Protocol Village: Berachain Closes $100M Series B Funding Round

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April 12: Blockchain platform Berachain closed oversubscribed Series B funding round, securing $100 million, according to the team: “Framework Ventures, one of the earliest VC firms to enter the DeFi space, and Brevan Howard Digital’s Abu Dhabi branch co-led the round. With 200+ applications committed to building on the chain at launch, Berachain’s goal is to develop the first blockchain ecosystem that aligns incentives for security and liquidity at the network level, allowing the liquidity present on the network to also serve as a source of security. The blockchain’s novel ‘Proof of Liquidity’ consensus mechanism gives application developers a unique incentive to build and grow on Berachain.”

EOracle Says the Market Can Incentivize Better Data

April 12: EOracle, a decentralized oracle network that , aims to enhance Ethereum’s security and data reliability through a trust marketplace – an incentive for accurate data, as founder and CEO Matan Sibon put it in an interview with CoinDesk. Creating a credible, neutral marketplace through eOracle allows for the matching of supply and demand with free market pricing, thereby fostering a more diverse and unbiased Oracle ecosystem that significantly reduces operational costs, Sibon said. “We think that a marketplace, an open market, a free market, is the best way of finding and allowing price discovery to any asset or service,” he said. Through EigenLayer, eOracle can use a decentralized network of Ethereum validators, enhancing the trust, diversity and security of the oracle system without requiring validators to provide additional, separate stakes. Sibon said that the next step for eOracle is the launch of a mainnet to enhance integration with Ethereum rollups and expand functionalities. – By Sam Reynolds in Taipei.

Chainlink Aims to Make Transfers Across Blockchains Safer with New Bridge App ‘Transporter’

April 12: Data provider Chainlink unveiled Thursday its blockchain bridge application called “Transporter,” which allows users to move crypto assets and data across multiple networks. Chainlink’s bridge is available for both individual users and institutions and aims to allow “a cost-efficient way to make high-value token transfers across blockchains with peace of mind,” a Chainlink spokesperson explained in an interview on Telegram. The first available blockchains for Transporter are Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, BNB Chain, Ethereum, Optimism, Polygon, and WEMIX, the press release said. CoinDesk 20 asset: (LINK)

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Tate Berenbaum Launches ‘AO Ventures,’ With $35M for Arweave Development

April 11: Tate Berenbaum, who reportedly raised $30 million while still a teenager for crypto startup Community Labs, has launched of AO Ventures, a 10-week incubator program dedicated to fostering development on Arweave and AO, according to a message from Berenbaum. “Over $35 million in capital has already been committed to the investment pool. The program will start in April and culminate in a Demo Day in June.” AO is described on the Community Labs website as a “hyper parallel computer” with a core objective of “merging the benefits of trust minimization with the speed and traditional computing environments.” The Arweave network is for “permanent information storage,” according to its website. (AR)

QED Launches L2O Consortium to Develop Bitcoin Layer 2 Solutions

April 11: QED Protocol, the world’s first zk-native blockchain protocol, together with StarkWare, zkLink, Mina Protocol, O(1) Labs, announced the launch of the L2O Consortium, a group of projects and protocols committed to bringing Bitcoin’s native security, internet scale, and interoperability to applications and Layer 2 solutions. According to a press release: “The consortium is developing reference implementations, tools, and resources for developers looking to build DApps or deploy Layer 2s on top of Bitcoin and enable trustless interoperability between applications by coordinating standards across solutions, leveraging ordinals and zero-knowledge proofs to bridge the technical gaps that previously hampered smart contract-like functionality on Bitcoin.” The reference implementations are here in the project documentation.

DLC.Link Uses Discreet Log Contracts to Create ‘Safer Wrapped Bitcoin’

April 11: DLC.Link, describing itself as the “self-wrapping trustless bridge to DeFi,” announced the release of dlcBTC, “a safer wrapped Bitcoin alternative, built utilizing discreet log contracts (DLCs).” According to the team: “DLC.Link created a trustless bridge between Bitcoin and Ethereum, transforming Bitcoin’s role in DeFi. DlcBTC represents a significant advancement in this transformation, allowing users to seamlessly utilize bitcoin across the Ethereum ecosystem while retaining full ownership of their assets. The newly launched dlcBTC enables depositors to engage in trading, lending and hedging while maintaining self-sovereignty.”

Auradine, Bitcoin Mining Rig Maker, Raises Series B Round of More Than $80M

April 11: Auradine, a maker of Bitcoin mining rigs, announced its Series B round of over $80 million. According to the team: “The Series B follows Auradine’s $81 million Series A, which was led by Celesta Capital and Mayfield in 2022.”

Galxe Identity Protocol Launches its Mainnet

April 11: The Galxe Identity Protocol has launched its mainnet, utilizing zero-knowledge proofs to grant users “autonomy over their digital identity and private data.” According to the team: “The protocol’s privacy-first design safeguards user identities, even in scenarios requiring public verification, and enables cross-domain pseudonymous identities, allowing users to maintain consistent identities across different platforms.”

AI Data Network Masa Deploys its Mainnet

April 11: Masa Network has launched its AI Data Network and Marketplace mainnet, allowing users to control and monetize their digital data while contributing to AI model training. The network ensures privacy and encryption of user data through “Zero-Knowledge Soulbound Tokens.”

Zest Protocol Brings On-Chain Lending to Bitcoin

April 11: Zest Protocol has opened its first public lending markets on the Stacks L2 platform, allowing Bitcoin holders to participate in on-chain lending. The initiative is part of the broader Nakamoto upgrade, which aims to expand Bitcoin’s utility in decentralized finance (DeFi).

EigenLayer-based Omni Network Gives Airdrop Details

April 11: Omni Network, an interoperability protocol powered by EigenLayer restaking, announced details for its OMNI Genesis airdrop program. This event will be instrumental in rewarding the Omni community and its partners across the Ethereum ecosystem. Omni has allocated 3% of its total token supply to its airdrop, which will be distributed amongst testnet users, dedicated Ethereum NFT collections and developers, investors, and others.

Diva Staking Launches “Nektar Network” to Compete with EigenLayer

April 10: Diva Staking, the liquid staking protocol on Ethereum, has introduced the Nektar Network, a “restaking” protocol that will compete with EigenLayer to let upstart networks borrow Ethereum’s security.

Ledger, Stader Labs Release “One-Click” ETH Staking on the Ledger Live App

April 10: Ledger, the crypto wallet maker, and Stader Labs, a liquid staking platform, have released a feature on the Ledger Live app allowing for “one-click ETH staking,” with extra rewards offered for early adopters. The product will be live at 8 a.m. UTC on April 15.

Thiel-Backed Layer N Launches Testnet

April 10: Layer N, a layer-2 network on Ethereum, has launched its testnet, following a $5 million funding round supported by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund. Designed as a network of rollups with a unified communication and liquidity layer, Layer N aims to optimize the execution layer for numerous applications while maintaining user-friendly experiences.

Edited by Bradley Keoun.