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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Privacy-first Layer-2 Aztec Network announces Grants Wave 3 to support devs building with Noir
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friend.tech, a rising Web3 social platform on Base, raises concerns with missing privacy policy
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Argentina joins other authorities to investigate Worldcoin over privacy concerns
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Unibot launches Unibot Cloud to protect users’ private keys
Zooming into ZK:
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a16z reveals ZK projects Lasso and Jolt to improve ZK technology
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Privacy-focused Layer-1 Findora launches Game-Specific Chains based on ZK tech
Op-Ed Feature:
- The importance of metadata privacy explained by HOPR founder Sebastian Bürgel on BeInCrypto
We dive into the details, so you don’t have to:
Heard of friend.tech? Branding themselves as “the marketplace for your friends”, friend.tech is a Web3 social application built on Coinbase’s L2, Base, which went live for the masses last week. In less than 24h after its invite-only beta launch, friend.tech drove over $8M in trading volume, attracting crypto influencers and KOLs with the opportunity to tokenize and monetize their reputation.
https://twitter.com/OlimpioCrypto/status/1690040129937960962
Despite taking the crypto space by storm, the privacy policy that is “Coming soon!” has raised eyebrows, leaving room for speculation over its revenue model and use of user data. If you’re interested in trying the app, read this thread by @DeFiIgnas with tips to protect your privacy.
https://twitter.com/RoofHanzo/status/1689762029559533568
On the ZK front, VC giant Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto division, a16z crypto, announced a pair of open-source projects, Lasso and Jolt. Dipping their hands into Web3 deep-tech research, a16z aims to improve the core tech behind ZK proofs by offering a more efficient and accessible approach to Succinct Non-interactive Argument of Knowledge (SNARK) design. Lasso is a new lookup argument, while Jolt (Just One Lookup Table) is set to be a framework that uses Lasso, designed for EVM rollups. The relevant research papers: Lasso and Jolt.
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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.