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Crypto && Coffee 124

Technology Recap:

Bitcoin:

  • Several wallet developers including ColdCard and Sparrow Wallet have been in talks with developer Ali Sherief regarding a BIP that encompasses a single message signing algorithm used for P2WPKH and other output types.

  • Core developers have been discussing use cases and designs around on-chain transactions that “burn” bitcoins in small increments as a proof of resource consumption.

  • LightningDevKit, LDK, has released v0.0.110 which brings various API updates, serialization compatibility, and route selection.

BitcoinCash:

  • BitcoinCashNode shares their thoughts on Pay-to-Script-Hash (P2SH) outputs and a proposed upgrade to enable an additional BIP-0016 output template aimed at addressing the long-standing cryptographic collision problem.

Ethereum:

  • The last testnet Proof of Stake (PoS) transition will take place between August 6, 2022 and August 12th, 2022. Goerli will merge with Prater and will take the Goerli name post-merge. Bellatrix, the Prater upgrade readying it for the merge, will take place on August 4th, 2022 at 12:24 UTC at epoch 112260.

  • Erigon publishes their latest Alpha release, v2022.07.04-alpha which introduces code simplifications for the upcoming Merge, fixed txpool and various syntax errors.

  • Ben Edgington shares the latest in Ethereum with focus on The Merge which is scheduled for the week of September 19th, 2022.

Other Chains: 

  • Aleo announces the release of Aleo Testnet 3. With this, Aleo is one step away from launching a mainnet and providing a decentralized private computation layer based on the original Zexe paper.

  • The Electric Coin Company releases v5.2.0 of zcashd in response to a significantly increased number of shielded transactions as the network remains secure since June 17th, 2022.

  • Due to the Nomad bridge risk, Aave proposed shutting down Fantom market.

  • Junø v9.0.0 is now live! Juno is at the forefront of Inter-Chain smart contract innovation.

  • Eli Ben-Sasson, co-Founder and President of StarkWare, shares that one can now STARK-prove Bitcoin ECDSA signatures over secp256k1 field.

  • Synapse Protocol introduces Synapse Chain, a novel smart contract execution layer built on top of Synapse’s generic cross-chain messaging system and value bridge.

  • Swype shares that users who are part of a DAO can now connect their GnosisSafe wallets directly to an FDIC insured bank account.

  • Osmosis is expanding its liquidity net by adding Polkadot through the integration of Moonbeam Network. This will allow users to trade DOT with other Polkadot ecosystem assets on Osmosis.

  • Aspect launches Aspect mainnet, the first NFT marketplace on StarkNet.


Hacks | Vulnerabilities | Exploits:

  • Nomad was hacked for over $150M due to an attacker exploiting a flaw in their recent upgrade which marked the zero address (0x00) as a valid root, thus allowing messages to be spoofed on Nomad. The attacker was able to quickly copy/paste transactions and drain the bridge. Many followed these steps afterwords and made away with more funds. Full rundown here. Most funds are sitting in three addresses as of August 2nd, 2022.

  • The Nomad team provides an update regarding the situation and how they are looking to trace and recover the funds.

  • Solana experienced an exploit across their network which researchers are still trying to put together. The root cause is still unknown with some pointing to vulnerable code library dependencies or a possible digital signature bug; however we do know that whatever it was – it affected a large swath of user wallets, Phantom and Slope wallets, and more. All of the funds apparently are sitting in four addresses who all received origin funds from the same address 10min before the attack. Check this post if you were affected.


Mainstream Recap:

  • a16z Crypto is leading a $50M round in VeeFriends, a blueprint for effectively leveraging Web3 via unique, meaningful intellectual property and extraordinary community.

  • Debt DAO raises a $3.6M seed round led by Dragonfly Capital. Debt DAO is offering revenue-based financing to cryptonative entities like DAOs and protocols.

  • Galoy Inc., the team behind the wallet of El Salvador’s Bitcoin Beach, is adding a new feature – bitcoin-backed synthetic U.S. dollars. This comes on the heels of raising $4M to further develop GaloyMoney, its open-source Bitcoin banking platform.

  • Hashed CEO, Simon Seojoon Kim, told Bloomberg that the VC firm had bought 30M LUNA tokens and since has loss more than $3B following the Luna crash in May.


This Week’s Cup of Coffee:

This week, we are headed to Oakland, CA for a cup of Coltrane from Red Bay Coffee. This Colombian single origin roast yields flavors of black grape, dark chocolate, and hints of cane sugar. This roast is packed with flavor and tastes best when brewed via drip or as a cortado. Sip up and enjoy!!

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