The Cross-Chain Roundup #18

Week Roundup (March 20 - 26 , 2023)

Mar 27, 2023

Crypto is many things to many people, but to all who toil in its soil this much is universally agreed: it’s highly entertaining. For all the skullduggery, in-fighting, and backstabbing, there are some incredible tools being built by its galaxy brains and visionary creators.

This week is the perfect case in point, encapsulating the good, the bad, and the ugly that’s made the industry so utterly compelling. At the time of writing, the market is reacting to news of the CFTC’s lawsuit against Binance, having scarcely had time to digest the news of runaway rebel Do Kwon’s arrest.

Meanwhile, away from the front page drama, there are exciting developments to report from the protocol level, on crypto’s coal face, as zk season gets into high gear. Naturally, we’ve got the pick of the stories to share in this week’s Swing newsletter.

📰Cross-Chain Updates

Vitalik Buterin Makes First Transaction on Polygon zkEVM

Polygon’s zkEVM has gone live with Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin making the symbolic first transaction. The network provides a scalability solution for Ethereum apps, with ZK-rollups performing off-chain computations on a secondary layer to enable faster and cheaper transactions while still maintaining Ethereum's security as a priority.

Celer Network Launches Zero-Knowledge Omnichain Data Attestation Platform Brevis

Celer Network has unveiled Brevis, a Zero-Knowledge (ZK) omnichain data attestation platform. It enables dApps to access, compute, and utilize arbitrary data across multiple blockchains in a trust-free way. Brevis has a wide range of use cases like data-driven DeFi, zkBridges, on-chain user acquisition, zkDIDs, and social account abstraction.

CelerNetwork @CelerNetwork

🔥1/ Introducing Brevis @brevis_zk: a Zero-Knowledge (ZK) omnichain data attestation platform, enabling dApps and smart contracts to access, compute, and utilize arbitrary data across multiple blockchains in a completely trust-free way. #ZKP #ZK #ZKproof blog.celer.network/2023/03/21/bre…

blog.celer.networkBrevis: A ZK Omnichain Data Attestation PlatformBrevis, a Zero-Knowledge (ZK) omnichain data attestation platform that enables dApps to access, compute, and utilize arbitrary data across multiple blockchains in a completely trust-free way.

Matter Labs’ zkSync Era Goes Live to the Public

We said it was a big week for zk networks and we weren’t kidding. On Friday, zySync Era went live, hot on the heels of Arbitrum’s ARB airdrop. ZkSync Era is a Layer 2 that uses zero-knowledge proofs to batch transactions together and record them on the Ethereum network. As a zkEVM, it maintains compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, allowing developers to easily port over applications where they can benefit from faster transactions and lower fees.

Orbiter Finance Adds Support for zkSync Bridging with zkEVM to Come

Our final zk story and then we’ll move on to other stuff, we promise. Orbiter is establishing itself as the go-to bridge for moving assets to and from the new zk networks that are launching. That’s particularly useful with zkSync, whose Era mainnet is currently underserved by bridging options. With rumors of an Orbiter token some way down the line, there’s plenty of reasons to take a closer look.

Orbiter Finance 🛸 @Orbiter_Finance

🛸 Ding~ We have arrived at the station. 🔽🔽🔽 Can't wait to announce this news!🎉 🎉 🎉 Orbiter.Finance has integrated zkSync Era∎ Mainnet! @zksync

Brave Wallet Adds Support for Hashflow

Brave browser has integrated Hashflow into its native web wallet. As a result, Brave Wallet users can trade on Hashflow with zero slippage and fast execution across multiple chains. While this particular integration isn’t strictly headline-grabbing, it’s part of a broader narrative: formerly “dumb” crypto wallets becoming smarter, allowing DeFi users to access a broad range of services without needing to navigate elsewhere.

Pentacle.xyz Releases Governance Browser Extension

As web browser extensions go, this is pretty niche, but it’s also pretty neat. Pentacle.xyz has released a browser extension that tracks forthcoming votes for crypto protocols. It ensures you never miss a critical governance vote again.

pentacle.xyz @pentaclexyz

🌸🌸 SOUND ON 🌸🌸 Never miss a governance vote again! For people who like pink – Tea Bunnies have made the Pentacle Governance browser extension just for you. (there's a link for product feedback and Dao additions top right on the extension) chrome.google.com/webstore/detai…

LooksRare Launches NFT Aggregator

NFT aggregator LooksRare has launched the first iteration of its NFT aggregator. You can use it to add NFTs to your shopping cart, bulk-buy items from both LooksRare and OpenSea, and view events from OpenSea without ever leaving the site. A single transaction can be used to approve purchasing up to 100 NFTs at once.

Aavegotchi Prepares to Launch Its Polygon Supernet Chain

It’s been confirmed that the launch of Gotchichain, a dedicated blockchain for all things Aavegotchi, is imminent. It will be one of the first Polygon Supernets, essentially a sidechain that won’t get clogged by main chain traffic. Gotchichain will optimize the gaming experience by offering instant transaction times, minimal gas fees, and superior scalability, while still retaining the security of the Polygon PoS chain.