Margaux Nijkerk

Margaux Nijkerk reports on the Ethereum protocol and L2s. A graduate of Johns Hopkins and Emory universities, she has a masters in International Affairs & Economics. She holds BTC and ETH above CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.

Margaux Nijkerk

Latest from Margaux Nijkerk


Tech

Ethereum Finalizes 'Dencun' Upgrade, in Landmark Move to Reduce Data Fees

A key element of the upgrade is to enable a new place for storing data on Ethereum – referred to as "proto-danksharding," which gives room for a dedicated space on the blockchain that is separate from regular transactions, and comes at a lower cost.

Screenshot from Nethermind's Dencun watch party (Nethermind/YouTube)

Tech

Ethereum Blockchain Counts Down to 'Dencun' Upgrade, Set to Reduce Fees

The upgrade is designed to usher in a new era of cheaper fees for the growing array of layer-2 networks that operate on top of Ethereum.

Blocknative's Ethernow countdown to Dencun (Blocknative)

Tech

Ethereum Fees Set to Drop for Arbitrum, Polygon, Starknet, Base. But How Much?

Leading figures behind layer-2 teams told CoinDesk how Ethereum's upcoming Dencun upgrade will affect their networks – and costs.

Steven Goldfeder, CEO of Offchain Labs, the primary developer behind Arbitrum, speaks Thursday at ETHDenver. (Danny Nelson)

Tech

Polygon Lands Astar Network as First User of New 'AggLayer'

By plugging into the AggLayer, Astar users will have access to the liquidity in the Polygon ecosystem, allowing cross-chain transactions between Astar and Polygon zkEVM, supposedly making the experience feel like a single chain.

Polygon is promoting its new "AggLayer" by distributing hoodies with a depiction evocative of human evolution. (Margaux Nijkerk)

Tech

StarkWare Unveils New 'Stwo' Cryptographic Prover That's 'Blazingly Fast'

The upgraded prover should lead to faster and cheaper transactions, according to StarkWare. The news comes just a week after StarkWare and Polygon announced Circle STARKS, a new type of cryptographic proof.

StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson, speaking at ETHDenver on Thursday. (Danny Nelson)

Tech

Trading Platform Robinhood, Layer-2 Arbitrum Team Up To Offer Swaps To Users

Users of Robinhood’s self-custody wallet will have access to Arbitrum swaps in the next coming months. Arbitrum's ARB surged on the news.

Steven Goldfeder, CEO of Offchain Labs, the primary developer behind Arbitrum, speaks Thursday at ETHDenver. (Danny Nelson)

Tech

Coinbase Adds 'Smart Wallet' Feature, So Lengthy Seed Phrases Aren't Needed

The smart wallet will be an addition to Coinbase Wallet SDK, and the embedded wallets feature will be powered by "wallet as a service."

Recovery seed phrases for crypto wallets, like this 12-word version imagined by ChatGPT, would not be needed under the new Coinbase Wallet SDK feature. (CoinDesk/PhotoMosh)

Tech

Avail, an Ethereum Data Network to Rival Celestia, Raises $27M In Seed Round

The funds will be used to build out its three core products, "Avail DA," "Nexus" and "Fusion Security."

Avail co-founders Anurag Arjun and Prabal Banarjee (Avail)