million NEAR tokens (valued at $900 million), and $70 million in investments and loans.

7. Friend tech Treasury Transfers 7,800 ETH Income to Coinbase link

In December of last year, Friend Tech Treasury moved its earned fees from an externally owned account (EOA) address to a multisignature address. Half of the fee income, approximately 7,800 ETH (about $16.6 million), was sent to Coinbase. The current Total Value Locked (TVL) in Friend Tech is around 15,000 ETH (about $33 million), which is a 50% decrease from its historical peak of 30,000 ETH (about $50 million). On the Base chain, Friend Tech has 1.2% of active users but contributes only 1% of the daily fee income. Previously, 54% of active users contributed to 18% of the daily fee income.

8. Azuki Official Twitter Retweets Weeb3 Foundation Tweet, Hinting at Token Launch link

On January 6th, Azuki’s official Twitter account has shown interest in and retweeted a tweet from Weeb3 Foundation. Weeb3 Foundation’s Twitter bio states, “Building an open metaverse powered by ANIME,” and the community speculates that ANIME is the token to be released by Azuki. According to NFTGo.io data, the floor price of Azuki NFT rose to 7.95 ETH on the day, with a 30.28% increase in the last 24 hours.

It’s worth noting that San FranTokyo also retweeted the tweet from Weeb3 Foundation. San FranTokyo had previously made a strategic investment in Cool Cast through a partnership with Animoca Brands KK in November 2023.

9. Cross-Chain Bridge Protocol Orbiter Announces Token Launch Later This Year link

Cross-chain bridge protocol Orbiter Finance has announced the upcoming launch of its native token this year. The project will gradually reveal details about the tokenomics and distribution plan. The O-Points program is expected to play a crucial role in determining airdrop rules. Orbiter Finance concluded a $3.2 million seed funding round in November 2022, with participation from investors such as Tiger Global and Matrixport.

10. Berachain has Launched the Artio Public Testnet and Plans to Go Live with the Mainnet in the Second Quarter link

The L1 blockchain Berachain, built on the Cosmos SDK and compatible with EVM, has launched the Artio public testnet. Berachain reports that there are currently more than 30 local teams building on Berachain, with over 100 teams from other networks planning to deploy on the testnet and mainnet. The Berachain mainnet is scheduled to launch in the second quarter of this year. Berachain previously secured a $42 million funding round led by Polychain Capital in April of the previous year.