GM, this is your Daily Bolt briefing
In this edition we’ve included some notes on Maia DAO, a yield platform built on Metis. As L2s gain more popularity, it pays to pay attention to the projects building in and around these ecosystems, as they may stand to gain…
We’ve also included some notes from zkLink, an L3 execution layer centered around zkRollups. Learn how projects including Radiant and QuickSwap are utilizing ZK and LayerZero tech.
Over and out ⬇
1/ Maia DAO Ecosystem Weekly AMA Twitter Spaces – September 15th, 2023
Preview: 0x_bugsy hosted 0xLight to discuss progress, governance updates, marketing strategies, audit preparations, and more! Click here to listen to the full episode (36 mins).
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Bugsy says that they have updates on governance, marketing, and development. He highlights MIP-24, the vote allocation proposal, which has passed and been implemented. He mentions the new Maia gauge on the Hermes front end, which holds a share for voting. The rewards are accumulating there and being added to the treasury of Maia DAO.
0xLight says that 43,000 HERMES tokens have been claimed, confirming the effectiveness of the new governance proposal. Bugsy adds that these tokens will become core functionalities for Maia DAO, particularly benefiting its users when they launch Hermes V2.
0xLight says that after the Hermes V2 launch, the tokens will be fungible and can be in the same NFT. He mentions that there are cost-efficient approaches like farming for the DAO to accumulate more since they already have half of the supply. He says that the plan is to lock all the tokens as $veHERMES to give more voting power to everyone who stakes their tokens unless a governance proposal suggests otherwise.
Bugsy moves to marketing updates. He says that they are in talks with two or three news channels for additional AMA coverage, aimed at increasing their reach and tapping into new circles. They are focusing on both Arbitrum-focused communities and communities from different chains where they will have branches.
Bugsy mentions that they are in discussions with a small, crypto-native marketing firm. He says that this will allow them to connect with a variety of different ecosystems and teams. Many such connections have already been made.
Bugsy says they are increasing resource allocation for the graphics team, which will help in increasing throughput. He says that they are also working on other marketing efforts to increase community engagement and outreach.
0xLight says that the smart contract for their LayerZero repo is public and ready to be audited. He mentions that they're finalizing the exact date to start the audit, which requires a code freeze.
Bugsy highlights the importance of user experience, explaining that they aim to perfect every detail. He talks about the role of the testnet in gathering community feedback for quick iterations.
Bugsy explains that the marketing details were already covered in the updates section. He says they've been talking to several news channels for co-marketing efforts, including communities from various branch chains. Examples include Arbitrum News DAO and Matic News from Polygon. They are also in discussions with a small marketing firm with good connections to tap into new circles. All these marketing efforts build on ongoing business development efforts that have been active for at least the last 4-6 months.
Bugsy says that resources for the graphics team will be increased to ensure consistent quality. Additional efforts are still on the drawing board to boost community adoption and engagement, with updates expected within a couple of weeks. These initiatives aim to support the launch of V2 and ensure sustainable long-term adoption, particularly through the Hermes Games and Hermes Partnership programs.
2/ zkLink Twitter Spaces - Summer Tour Gathering #3
Preview: Camila hosted Teddy, Harrison, Isaac, Antonio, and Darren to discuss ZK-rollups, cross-chain, and more! Click here to listen to the full episode (63 mins).
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Isaac says Radiant is a leading cross-chain money market focusing on lending and borrowing. The platform aims to onboard the next 100 million users to DeFi by being a cross-chain protocol. Users can have collateral on one chain, borrow on a different chain, and repay on a third.
Harrison describes Space ID as a universal domain name aggregator and platform that simplifies domain name services for both users and developers. The platform allows users to manage, trade, and access multi-chain domain name ecosystems and offers developers a single API touchpoint.
Teddy says zkLink is a unified layer-3 ZK-rollup project focused on solving issues of security, user complexity, and liquidity fragmentation across various roll-ups and chains. The project aims to make it easier for developers to create DeFi-focused apps without worrying about liquidity or security.
Isaac says that the future is cross-chain and omni-chain, highlighting that ZK-rollups are bringing performance, security, and decentralization benefits. Radiant aims to make these advantages accessible to users without them having to worry about the specifics of the chains they are using. The platform uses LayerZero technology and aims to onboard 100 million new users to DeFi.
Harrison sees scalability as a crucial issue for mass adoption and mentions that ZK-rollups can improve throughput and decrease the cost of transactions. He sees this as vital for handling the next wave of users and applications in the crypto Space.
Teddy explains that ZK-rollups contribute by moving computational work from Layer-1 to side chains or Layer-2 chains. This results in reduced fees and increased privacy, which he sees as promising for attracting the next wave of users to the blockchain Space.
Isaac explains that looping is a strategy that benefits from ZK-rollups. Looping involves a repetitive lending and borrowing cycle, allowing users to maximize leverage and yield. On Ethereum's mainnet, this could be costly due to high gas fees. ZK-rollups offer significantly lower transaction costs, making this strategy accessible to small investors as well as big ones.
Teddy shares that zkLink has three different ecosystem projects: zkJump (cross-chain bridge), ZKEX (order book DEX), and OpenWorld (RWA trading protocol). Each of these projects takes advantage of the scalability, security, and privacy features that ZK-rollups offer.
Harrison highlights that ZK-rollups maximize on-chain capabilities. He mentions they present a novel approach compared to other layer solutions.
Camila asks about the challenges and limitations of ZK-rollups, and how projects are planning to overcome them.
Isaac identifies three challenges:
1) technical aspects like performance, throughput, and speed;
2) mass adoption, including user engagement and TVL (Total Value Locked);
3) the quality and long-term vision of protocols developed within the ZK rollup ecosystem.
Harrison adds that despite the promise, ZK-rollups face issues like siloing applications and interoperability among various layers. He expresses concern about the security aspect, pointing out that the smaller chains or roll-ups need to be as secure as the major chains to gain user trust. Harrison says that while ZK-rollups are promising, mainstream adoption still has a long way to go.
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