What You Need to Know About ZkSync & Account Abstraction
Gelato Network Use Cases | Stani on Aave's GHO Stablecoin
GM, this is your Daily Bolt briefing.
Another week, another opportunity to broaden your understanding of crypto.
In today’s edition, we’re bringing you updated info from some of the most interesting projects and thought leaders in the space:
Team members from zkSync and Gelato give insights on scaling Ethereum and use cases available with account abstraction.
Aave Founder & CEO Stani Kulechov shares more on Aave’s upcoming GHO stablecoin and how Lens can popularize Web3 social media.
Over and out.⬇️
1/ Gelato Twitter Spaces - Key Catalysts for Mass Adoption with zkSync
Preview: In this Gelato Twitter Spaces, Luis and Hilmar from Gelato are joined by Omar from the zkSync team to discuss the key catalysts for the mass adoption of crypto, account abstraction, and more! Click here to listen to the full episode (62 mins).
Read our Note (10 mins) and save 52 mins.
Here are some key takeaways:
Gelato Network aims to be Web3’s decentralized backend; empowering builders to create automated, gasless & off-chain-aware applications.
Omar talks about the limitations of the current Ethereum experience, such as being able to sign only one transaction at a time, which creates friction for users. zkSync aims to address these issues by focusing on both scalability and UX problems.
Omar mentions that they looked at ERC-4337 (account abstraction without Ethereum protocol changes) and decided to deviate slightly from Ethereum to incorporate UX capabilities directly into the protocol for the long-term vision. One of the major changes made was adding account abstraction natively into zkSync, which is a key factor for mass adoption.
Luis mentions the feasibility of sponsoring transactions on cheaper networks like zkSync, which can greatly improve the UX by alleviating users from the complexities of gas markets and transactions.
Luis mentions that Gelato has developed an off-chain payment system called 1Balance, which is already in use on multiple chains. Convex uses this system to pay for all their bridge transactions, making it easy to manage across multiple chains. This service is also available on Polygon where Convex pays for transactions by depositing $USDC with Gelato.
Luis also talks about the single-chain aspect of the 1Balance Paymaster system. This allows sponsors to completely cover user transaction costs. This can be especially useful in scenarios like an NFT drop or gaming on zkSync where all transactions are paid for by users from a single balance. In this context, with account abstraction on zkSync, user experiences can be significantly enhanced with features like Session Keys.
Luis talks about the use of Gelato for account abstraction, such as its use by Gnosis on a rollup on Gnosis Pay where a Visa debit card with Euro payments will be settled on a rollup. He notes that there is a KYC mechanism likely due to the Visa debit card and discusses potential issues with KYC, such as potential black markets for KYC identities.
Luis talks about the idea of dropping NFTs to users who complete a quest or perform some action as a form of proof-of-work. He also suggests using an oracle or a Gelato Web3 function to authenticate requests, determine the DegenScore of a user, and impose rate limits based on these identification and authentication mechanisms.
Omar confirms they are simultaneously focusing on zkSync Era and their strategy for Hyperchains (the end game they envision at zkSync). Hyperchains can be zkRollups or a Balium, where the data stays off-chain.
Omar highlights that the Hyperchain strategy will be particularly beneficial for gaming companies and DeFi applications, as these sectors need large throughput and may prefer not to be impacted by other applications on the network.
Omar also foresees use cases for Hyperchains in the enterprise space, where they can control transaction costs and reduce the impact of gas spikes. Financial institutions may find Hyperchains beneficial for their need for privacy and controls, and to remain regulatory compliant.
2/ VanEck: Dive Deep into DeFi with Aave Founder Stani Kulechov
Preview: In this VanEck Twitter Spaces, Matthew and Rylan from VanEck hosted Stani Kulechov from Aave to discuss the future of DeFi and Web3, Aave's approach to ownership, culture, decentralization, and more! Click here to listen to the full episode (55 mins).
Read our Note (8 mins) and save 47 mins.
Here are some key takeaways:
VanEck is a traditional asset manager based in New York City that expanded its focus to include Bitcoin and crypto assets in 2017.
Matthew asks about Aave's decentralized over collateralized stablecoin, "GHO", which is currently on the Ethereum testnet, and what goals they have for it after launching on mainnet.
Stani explains how GHO works: users can earn on their collaterals while minting GHO, potentially leading to a situation where borrowing GHO effectively becomes interest-free. He hopes that GHO can diversify stablecoin liquidity in the Aave protocol, add functionality, and provide a direct yield source for the Aave DAO treasury. He sees a potential for GHO to facilitate peer-to-peer payments, envisioning it as a technical infrastructure for developers to build on and for users to use within the Aave protocol.
Rylan asks about the type of collateral that will be supported at the launch of $GHO.
Rylan asks about the type of collateral that will be supported at the launch of $GHO.
Stani replies that their approach will primarily involve Ethereum’s market diversity and collateralization, but initially, the supply cap will be narrow. He believes Aave's parameters and voting process will lead to a smaller launch. Stani thinks this is beneficial because it will allow the Aave community to build a more resilient infrastructure.
Matthew questions the impact of MakerDAO's launch of Spark protocol (a fork of Aave V3) on "$GHO".
Stani believes the revenue share proposal from MakerDAO for the Aave community was quite low. He sees room for more revenue sharing and closer ties between the communities. He highlights that Aave's strength lies in its constant innovation, which may give it an advantage in the long term.
Stani believes there won't be a "winner-takes-all" scenario, as was seen in Web2, since the data harvesting component is missing in Web3 platforms. Stani expects significant innovation in the Web3 social space with Lens Protocol leading the way.
If you read these 2 Notes on Revelo Intel you would have saved: 1 hour and 39 minutes!