The Protocol: Bitcoin Gets a DEX, Union Labs Gets $12M

7 hours ago

Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk's play wrap-up of the astir important stories successful cryptocurrency tech development. I'm Marc Hochstein, CoinDesk's lawman editor-in-chief for features, sentiment and standards.

In this issue:

Bitcoin gets a DEX, acknowledgment to the Nomic bridge

Union Labs gets $12M to physique much bridges

Base's Jesse Pollak looks backmost connected BALD

Justin Drake discusses Ethereum's Beam Chain program … and Solana

Network News

STRENGTH FOR ETH: The Ethereum blockchain's transaction gross has accrued substantially since Donald Trump's U.S. predetermination victory, Steno Research said successful a Monday report. "This result is important for each on-chain activity," wrote expert Mads Eberhardt. The surge has led to higher staking rewards and much ether (ETH) being burned via transaction fees, the study said. "This operation strengthens Ethereum's tokenomics," Steno said, making ether a much appealing asset. Steno noted that the magnitude of USDT connected the Ethereum web surpassed proviso connected the Tron blockchain for the archetypal clip successful much than 2 years. This is simply a wide motion that on-chain enactment is booming, resulting successful greater request for ether to facilitate transactions and higher transactional revenue. Read more.

BITCOIN GETS A DEX: Osmosis, a decentralized speech (DEX) built for the Cosmos blockchain ecosystem, has opened a span to the Bitcoin network, arsenic portion of a pivot toward the world's largest cryptocurrency. The decentralized autonomous enactment (DAO) that governs Osmosis voted successful favour of adopting Bitcoin span Nomic successful June. The integration went unrecorded connected Tuesday. Nomic's span present enables users to deposit their BTC connected the Bitcoin web successful instrumentality for a token called alloyed BTC (allBTC) connected Osmosis. “The caller happening with Nomic is that it’s each decentralized," said Matt Bell, CEO of Turbofish, the squad of developers down Nomic. "The full travel for users, from having Bitcoin successful their wallet to the Bitcoin being connected Osmosis, remains decentralized with Nomic. There’s nary Bitgo oregon Coinbase successful the middle.” In the large picture, Osmosis is 1 of respective projects attempting to leverage the worth tied up successful BTC, by acold the largest cryptocurrency by marketplace cap, to bring liquidity to the broader crypto world. Read more.

UNION LABS GETS $12M: Union Labs, a task focused connected helping blockchains pass with each other, has raised $12 cardinal successful a Series A backing circular led by Gumi Cryptos Capital and Longhash Ventures. The caller circular of funds volition beryllium utilized to grow Union’s halfway team, beforehand spouse integrations, and lend to ecosystem growth. The fundraising comes aft Union raised $4 cardinal successful effect financing past year. Borderless Capital participated successful the caller round, on with angels from the Polygon, Celestia, Movement, and Berachain communities, Union Labs said Tuesday. Union’s halfway merchandise is simply a modular, zero-knowledge (ZK) interoperability layer, designed to easiness question of assets betwixt the Ethereum and Cosmos ecosystems. Its mainnet is expected to spell unrecorded successful aboriginal 2025. Union is besides funny successful gathering successful the Bitcoin ecosystem, “addressing the chain’s scripting limitations to alteration unafraid plus transfers crossed Bitcoin L2s and the multichain ecosystem, enhancing DeFi connected Bitcoin,” the squad said. Read more

TO BALDLY GO… Critics accidental the Base blockchain, created by the Coinbase exchange, is excessively centralized. But if that were true, would anyone person been capable to make BALD, a meme coin launched connected Base past twelvemonth whose sanction mocked Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong's shiny pate? "BALD showed that Base wasn't going to beryllium this spot that was afloat manicured, curated, controlled, and centralized," says Jesse Pollak, Base's founder. "Bald showed that Base wasn't going to beryllium this spot that was afloat manicured, curated, controlled, and centralized." Too atrocious BALD besides turned retired to beryllium a rug, arsenic it were. Read more

ETHEREUM'S JUSTIN DRAKE SEES NO THREAT IN SOLANA

Ethereum developer Justin Drake said his broad connection to overhaul the second-largest blockchain's statement furniture isn't astir catching up with a rival, it's astir sticking astir for the agelong haul.

Drake unveiled the proposal, known arsenic the Beam Chain, astatine Ethereum's biennial Devcon gathering successful Bangkok past month, astatine a tim erstwhile the network's autochthonal token ETH is lagging down its counterparts astatine different large layer-1 blockchains.

The Ethereum web enjoyed wide adoption implicit the past fewer years, making it much costly and slower to use. In response, a cohort of layer-1s, known arsenic “Ethereum killers,” emerged successful 2020 to vie with Ethereum connected transaction speeds, and Solana has been seen arsenic the person of the back.

Recently, enactment connected Solana has exploded, chiefly acknowledgment to the surge of memecoins connected the blockchain, with users wondering whether it volition overtake Ethereum arsenic the “hot” chain.

But Drake said helium doesn’t spot Solana arsenic a menace to Ethereum, and neither does helium spot the Beam Chain arsenic a mode to reconstruct Ethereum’s borderline successful the abbreviated term.

The Beam Chain “is each astir improving the semipermanent wellness and information of the statement layer, it has thing to bash with performance,” Drake said successful an interrogation with CoinDesk.

“Solana has nary information for health. The lone happening they attraction astir is performance. They attraction astir reducing latency and expanding throughput,” Drake added.

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