Weekly Project Updates: LayerZero begins second phase of sybil hunt, etc

1. Ethereum Foundation team debates MEV and liquid staking link

Peter Szilagyi, head of the Ethereum Foundation team, and Dankrad Feist, creator of Danksharding and Ethereum Foundation researcher, engaged in a debate on MEV and scalability issues. Szilagyi argued that MEV is an attack on Ethereum, and instead of combating it, they have opted to share the profits with enough people to keep the majority silent. He further stated that liquidity staking is another attack on Ethereum, and rather than addressing it, they have promoted various cascading staking solutions, allowing everyone to choose their own “poison.” Regarding state growth, they are developing stateless validation to satisfy those who “stake their money,” while others can use certain providers who essentially have no say.

On the other hand, Feist expressed that many in their community are swimming against the current, enduring significant pressure to oppose participation by large ecosystem players, yet striving to maintain protocol decentralization and censorship resistance. Regarding staking pools, he emphasized that they are indifferent to whether an SSD is needed to run the protocol; their primary goal is to make running full nodes easier and cheaper while increasing gas limits to facilitate easier access to Ethereum for everyone.

2. LayerZero: Sybil self-reporting phase has concluded link

LayerZero announced that the self-reporting phase for Sybil addresses has concluded. During this period, analyses by LayerZero, Chaol Labs, and Nansen identified 803,093 addresses as potential Sybils, including those self-reported. Initially, over 2 million addresses were flagged as potential Sybils, but stricter criteria were applied to minimize false positives. In the upcoming two weeks, a community bounty hunt will commence. Participants must report at least 20 addresses with a clear methodology. The reward will be 10% of the expected token allocation for Sybil addresses, granted to the first qualifying reporter.

3. zkSync to release upgraded v2.4 version, potentially indicating upcoming token issuance link

On May 17th, zkSync announced the completion of its decentralization process, indicating that token issuance might be imminent. The upcoming v24 release will be the final planned protocol upgrade, introducing new precompiles, more blobs, Validium, and other features. These upgrades are expected to be completed by the end of June, a necessary step before transferring network governance to the community.

Previously, zkSync developers had announced the release of the zkSync Node Beta version, which features a simplified setup process and lower hardware requirements. The zkSync node, a read-only replica of the main node, can be operated by anyone. It offers significant improvements for developers, including one-line Docker setup, synchronization with the main node, and operation on consumer-grade hardware. Additionally, a pruning feature is being developed to reduce the storage requirements of the zkSync Node Beta. In the long term, this will enable zkSync Nodes to function as sequencers and validators.

4. Blast: Airdrop set to commence on June 26 link

Ethereum Layer 2 network Blast announced via Twitter that its airdrop event will commence on June 26, which is later than the initially anticipated date in May. They apologized for the delay and stated that the airdrop allocation will be increased as compensation. Before the airdrop, there will be two final distributions of Dapp Gold.

5. Scroll retroactively rewards early users with points to compensate for Gas fees link

The L2 network Scroll has announced the retroactive distribution of credits to its early users to compensate for the Gas fees incurred while using the Scroll network. Eligible users do not need to take any action; the additional credits have been automatically added to their personal dashboards and can be viewed through a new user interface. Previously, Scroll’s loyalty program, Scroll Sessions, excluded users from the US and China, causing dissatisfaction among many Chinese users.

6. Eclipse founder steps down amid sexual harassment allegations link

Eclipse announced via Twitter that founder Neel Somani has departed, and Vijay Chetty will be appointed as the CEO of Eclipse Labs. Chetty, who will be promoted from Chief Growth Officer, brings over a decade of native cryptocurrency experience and has held leadership positions at BlackRock, Uniswap Labs, dYdX Trading, and Ripple Labs. Previously, Neel Somani faced allegations of sexual harassment.

Hack VC, which led the $50 million Series A funding round for Eclipse, also expressed deep concern over the sexual harassment allegations against Neel Somani, stating that they do not tolerate any form of harassment or misconduct. Since learning of the allegations, Hack VC has worked with other investors and the team to address the situation, urging Neel Somani to resign. Hack VC reaffirmed its strong belief in the Eclipse team and the project’s mission, fully supporting Vijay Chetty as the new CEO, and expressed confidence in his ability to drive the project forward.

7. Lens announces Lens Network built on ZK Stack link

Lens has announced the launch of the Lens Network, an extension infrastructure built on ZK Stack, designed to support decentralized social spaces for large-scale adoption. Initially, the Lens Network will be deployed as an Ethereum-secured EVM-compatible Validium chain and will transition through three phases to become a Volition network using zkSync’s ZK Stack.

In the first phase, the Lens Network will utilize Validium to ensure that user social activities are verifiable, with private interactions leveraging Validium as data availability (DA). In the second phase, the network will create independent and synchronized public and private Validium chains. In the third phase, the network will enhance transaction security and user control by combining ZK rollup and Validium technologies.

Lens Protocol had previously completed a $15 million funding round led by IDEO CoLab Ventures in June 2023, bringing its total accumulated funding to $49 million.

According to @sealaunch_ data panel, following the announcement of the Lens Network launch, the number of interactive users on the social application Lens reached 22,600 on May 15, and the number of Collect Txs reached 18,600, both hitting their highest points in over a year.

8. PancakeSwap to pay $8 million to compensate Uniswap users for high interface fees link

PancakeSwap will pay $8 million in fees to compensate Uniswap users for high interface fees incurred on its platform. Eligible traders must meet the following criteria:

They must have traded WBTC or WETH pairs on Uniswap’s front end between January 1, 2024, and March 31, 2024, with a cumulative trading volume of at least $5,000.

During the period from May 16, 2024, to August 15, 2024, they must match their trading volume on Uniswap v3 with an equal volume on PancakeSwap v3.

Eligible users who meet these conditions will receive a full refund of the interface fees they paid on Uniswap.

9. Zora to shut down its 4-year-old Discord server link

The NFT-focused Layer 2 network Zora has announced it will be shutting down its Discord server, which has been operational for four years. The server will switch to read-only mode at the end of this month. Zora stated that its community journey is entering a new phase and that they will be adjusting their support channels to better meet user needs. Zora completed a $50 million funding round in 2022, achieving a valuation of $600 million, and had previously acquired Mint Fun.

10. Aggregated L3 zkEVM network zkLink adopts a self-reporting mechanism for ZKL token rewards link

The L3 zkEVM network zkLink has initiated an Aggregation Parade Campaign for ZKL token rewards, adopting a witch self-reporting mechanism similar to LayerZero’s. According to an official notification on zkLink’s Discord, all Lynks NFT witch users will have an opportunity to self-report within the next ten days to receive a 25% bonus. The witch user data will be kept confidential, but those identified by zkLink’s core DAO will not be eligible for any rewards. Additionally, zkLink requires Lynks NFT holders to pass an anti-witch test and undergo KYC verification to claim ZKL token rewards. Last year, zkLink completed a $10 million funding round with participation from Coinbase Ventures. In the future, project teams may increasingly consider self-reporting mechanisms when conducting airdrops and implementing anti-witch measures.