The Protocol


Tech

The Protocol: Friend.tech Fades as Crypto Craze, but Ethereum Is Scaling

This week in blockchain tech: Polygon's new "chain development kit," Farcaster's move to Optimism, Shibarium's return and Interlay's new Bitcoin layer-2 network, and Pancake Swap expands to Consensys's Linea.

The silver lining from the Friend.tech episode is that it reveals Ethereum's scaling strategy might be working. (Creative Commons)

Tech

The Protocol: Coinbase Blockchain's Viral Use Case Puts Focus on Optimism's Tech

The week in blockchain tech: Crypto-fueled social marketplace Friend.tech goes viral on Coinbase's new Base blockchain, Shiba Inu community's "Shibarium" network aims for fresh start, and Ethereum experts handicap the competition between leading technologies for layer-2 networks.

Chart shows surge in buyers on Base's Friend.tech app after the project announced it had received an investment earlier this year from the crypto-focused venture capital firm Paradigm. (Messari/Dune)

Tech

The Protocol: Blockchains Keep Launching, From Sei to Shibarium

The week in blockchain tech: Two much-hyped networks debut, though the launches weren't quite as smooth as organizers might have hoped. ALSO: What is restaking? (Answer: it's the blockchain security trend you didn't know you needed to know about.)

Shiba Inu Doge dog (Getty Images)

Tech

The Protocol: Coinbase Launches Own Blockchain as Sleuths Scour PayPal's Stablecoin Software

We're covering Coinbase's launch of "Base," a layer-2 network atop Ethereum, along with the crypto community's reaction to PayPal's new stablecoin and the brouhaha over Matter Labs' use of Polygon-crafted open-source software.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (Coinbase)

Tech

Ledger Recover Fiasco Exposes Gap Between Blockchain Ideals and Technical Reality

After a video went viral of what appears to be a hardware wallet getting smashed with a hammer and then blow-torched into a charred mass, Ledger (and all of the crypto industry) got a searing reminder on the importance of managing expectations.

Screen grab from video purporting to show a user smashing a hardware wallet with a hammer and then setting it ablaze with a blowtorch. (@oklahodl1/Twitter)

Tech

Ethereum Briefly Stopped Finalizing Transactions. What Happened?

The loss in finality meant that blocks could have been tampered with, and while it isn’t supposed to affect end-user experiences, it did lead to some inconveniences for some applications.

(Shubham Dhage/Unsplash)

Tech

Urbit, a Network Older and Weirder Than Bitcoin, Finally Turns Toward Growth

The peer-to-peer network started in 2002 says it's taking on "MEGACORP," much in the same vein as many blockchain networks. A bit more fun are the "secret code names" that users are assigned.

Josh Lehman, executive director, Urbit Foundation, spoke at Consensus 2023 in Austin, Texas, in April. (Shutterstock/CoinDesk)

Tech

Blockstream Developer Neigut Expects ‘Cambrian Explosion’ of Bitcoin Layer 2 Protocols

Bitcoin already has one of the most diverse layer 2 ecosystems of any network, but coming technology upgrades could lead to an acceleration in the blockchain's development, according to Blockstream's Lisa Neigut.

Blockstream's Lisa Neigut speaks at Consensus 2023 in Austin, Texas. (CoinDesk)

Tech

How the Hunt for Yet-to-Exist Tokens Is Shaping Ethereum’s Layer 2 Landscape

Token airdrops – and the prospect of them – have become the default customer acquisition strategy for Ethereum's layer 2 scaling projects. But is this strategy sustainable?

Layer 2s with native tokens and blockchain bridges might introduce more problems than they fix as blockchain scaling solutions, Trust Machine's Rena Shah argues. (Creative Commons, modified by CoinDesk)

Tech

CoinDesk Winds Down Ethereum Validator ‘Zelda,’ and We Now Wait to Get Money Back

Following last week's milestone Shanghai upgrade, we moved to wind down CoinDesk's Ethereum validator project, but it could be a week before the 32 ETH we staked (about $67,000 worth) hits our wallet. C. Spencer Beggs, our director of engineering, breaks down the technical steps he's taken.

Legend of Zelda. (Nintendo)