gm, readers.
At Automata we work on protecting privacy and fairness. And in this newsletter, we find more reasons to talk about it. Explore headlines and catch up on the biggest crypto news in Web3 privacy.
This Week:
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Aleo announces ZKCamp, a 3-week course to equip developers in building ZK apps on the chain
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Aztec reveals Aztec Sandbox, a local developer testnet for privacy-first applications
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CBDC data privacy concerns raised in US hearing
Zooming into ZK:
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Zero Protocol proposes friendly fork of Uniswap V3 on Polygon zkEVM
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Taiko’s Alpha-5 testnet Jólnir goes live
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zkSync launches new ecosystem portal managed by DappRadar
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Layer-1 Canto migrates to ZK-powered Ethereum Layer-2 using Polygon’s CDK
Op-Ed feature:
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Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik shares views on the balance between transparency and privacy in blockchain
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Cointelegraph publishes an article about address poisoning attacks and how to avoid them
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Forbes Digital Assets writes about the importance of prioritizing privacy in crypto
Podcasts you missed:
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Aztec announces Fernet, its decentralized sequencer selection protocol
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Mina Protocol introduces MinaPortal and MetaMask Snaps open beta
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Linea and Pyth Network discuss fueling dApps with first-party data
We dive into the details, so you don’t have to:
Privacy concerns surrounding a potential US Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) took center stage during a congressional hearing, just days after an anti-CBDC bill was introduced. Witnesses before the House Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion expressed divided opinions. Norbert Michel, director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, noted the risk to privacy with CBDC that would “place all financial transactions either in a government database or leave them a keystroke away.” In contrast, Raul Carillo, a lecturer at Columbia Law School disagreed, noting that “crude opposition to CBDC based on surveillance grounds with no comparison to a real baseline, is blinkered and leads us to throw the baby out with the bathwater.” Ultimately, the final decision on CBDC has yet to be made, and most likely will not be made for an extended period of time.
Riding on the ZK wave, the anticipated Type 1 zkEVM Layer-2 chain Taiko launched its Alpha-5 Testnet Jólnir on 19 September 2023. A Type 1 zkEVM chain is fully Ethereum-equivalent, a concept that Vitalik introduced in August 2022. Thus far, Taiko appears to be the only zkEVM project that aims to be Type 1. This update follows after Taiko’s Alpha-4 Testnet Eldfell which was released 2 months ago on 18 July.
https://twitter.com/taikoxyz/status/1704141667853287568
Jólnir brings new design changes inspired by proposer-builder separation (PBS). One significant change is that proposers now need to acquire a bond from provers to propose a block, and provers need to deposit TTKOj tokens for the bond. Previously, proposers simply needed to deposit TTKO to propose a block. Details aside, this helps to ensure the liveness on the network for reliable delivery of communications and transactions. New updates also include an updated bridge implementation with improved UI.
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This newsletter is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional financial advice or interpreted as investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are volatile assets and you should always do your own research before making any informed decisions when investing or trading.