Tech
Behind the scenes as consensus grows among the greatest
Crowds have begun arriving in Austin, Texas, for Consensus, CoinDesk’s annual cryptocurrency conference, which runs Wednesday through Friday. We are incredibly excited about all the blockchain technology programming, as well as the ability to connect IRL with many industry contacts.
Here is our rundown of all the key programming in blockchain technology. (Along with a couple of helpful links to all the side events and parties!) We also have a preview of our program Decentralized AI Summit. (The undersigned will host the Protocol Village stage for a full day and a half and interview the creator of Ordinals/Runes Casey Rodarmor on the main stage Friday. We will also do a live recording of The Protocol podcast on Thursday.)
On Tuesday, as things were heating up in the city, I made the rounds: attending a summit on how to fund Bitcoin Core developers, an event hosted by the DePIN Akash project with crypto OG Eric Vorhees, and a happy hour party hosted by developer Sui Mysten Labs, Axelar developer Interop Labs, and Big Brain Holdings, an early-stage cryptocurrency investment firm. I also walked around the show floor and took some photos. Look down.
This article appears in the latest issue of The protocolour weekly newsletter exploring the technology behind cryptocurrencies, one block at a time. Sign up here to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday. We also invite you to consult our weekly magazine The protocol podcasts.
Grayscale Ethereum Trust’s discount to its net asset value (NAV) has narrowed with regulatory progress on Ethereum exchange-traded fund proposals. (Coin Metrics)
IMPLICATIONS OF THE ETH ETF – The United States Securities and Exchange Commission approved key regulatory documents for proposed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to the price of the Ethereum blockchain’s native cryptocurrency, ether (ETH) – after months of speculation that regulators would likely deny the instruments. While most Ethereum supporters probably applauded the move, as the price of the ETH token increased, developer shop Consensys couldn’t resist the opportunity to tweet that “this seemingly last-minute approval is yet another example of the SEC’s problematic ad hoc approach to digital assets.” Consent, that is reporting the agency, argued that the approval could mean Ethereum is no longer under threat of being declared a security, which would trigger tough regulations. The approval is not final, because the SEC has only approved 19b-4 filings for the proposals, as opposed to S-1 registration statements that would be required before ETFs can begin trading; the green light for those it could still take months. (This distinction caused a small controversy on the Polymarket betting platform, as some bettors who had bet on a denial claimed they had not officially lost.) What is clear from last week is that the SEC will not allow ETF issuers to stake their tokens ETH – essentially depriving holders of the tool to gain the extra yield. From a blockchain security perspective, this could mean that it exists less supply of ETH circulating available for use in Ethereum’s proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. “The inability for issuers to stake ETH could have potential downstream implications for ETH supply dynamics, the health of the Ethereum consensus layer, and the staking ecosystem as a whole,” according to a Tuesday report from analyst firm Coin Metrics. Another question might be how well new ETF buyers would actually understand how smart contract blockchain works.
DOGE DIRECTS: Kabosu, the Shiba Inu dog whose viral meme image inspired the creation of dogecoin, he died last week at 5pm. The success of DOGE then gave rise to a whole host of dog-themed tokens such as Shiba Inu (SHIB) and floki (FLOKI), which have since become one of the largest sectors in the industry overall. The Solana blockchain has dogwifthat (WIF). Tesla billionaire and X owner Elon Musk, whose tweets about DOGE have sent the token’s price soaring in the past, posted that “OG Doge has ascended to heaven.” In a few minutes, the the price went up up to 5% for a session high.
In a postscript to the Protocol report from last week on the discovery that two prominent researchers at the Ethereum Foundation had accepted paid consulting deals with the restaging platform EigenLayer, the foundation’s executive director, Aya Miyaguchi, wrote on X that “we have been working on a formal policy” to address potential conflicts of interest. “It is clear that relying on culture and individual judgment has not been sufficient,” she wrote.
Last week’s top picks from our Protocol Village column, highlighting the main updates and innovations in blockchain technology.
Ledger’s new “Stax” touchscreen hardware wallet (Ledger)
1. Registerthe crypto hardware wallet manufacturer, announced that Stax, a new touchscreen device, is now shipping to customers who have placed pre-orders. According to the team: “Stax is the first secure touchscreen device, offering clarity and security in signing transactions and securing your digital value. It was designed by Tony Fadell, maker of the iPod. New orders for Stax will be available this summer .”
3. Ethereum Name Service Labsthe company behind the ENS domain name protocol, proposed on Tuesday to go through a complete architectural redesign this would turn the network into a layer-2 blockchain. The proposal, called “ENSv2,” will overhaul the project’s ledger system as part of the transformation into a layer 2, which is an auxiliary network that provides cheaper transaction fees that can then be settled to the underlying blockchain, Ethereum.
4. Definity Foundationa major contributor to the Internet Computer (ICP), announced that his “EVM RPC canister”, described as “a new API that allows ICP smart contracts to read and write data across different chains”, is now live. According to the team: “The EVM RPC is another milestone in the development of Dfinity Chain fusion structure. It allows Internet Computer smart contracts to interact directly with all major blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, other EVMs and soon Solana, without having to rely on any intermediaries.”
5. Horizon Laboratoriesone of the main developers behind the Horizen blockchain, is launching “zkVerify, a dedicated zero-knowledge proof verification network designed for payment optimization, to address the largest expense that zkRollups and zkApps currently face and that limits scalability and efficiency,” according to the team: “ZkVerify alleviates the computationally intensive proof verification, allowing blockchains to focus on core functions. It integrates with several SNARK test schemes and reduces verification costs by up to 91%. It currently supports Ethereum and Bitcoin L2, with plans to expand to other architectures.
Our great annual conference begins Wednesday in Austin, Texas. We walked around and took some photos.
Crypto OG Eric Vorhees, who is now working on permissionless AI chat app Venice.ai, spoke Tuesday in Austin at a side event with Greg Osuri, CEO of Overclock Labs, creator of Akash, an open network that facilitates the secure and efficient buying and selling of computing resources. (Bradley Keun)
At the Bitcoin Network Longevity Summit on Tuesday, investors, developers and businesspeople discussed ways to provide funding to Bitcoin Core programmers. (Bradley Keun)
The show rises. The frequency of blinking will be high. (Bradley Keun)
CoinDesk programming coordinators perform a dress rehearsal with technical staff. (Bradley Keun)
Scene from the happy hour hosted by Sui developer Mysten Labs, Axelar developer Interop Labs, and Big Brain Holdings, an early-stage crypto investment company. (Bradley Keun)