1. The Problem: Limitations of the Existing Public Internet for High-Performance Distributed Systems

The current public internet, while a marvel of global connectivity, faces inherent limitations when it comes to the demanding needs of modern distributed systems like high-throughput blockchains. These limitations primarily revolve around latency, bandwidth predictability, and decentralization at the network layer.

Latency and Jitter: Information packets traversing the public internet often take non-deterministic routes, leading to variable delays (latency) and inconsistencies in arrival times (jitter). This is because the internet's routing system is primarily optimized for cost reduction, not speed.

As Austin Federa states, "...each time the packet is being routed over a different path in real time... if I ping from my house to your house constantly it might take you know 45 milliseconds the first time 75 milliseconds second time 35 milliseconds the third time..." This unpredictability is detrimental to applications requiring low and consistent latency, such as high-frequency trading and blockchain consensus mechanisms. "This doesn't work very well for high frequency trading... this barely works for something like YouTube..."

Bandwidth Limitations and Unpredictability: The public internet offers shared bandwidth, meaning the available capacity can fluctuate, leading to dropped packets and indeterminate experiences.

Austin Federa uses the analogy of calling an Uber versus having a private driver: "...you can probably get an Uber but like it might be four minutes,it might be 12 minutes might be $20, might be $8 right? There's a lot of variance that goes into that sort of experience."

Dedicated bandwidth, on the other hand, offers a more predictable and always-available connection.

Centralized Network Infrastructure: The physical infrastructure of the internet is surprisingly centralized, with a small number of tier-one service providers controlling a significant portion of the network.

Mato Ward notes, "...tier one service providers there's roughly was it 19 something along those lines that control the entire internet with peering agreements..."

This centralization presents potential censorship risks at the network level, a concern for decentralized and censorship-resistant blockchains. "The ethereum Nakamoto coefficient from a networking standpoint is something like four on salana it's basically two." (Austin Federa)

Inefficient Transaction Processing: On blockchains, validators currently receive and process a large volume of inbound transactions over the public internet, including invalid and duplicate ones, consuming significant computational resources.

Austin Federa explains, "...a validator spends about 70% of its time just sorting through transactions with invalid signatures duplicate transactions all this other kind of crap to get to the stuff it actually wants to put into the block."

2. DoubleZero's Solution: A Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN)

DoubleZero proposes building a new internet infrastructure (referred to as an "N1") based on a Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN). This involves:

Leveraging Underutilized Private Dark Fiber: DoubleZero aims to aggregate capacity from existing private fiber optic networks owned by entities like financial firms and telecommunications companies.

Austin Federa states, "DoubleZero envisions creating a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) of underutilized private dark fiber links and contributions from large network operators like financial firms and telcos."

Creating a Meshed Transport Layer: This aggregated fiber capacity will form a synchronized network designed for low-latency and high-bandwidth routing, optimized for distributed systems.

The goal is a "meshed transport layer that filters and serves traffic across low-latency and high-bandwidth routes, allowing distributed systems to send and receive information efficiently."

Individually contributed fiber links are combined to increase bandwidth, lower latency, and reduce jitter.

Applying Blockchain Principles: DoubleZero seeks to bring the benefits of private networking – dedicated bandwidth, predictable latency – while incorporating blockchain principles like credible neutrality, censorship resistance, and decentralization. "We set out to take sort of the best of the traditional you know private networking world and apply blockchain principles to it and see if we could build credibly neutral Bas layer infrastructure that also provides censorship resistance and decentralization." (Austin Federa)

Utilizing FPGA Technology at the Edge: DoubleZero plans to deploy specialized hardware, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), within its network switches. These FPGAs can perform tasks like signature verification and transaction deduplication at line rate, offloading work from validators and enhancing security and efficiency.

Austin Federa describes, "...within those fpgas we can build images that do signature verification that do transaction dupli fication that actually can Implement transaction signing can do all sorts of different types of operations accelerated... these fpgas can do signature verification and dupli fication of about a millisecond per transaction and can do about a 100 gigabits of throughput."

Mateo Ward adds, "...one of the properties of double zero uh is that we have user programmable fpga devices inside the double zero switches... you may want to uh inspect the packet to see if it has a valid signature on it... you may want to in the case of uh of a blockchain network you may want to ensure that transactions are only arriving at validator nodes one time..."

Implementing Multicast for Efficient State Propagation: DoubleZero intends to utilize multicast networking to streamline the dissemination of state transitions (like new blocks) to all network participants simultaneously, reducing bandwidth requirements and latency.

Austin Federa explains, "...if my validator is building a block and it has said here's my proposed block let me send it out... I am now sending that shred once and all of Merz rpcs are pulling it in all other validators on the network are automatically getting that data pushed to them..."

3. Economic Incentives and Tokenomics

DoubleZero will employ token incentives to attract network contributors (those providing fiber capacity) and users (like validators and RPC providers).

Token Rewards for Contributors: Contributors who dedicate unused capacity on their fiber networks to DoubleZero will be rewarded with tokens. This helps offset the cost of their infrastructure and creates a more decentralized base layer.

Austin Federa notes, "...if double Zero allows you to carve out let's say 10% of the fiber Network that you've run and say we're going to contribute this to double zero protocol we're going to get rewarded with token incentives..."

Fees for Network Usage: Validators and other entities requiring low-latency and high-performance connectivity will pay fees to utilize the DoubleZero network.

Austin Federa states, "...validators and other RPC Services me clients anything that is really time sensitive and where time matters they you know pay fees to use the network there's prioritization fees all these sorts of different economic models that are very native to crypto..."

Tokenomics Design: The tokenomics model will incorporate mechanisms to ensure economic integrity and long-term sustainability, including inflation management and potential token burning.

The inflation rate will be market-based, reacting to staking participation and aiming to counterbalance token burning over time to maintain a stable asymptotic supply. "This system of market signals and constraints governs the ultimate inflation rate in DoubleZero, such that it serves a purpose but does so sustainably."

The value provided by contributors is envisioned to be a function of traffic volume and the negative latency of that traffic (i.e., faster delivery of more data is more valuable). "The value function is simple. Taking its inspiration from the “Increase Bandwidth and Reduce Latency” rallying cry, it is simply traffic times the negative latency of that traffic, summed over all traffic types..."

4. Impact and Vision

DoubleZero aims to significantly enhance the performance and reliability of distributed systems, unlocking new possibilities and use cases, particularly within the blockchain space.

Faster Blockchains: By providing a low-latency and high-bandwidth communication layer, DoubleZero could enable blockchains like Solana to significantly increase their transaction throughput and reduce confirmation times.

Austin Federa believes, "...if we're successful in this we basically remove the entire networking layer as a constraint from software engineers..."

The demo of Solana running at one million transactions per second on a 12-node cluster utilizing Fire Dancer over the DoubleZero network highlights this potential.

More Decentralized and Resilient Networks: By incentivizing contributions from diverse network operators, DoubleZero aims to create a more geographically distributed and censorship-resistant network infrastructure compared to the current internet.

New Applications: The enhanced performance and determinism offered by DoubleZero could enable the development of new types of decentralized applications requiring high throughput and low latency, such as distributed gaming, high-frequency DeFi applications, and decentralized CDNs.

Austin Federa speculates, "...what would you do with 10 times more capacity on salana? I don't know that's not necessarily my job to figure out... our job is not to say I know what people are going to build on this thing... what I can do is describe the characteristics of the system and a bunch of people are going to go oh I could try building this thing..."

Focus on Base Layer Improvement: DoubleZero's core philosophy is to improve the fundamental infrastructure layer, allowing entrepreneurs and developers to build innovative applications on top without being constrained by network limitations. "Our goal is is to expand the capacity at the base layer and let entrepreneurs smarter than us come in and build better products and services on top of it." (Austin Federa)

5.Current Status and Next Steps

DoubleZero recently raised funds, it is currently in testnet, with a presence in seven cities around the world with significant Solana stake: Singapore, Tokyo, Los Angeles, New York, London, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt.

Each testnet location has a DoubleZero device providing connectivity over private bandwidth and equipped with FPGA technology.

The team is actively hiring, seeking senior engineers, network engineers, and professionals for the foundation side (marketing, network relations, etc.).

Key milestones include launching the mainnet, activating the first 100 Gigabit network link, and implementing permissionless bandwidth contribution.

The ambitious goal is to have permissionless validators running on DoubleZero and the full token functionality operational by Breakpoint 2025.

Conclusion:

DoubleZero represents a bold and ambitious undertaking to address the fundamental networking bottlenecks hindering the scalability and performance of distributed systems. By combining underutilized physical infrastructure with blockchain principles and cutting-edge hardware, DoubleZero aims to create a faster, more reliable, and more decentralized internet layer, potentially unlocking a new era of innovation for blockchains and other latency-sensitive applications.

https://x.com/doublezero

https://t.co/KU0GBzParM

Spicenet prioritizes speed and reliability with a goal of achieving soft confirmation times under 1ms and end-to-end latency between 30–200ms for users.

This article will explore Spicenet’s design choices, architecture, community airdrop and research efforts.

Distinguishing Features of Spicenet

Sovereign Rollups: Embracing Decentralization and Flexibility

Spicenet is a sovereign rollup, distinguishing it from the more common “settled rollups” like Arbitrum, Optimism, and zkSync. This distinction lies in how the canonical chain of the rollup is determined:

• Settled rollups: The base layer determines the canonical chain. While this approach inherits the security of the base layer, it also ties the rollup to the rules and consensus of that base layer. Essentially, settled rollups outsource settlement, data availability, and consensus to the base layer, retaining control only over execution. They cannot independently hardfork and must follow the base layer’s upgrades.

• Sovereign rollups: The rollup’s full nodes, representing its social consensus, determine the canonical chain. This allows the rollup to manage its own settlement, relying on the base layer solely for consensus and data availability. While inheriting the censorship and re-org resistance of the DA layer, sovereign rollups enjoy greater freedom and can execute hardforks independent of the base layer.

Sovereign rollups offer a more decentralized and flexible approach where the rollup community dictates its evolution and governance.

Interoperability Advantages of Sovereign Rollups

The sovereign rollup construction also presents advantages in interoperability. Settled rollups need to prove their state to the base layer (a costly process) to interact with other rollups, while sovereign rollups can directly interact using light clients or ZK proofs. This streamlines interoperability, reduces latency, and improves the user experience.

Celestia: A Dedicated Data Availability Layer

Spicenet utilizes Celestia as its data availability (DA) layer, opting not to rely on the Solana L1 for this purpose. Celestia offers a specialized service dedicated to providing DA for rollups. Here’s why Celestia was chosen:

• Proven Stability and Reliability: Celestia has been operational on mainnet for over six months, giving it a track record of stability and reliability compared to newer DA layers like EigenDA and Avail.

• High Bandwidth and Low Fees: Celestia boasts high data bandwidth and sustainably low fees. This is crucial for Spicenet’s high-performance requirements, ensuring efficient and cost-effective data storage and retrieval.

• Congestion-Free Environment: As a dedicated DA layer without a virtual machine, Celestia avoids the congestion often found on general-purpose L1s like Solana.

• Data Availability Sampling (DAS): Celestia’s potential use of DAS further enhances security. DAS enables rollup nodes to verify the DA layer’s state securely, contributing to the overall robustness of the system.

VM-less Design: Prioritizing Performance

Spicenet has deliberately chosen a VM-less design, meaning it does not rely on a virtual machine like the EVM or WASM to execute transactions. This decision stems from Spicenet’s focus on application-specific optimization for the PepperDEX exchange. Here’s why this approach is beneficial:

• Eliminating Unnecessary Overhead: VMs introduce overhead by compiling instructions to native code. By bypassing the VM layer, Spicenet avoids this overhead and maximizes performance.

• Leveraging Native Rust Performance: Spicenet’s application logic is written in pure Rust, compiled using traditional Rust tools, and implemented as “modules”. This provides direct access to native code execution, offering greater efficiency and performance.

• Simplified Development: The VM-less approach simplifies the development process, allowing developers to work with familiar Rust tools and avoid the intricacies of smart contract languages.

Asynchronous Execution: Decoupling Transaction Flow

Spicenet implements asynchronous execution, separating the transaction flow and increasing efficiency. This is inspired by L1s like Monad and Solana, where asynchronous execution either exists or is being explored.

How it works:

• Decoupling Consensus and Execution: In traditional rollup designs, pre-confirmations are only given after transactions are executed and a batch is prepared. Asynchronous execution allows nodes to reach consensus first without executing transactions. This is possible because execution is deterministic, meaning the result is always the same given a specific order of transactions.

• Pipelining Execution and Batching: The sequencer can execute older transactions while simultaneously ordering and batching newer transactions. This ‘pipelining’ significantly increases the execution budget of the sequencer, enabling higher throughput and reduced latency.

Benefits of Asynchronous Execution:

• Scalability Boost: The sequencer is no longer bound to execute every transaction immediately, allowing it to handle a much larger volume of transactions.

• Latency Reduction: By separating execution from the critical path, pre-confirmation times are significantly reduced.

• Simplified Transaction Flow: The overall transaction flow becomes simpler and more efficient, leading to a smoother user experience.

Challenges and Solutions for Asynchronous Execution

Despite its advantages, asynchronous execution introduces certain challenges:

1. Resource Pricing:

• Problem: As transactions are not executed instantly, invalid transactions may not pay the full gas cost for the resources they consume. This can lead to imbalances and potential spamming with invalid transactions.

• Solution: Spicenet aims to mitigate this by introducing gas fees for pre-flight checks, ensuring that even invalid transactions incur a cost. These checks might include validating signatures and checking account balances.

2. Malicious Full Node Behavior:

• Problem: Asynchronous execution means the sequencer doesn’t post Merkle roots with the batch, creating an opportunity for malicious full nodes to manipulate the state by using arbitrary execution rules to produce incorrect roots.

• Solution: Spicenet is exploring mechanisms to address this, such as using light nodes to verify the roots produced by full nodes and the sequencer. This would involve light nodes verifying Merkle proofs and attesting to the validity of the correct root, penalizing nodes that produce incorrect proofs.

Spicenet’s Architecture

Deterministic State Transition Function and the Sequencer

Spicenet prioritizes the reliability and validity of its internal state, which includes critical components like oracle prices and internal data structures. This is achieved through a deterministic state transition function (STF) and mechanisms designed to ensure the sequencer prioritizes keeping the exchange state updated.

Economic Backpressure:

• Ensuring State Updates: SpiceNet uses “Capabilities,” a feature of the Sovereign SDK, to incentivize the sequencer to include specific transactions that keep the exchange state up-to-date.

• Incentivized Rulesets: These capabilities include rulesets that, when not met, penalize the sequencer by withholding rewards.

• Prioritizing Critical Transactions: Examples of such rulesets include checking for recent oracle updates or the presence of liquidatable accounts. By enforcing these rules, the sequencer is economically motivated to prioritize transactions that are essential for the smooth operation of the exchange.

Solving the Supply Side:

• Ensuring Transaction Initiation: Spicenet employs a two-pronged approach to ensure a consistent supply of transactions that update the internal state.

• Keeper Network: A network of keeper nodes is incentivized to periodically create new transactions, such as oracle price updates. The concurrent actions of these nodes minimize the risk of unresponsiveness or single points of failure.

• Sequencer as Backup: If the keeper network fails, the sequencer can be used as a last resort to initiate these critical transactions.

Call Messages: Prioritizing Specific State Transitions

To further manage the priority of state transitions, Spicenet uses “Call Messages”. These can be thought of as pre-defined state transitions with specific parameters and expected results. For instance, a UpdateOracle call message would specify the oracle feeds to update and the price updates themselves. This allows Spicenet to prioritize certain state transitions over others, ensuring the smooth and efficient operation of the exchange.

Nearly Optimal Merkle Tree (NOMT): Optimizing State Commitment

One of the biggest bottlenecks in blockchain systems is committing to state, a process that involves recalculating the root of a Merkle tree. To address this, the Sovereign SDK, and consequently Spicenet, utilizes the Nearly Optimal Merkle Tree (NOMT).

Key improvements of NOMT:

• Binary Tree Structure: Shifting from a 16-ary or larger tree to a binary tree structure simplifies the tree and reduces the number of nodes needed for recalculation.

• Optimized Disk Layout: Improving the layout of the tree on disk further enhances efficiency and reduces access times.

• Metadata Compression: Compression techniques, including the use of discriminants, minimize the storage requirements for metadata.

• Padding-Free Hashing: A padding-free hasher reduces the size of compressed data.

• Blake3 Hash Function: The use of the Blake3 hash function allows for significantly larger leaf nodes, improving efficiency.

• Aggressive Caching: Regularly accessed nodes are cached, minimizing repeated accesses to disk.

• Batch Writing: Writing to the tree in batches reduces overhead.

• Avoiding Unnecessary Commitments: The system avoids committing to the Merkle tree unless absolutely necessary, further reducing overhead.

Spicenet’s Additional Improvements:

Spicenet is building upon the NOMT with its own optimizations focused on managing database load. These include using asynchronous I/O and pipelining techniques to improve state access mechanisms, leading to better read/write performance.

Execution Layer and Performance Considerations

Sequential vs. Parallel Execution

Spicenet currently employs sequential execution, meaning transactions are processed one after the other. While the current trend in blockchain development emphasizes parallel execution for increased performance, Spicenet recognizes that state commitment remains the primary bottleneck.

Prioritizing Scalable State Commitment:

• Distributing work across multiple cores without addressing state commitment overhead leads to performance degradation.

• Sequential execution, when combined with a highly scalable state commitment scheme like NOMT, results in superior performance.

Future Plans for Parallelism:

• Spicenet plans to incorporate parallel execution as part of its Velocity runtime upgrade, but only after ensuring a robust and scalable state commitment engine.

• Parallelism will involve optimizing various aspects of the execution pipeline beyond just transaction processing, including sub-tree computation and recursive ZK proof generation.

Sharding: Horizontal Scaling for Future Growth

To further enhance scalability and decentralization, Spicenet is exploring sharding. Sharding involves running different instances of the network concurrently, each handling a portion of the overall workload, effectively scaling compute and state access horizontally. This approach becomes particularly relevant as Spicenet aims to expand its product offerings beyond just crypto derivatives.

Sequencer Clustering:

• A less radical approach to sharding, sequencer clustering involves distributing the tasks of the centralized sequencer across multiple specialized machines.

• This setup allows for horizontal scaling by adding more machines as demand increases while maintaining a degree of centralized control.

• The SequencerDAG manages ordering and directs transactions to different includers, while the executor processes transactions based on the SequencerDAG’s instructions.

Full Sharding:

• This approach involves a more complex architecture where multiple execution shards operate concurrently alongside a consensus shard.

• Execution shards handle specific product verticals, while the consensus shard ensures consistency and manages cross-shard communication.

• Stake versatility allows validators to secure both the consensus and execution shards, simplifying the system and enhancing security.

• Sharding would allow Spicenet to scale horizontally while maintaining a high level of performance and decentralization.

The Velocity Stack: A Comprehensive Performance Upgrade

Spicenet is developing the Velocity stack, a major upgrade aimed at significantly improving its performance and scalability. This upgrade targets various aspects of the Spicenet architecture, including networking, runtime, and state commitment.

Networking Improvements:

• Optimized Transaction Ingestion: The Velocity stack introduces “tiling” to improve the node software’s ability to handle incoming transaction load. Tiling enables multiple processes within a node, each handling a portion of the traffic and distributing workloads across available cores. This significantly reduces Time To Pre-Confirmation (TTPC).

• Novel Gossip Protocol: A new, lightweight gossip protocol based on QUIC aims to replace heavier and more complex libraries like libp2p. This change simplifies the protocol, enhancing scalability and efficiency in node-to-node communication.

Runtime Enhancements:

• Parallelized Execution: Tiling is also implemented within the runtime, allowing for horizontal scaling of execution workloads by dividing the execution process across multiple tiles.

• Block-STM for Concurrency Control: Spicenet is considering Block-STM for managing concurrency and fault tolerance in its parallelized runtime. Block-STM, known for its optimistic concurrency protocol, allows for high parallelism and dynamic dependency estimation.

• Pipelining Between Tiles: Pipelining between tiles ensures that one tile doesn’t have to wait for others to finish processing, leading to more efficient resource utilization and faster execution.

State Commitment Scaling:

• Asynchronous I/O: Spicenet plans to introduce asynchronous I/O to interact with the NOMT state database more efficiently. This allows the execution engine to initiate read/write operations without blocking, improving responsiveness and reducing idle time.

• Namespaced Merkle Tree: Namespacing the Merkle tree is being considered to allow for parallelized computation of the tree root, potentially speeding up insertions and updates.

Optimistic Rollup with ZK Fraud Proofs: Striking a Balance

Spicenet is initially an optimistic rollup, meaning the sequencer proposes state transitions without formal proofs.

However, Spicenet uses Zero-Knowledge (ZK) fraud proofs to ensure the validity of these transitions and provide security. This hybrid approach aims to strike a balance between the speed of optimistic rollups and the security of ZK rollups.

ZK Fraud Proofs vs. Interactive Verification Games:

• Traditional optimistic rollups rely on interactive verification games (IVGs) to challenge incorrect state transitions. IVGs involve a back-and-forth process between the challenger and the asserter, which can be complex and time-consuming.

• ZK fraud proofs offer a simpler and more efficient alternative. In case of a challenge, a ZK proof is generated to prove the correct computation of the state transition. This proof can be verified much faster than an IVG, significantly reducing the challenge period.

Benefits of ZK Fraud Proofs:

• Simplicity and Reduced Complexity: ZK fraud proofs simplify the challenge process and reduce the risk of implementation bugs compared to IVGs.

• Faster Challenge Resolution: Verification of a ZK fraud proof requires only a single on-chain transaction, reducing the challenge period from days to hours.

• Improved User Experience: Faster challenge resolution leads to shorter withdrawal periods, enhancing the user experience.

Risks and Mitigation Strategies:

• Prover Robustness: The reliability of the ZK prover is critical to the security of the system.

• Mitigation: Spicenet is considering using ZK VMs to minimize the risks associated with custom provers. ZK VMs are more readily auditable, have a lower bug surface, and can be reused across multiple applications.

Transitioning to a Full ZK-Rollup:

Spicenet plans to transition to a full ZK-rollup when the technology matures, specifically when the cost and efficiency of continuous ZK proving improve. This transition will be facilitated by Project Artemis, which utilizes ZK technology for trust-minimized bridging and secure interoperability.

Preferred and Based Sequencing: Flexibility and Decentralization

Spicenet offers both preferred and based sequencing options to provide users with flexibility and promote decentralization.

Preferred Sequencing:

• A single, centralized sequencer handles transaction ordering and execution, offering the benefits of speed and efficiency associated with centralized systems.

• The preferred sequencer has control over the state and can provide pre-confirmations, offering a low-latency experience for users.

Based Sequencing:

• Users can choose to self-sequence their transactions, acting as their own sequencer, particularly if their transactions exceed a certain size limit.

• This option provides increased decentralization and potentially better inclusion metrics as users are not reliant on the preferred sequencer.

• Based sequencing offers faster confirmation times than traditional force inclusion mechanisms like those used in Arbitrum, as finality is achieved within a few Celestia blocks (around 30 seconds).

Addressing Challenges of Force Inclusion:

SpiceNet’s based sequencing model aims to overcome the limitations of force inclusion mechanisms found in other rollups:

• User-Friendly Sequencing: Users can easily switch between preferred and based sequencing within the Spicenet wallet.

• Improved Performance: Based sequencing offers significantly faster confirmation times compared to the day-long delays found in force inclusion systems.

• Based Pre-confirmations: Spicenet is exploring the possibility of based pre-confirmations, allowing the current Celestia block proposer to offer inclusion guarantees.

Balancing Centralization and Decentralization:

The preferred sequencer generally offers the fastest path to transaction inclusion with instant pre-confirmations. However, based sequencing provides a decentralized alternative and faster confirmation times compared to force inclusion mechanisms. This dual approach allows Spicenet to maintain low latency in most scenarios while offering a more decentralized option when needed.

Community Structure and Airdrop Allocations

Spicenet has a vibrant community that plays a crucial role in its ecosystem. Members can participate in various community activities and initiatives to earn rewards and contribute to the project’s development.

Community Roles:

• Chillis: The default role assigned to all verified community members.

• Spice Chads: Active members who participate in community activities and engage in meaningful discussions. They are eligible for 20% of the ecosystem airdrops.

• Spice Kings: More dedicated members who contribute significantly to the community, earning them 30% of the airdrops and priority access to new features.

• Spice Gods: The most impactful members who receive 50% of the airdrops, highest priority access, and potential whitelist opportunities.

Earning Roles:

• Participation in PepperDEX community activities, such as calls, game nights, and poker games.

• Engagement in Spicenet-related Twitter spaces and with the Spiceconekt platform.

• Creation and sharing of community-based memes, GIFs, and social media posts about PepperDEX and Spicenet.

Spoints and Role Acquisition:

• Community contributions earn members “Spoints,” which can be traded for roles within the Spiceconekt marketplace.

• Roles are acquired progressively: Chad, then King, then God.

Airdrop Allocations:

• The community receives a total of 5% of the SPICE tokens at Token Generation Event (TGE).

• Spice Gods: 2.5%, capped at 200 slots, each eligible for 12,500 SPICE.

• Spice Kings: 1.5%, capped at 800 slots, each eligible for 1,875 SPICE.

• Spice Chads: 1%, with no cap on the number of eligible members.

This community structure encourages active participation and rewards those who contribute to the growth and development of the Spicenet ecosystem.

Conclusion

Spicenet represents a unique approach to building a high-performance, decentralized trading platform. By combining the sovereignty and flexibility of sovereign rollups with the efficiency of a dedicated DA layer and a VM-less design, Spicenet aims to deliver a trading experience that rivals centralized exchanges. Its focus on continuous research and development, as demonstrated by the Velocity stack and the exploration of sharding, indicates a strong commitment to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the decentralized trading landscape.

Through community engagement and a clear focus on user experience, Spicenet is poised to play a significant role in the future of decentralized finance.

LINKS

Website | Twitter | Discord

The Genesis of 6079: Addressing the Centralization of AI

The driving force behind 6079 stems from a growing concern about the increasing centralization of AI, with major corporations controlling both the compute power and the “currency” of AI, potentially leading to a form of “digital tyranny”. 6079 seeks to counteract this trend by advocating for a decentralized AI ecosystem that empowers individuals and fosters open access to AI technologies.

6079’s Core Principles: Openness, Decentralization, and Collaboration

Central to 6079’s philosophy are the principles of openness, decentralization, and collaboration. These principles are reflected in the protocol’s open-source nature, its community-driven governance model, and its emphasis on fostering a global network of AI contributors. 6079 believes that these principles are crucial for promoting innovation, ensuring ethical AI development, and safeguarding the future of intelligence.

6079’s Technical Foundation: The Proof of Inference Protocol (PoIP)

The Proof of Inference Protocol (PoIP) is the technical backbone of the 6079 ecosystem.

It is a novel consensus mechanism specifically designed to address the challenges of validating AI computations in a decentralized setting, particularly those involving large language models (LLMs) with non-deterministic outputs.

The Problem: Verifying AI Inference on Decentralized Infrastructure

Traditional blockchain consensus mechanisms, such as Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS), are well-suited for verifying transactions on a distributed ledger. However, they face limitations when it comes to verifying the integrity of AI computations, especially those involving complex models like LLMs.

These models are non-deterministic, meaning that their outputs can vary even with the same input, making it difficult to establish a definitive “correct” result.

The Solution: A Multi-Layered Cryptoeconomic Security Approach

PoIP tackles this challenge by employing a multi-layered approach that combines cryptographic techniques, diagnostic tests, game-theoretic mechanisms, and economic incentives. This approach aims to quantify and maximize the Cost-of-Corruption (CoC) while minimizing the Profit-from-Corruption (PfC), making it economically impractical for malicious actors to disrupt the network.

The PoIP Architecture: Enabling Secure and Efficient Decentralized AI Inference

PoIP comprises several interconnected layers that work in harmony to ensure the security and efficiency of decentralized AI inference.

1. Inference Engine: Orchestrating AI Computations

The Inference Engine is responsible for executing AI computations across a decentralized network of GPUs. It facilitates communication between Agents (entities requesting AI inference) and GPU Nodes (entities providing computational resources), ensuring seamless task distribution and result compilation.

2. Transaction Layer: Ensuring Data Integrity and Synchronization

The Transaction Layer utilizes a Distributed Hash Table (DHT) to synchronize transaction data across participating nodes.This layer employs Merkle tree validation to guarantee the integrity of input data sent to each GPU, detecting any tampering or corruption. Flagged transactions are then routed to the Economic Layer for further action.

3. Probabilistic Proof Layer: Incentivizing Compliance and Deterring Malicious Behavior

The Probabilistic Proof Layer employs various mechanisms to incentivize compliant behavior and discourage malicious activity. These include:

●Onboarding Diagnostics and Performance Tests: GPU nodes undergo rigorous testing upon joining the network to verify their claimed capabilities.

●Reputation Building: Successful task completion enhances a node’s reputation, making it more attractive to agents.

●Staking: Nodes can stake tokens to demonstrate their commitment to the network and increase the cost of malicious behavior.

●Competitive Game Theoretic Mechanisms: These mechanisms, including the protocol’s inherent design and the use of simulated transactions, promote cooperation and deter cheating.

4. Economic Layer: Grounding the Network in Trustless On-Chain Record Keeping

The Economic Layer serves as the foundation of the network, providing a trustless and transparent record of transactions, reputation scores, and staking activities. This layer utilizes:

●6079 Ethereum ERC-20 Token: This token facilitates network security, governance, and serves as a medium of exchange.

●6079 On-chain Settlement Contract: This contract handles transaction settlements, compliance disputes, and enforces staking/slashing mechanisms.

The 6079 Ecosystem: Fostering a Vibrant Community of Contributors

Beyond its technical infrastructure, 6079 emphasizes the importance of building a thriving community of contributors.

1. Industry Consortium: Establishing Standards for Decentralized AI

The Industry Consortium brings together leading De/AI projects, protocols, and contributors to co-develop open and permissionless interoperability standards.

This collaborative effort aims to enhance the security and competitiveness of DePIN networks and foster a public foundation of trust in Decentralized AI.

2. Gamified Proof of Inference: Incentivizing Participation and Innovation

The Gamified Proof of Inference leverages competitive game mechanics to test and demonstrate the capabilities of AI endpoints, incentivizing providers, validators, and agents to participate and innovate.

3. Contributor Grants: Supporting Development and Community Growth

The Contributor Grants program provides funding and support to individuals and companies working on projects that advance the protocol and its standards.

These grants are awarded in the form of $THINK governance tokens, empowering community members to shape the future of the 6079 ecosystem.

Conclusion: 6079 — A Vision for a More Open, Accessible, and Secure AI Future

6079 represents a bold vision for the future of AI, one where intelligence is accessible to all and controlled by none. By leveraging the power of blockchain technology, game theory, and community collaboration, 6079 aims to create a decentralized AI ecosystem that is secure, transparent, and resistant to corruption.

The Proof of Inference Protocol (PoIP) stands as a testament to 6079’s commitment to innovation and technical excellence.

By addressing the unique challenges of verifying AI computations in a decentralized setting, PoIP paves the way for the development of a wide range of AI applications that can benefit from increased security, privacy, and scalability.

6079’s emphasis on community building is equally commendable.

By fostering an open and collaborative environment, 6079 encourages the participation of developers, researchers, and enthusiasts from all backgrounds, ensuring that the development of decentralized AI is driven by a diverse range of perspectives and expertise.

As the AI landscape continues to evolve, 6079 stands as a beacon of hope for a more equitable and accessible future.

By championing the principles of openness, decentralization, and community involvement, 6079 has the potential to democratize access to AI technologies, empower individuals, and unlock the full potential of AI for the betterment of society.

Earn 6079 tokens by completing basic tasks

https://6079.ai/?ref=W6XOKYNB

LINKS

Twitter | Website | Discord

Tokens are the lifeblood of any ecosystem, they serve as the medium of exchange between service providers and service consumers, they act as incentive rails, confers governance powers on holders and lots more. In this article,we go over the token economy of Autonity

First, what is Autonity

As per their website, Autonity is a public, EVM based, proof-of-stake blockchain for decentralized clearing of smart derivatives contracts.

That is it public,it means anyone anywhere can contribute to secure and develop to or use the network, EVM based meaning developers who are already familiar with Ethereum or EVM based development can easily pick up building on Autonity.

The network is composed of 4 components, the Autonity Protocol, The oracle, the DAX and CAX.

Unique Token Model

The network comprises 3 different tokens :Auton (ATN) , Neutron (NTN) and Liquid Neutron (LNTN).

Auton : It is a decentralized stablecoin similar to DAI in the Ethereum ecosystem, to get your hands on ATN, a user either has mint it through a collateralized debt position( that is deposit NTN to mint ATN) or  a user has buy already minted ATN from exchanges.

Neutron : As earlier mentioned, Autonity is a proof of stake blockchain, NTN is the token validators have to stake to secure the network. Staking or delegating ATN will also enable users get ATN as staking rewards. NTN is a volatile asset unlike ATN, it can be traded on centralized exchanges, users can mint ATN with NTN. NTN also serves a a governance token

Liquid Neutron  : It is the liquified version of NTN, Liquid stake tokens (LSTs) are answer to the liquidity challenge on many blockchains. Users are torn between going for juicy rewards obtained only by DeFi or secure their beloved network for less rewards compared to DeFi yields. Another challenge is that staked tokens are locked away, unusable for any operation.

Liquid NTN is a way for users to stake and secure the network as well as have the flexibility of engaging various DeFi primitives for their benefits.

How is ATN price stabilised

As earlier mentioned, ATN is a stable currency, it is pegged to a basket of 7 currencies. Since it’s a form of money, it subjected to various economic and market forces.Since ATN is minted through a CDP, the price of ATN is regulated market forces, when ATN price goes to high, the protocol will raise interest rates in a bid to achieve price balance and when the prce of ATN is below a certain, the interest rate is lowered to achieve high borrowing which in turn reflect on the price.

Learn More

Website | Twitter | Discord | Github

Kamino Finance is a comprehensive DeFi platform built on the Solana blockchain, offering a range of features including concentrated liquidity management, lending, leverage, and yield-bearing LP tokens. Here's a breakdown of the key components and features highlighted in the text:

1. Concentrated Liquidity Management: Kamino Finance allows liquidity providers to allocate assets in specific price ranges, enhancing capital efficiency compared to traditional AMMs where liquidity is spread across the entire price range.

2. Product Suite: Kamino Finance offers various features such as Borrow and Lend, Multiply Vaults, Long/Short Vaults, Liquidity Vaults, and a DIY Vault Creator. These features enable users to engage in multiple financial activities on one platform.

3. kTokens: Yield-bearing LP tokens issued by Kamino liquidity vaults, serving as collateral in lending protocols and enabling various DeFi strategies.

4. Kamino Points: A reward system designed to enhance user engagement and loyalty, earned through various platform activities. KMNO tokens, the governance token of the protocol, are distributed via airdrops based on Kamino Points earned.

5. K-Lend: A lending protocol facilitating peer-to-pool lending, borrowing, and liquidity provision, with features such as Elevation Mode for efficient loan-to-value ratios and a poly-linear interest rate curve.

6. Multiply Vaults: Enable users to amplify exposure to yield-bearing assets through leveraged positions, with measures like auto-deleverage to manage risks.

7. Long/Short Vaults: Allow users to take leveraged bets on asset prices without directly owning them, enhancing potential gains but also multiplying losses.

8. Collaboration with Meteora: Kamino Finance collaborates with Meteora to offer improved liquidity strategies, boost liquidity in the Solana ecosystem, and provide a user-friendly DeFi experience.

9. Kamino Points Airdrop: KMNO tokens are distributed via multiple airdrops based on Kamino Points earned by users, fostering community participation and governance influence.

10. How to Get Started: Users can connect their Solana-compatible wallets, explore different products/services offered by Kamino Finance, deposit assets into liquidity pools, earn yield, and participate in Kamino Points to earn KMNO tokens.

KAMINO POINTS

Earning Kamino Points on the Kamino Finance platform involves actively participating in various activities within the ecosystem. Here are some ways to earn Kamino Points:

1. Provide Liquidity: Users can earn Kamino Points by providing liquidity to eligible pools on the platform. The more liquidity you contribute, the higher your Kamino Points rewards are likely to be.

2. Engage in Trading Activities: Active participation in trading activities within Kamino Finance can also earn you Kamino Points, typically based on your trading volume. Higher trading volumes may result in increased Kamino Points rewards.

3. Participate in Yield Farming Programs: Kamino Finance may offer yield farming programs where users can stake LP tokens or Kamino Points in specified farms to earn extra Kamino Points as rewards.

4. Contribute to Governance Decisions: Active engagement in governance decisions within the Kamino Finance ecosystem may also earn you Kamino Points as a reward for your contribution to the platform's development and evolution.

5. Check Kamino Points Balance: Users can check how many Kamino Points they've earned by accessing their account dashboard or specific sections within the Kamino Finance platform dedicated to Kamino Points tracking.

In conclusion, Kamino Finance stands out in the Solana ecosystem for its innovative approach to concentrated liquidity management, lending, and leverage, coupled with robust incentive mechanisms to drive user engagement and loyalty.

https://app.kamino.finance/

Why Binance

1. Possibility of airdrop : Space ID, Arkham, Cyberconnect etc all did an airdrop

2. Possibility of exchange listing : If they backed the project, the possibility of listing it is also high.

Kontos

• Kontos is a layer-2 account protocol that uses zero-knowledge technology to offer a seamless user experience and unparalleled security.

• Kontos allows users to have a single account for multiple blockchains, eliminating the need to manage multiple accounts and assets across different networks.

• Kontos addresses the challenge of cross-chain interoperability by enabling users to transfer tokens between different chains with low gas fees.

• Kontos offers a readable address system and social recovery mechanism to improve security and usability.

• Kontos is a game-changer for the blockchain ecosystem, making it more accessible and inclusive for users.

What can you do

Get a OS domain for free

Follow their twitter to monitor regular campaigns

Use the platform

Links : Website Twitter

Helio Protocol

Helio Protocol is a decentralized over-collateralized lending and liquid staking platform on the BNB Chain. It is a destablecoin protocol that uses BNB as collateral to mint HAY, a new stablecoin that is pegged to the US dollar. HAY can be used to borrow assets on the Helio Protocol, or it can be staked to earn rewards. The Helio Protocol is designed to be more decentralized and efficient than traditional lending and staking platforms.

https://helio.money/

Here are some of the key features of Helio Protocol:

• Over-collateralized lending: Loans on the Helio Protocol are over-collateralized, meaning that borrowers must deposit more collateral than the amount they are borrowing. This helps to protect lenders from losses in the event of a borrower default.

• Liquid staking: Users can stake their HAY tokens on the Helio Protocol to earn rewards. Staking is a process of locking up tokens in order to support the network and earn rewards.

• Destablecoin: HAY is a destablecoin, which means that it is not pegged to any underlying asset. This makes it more volatile than traditional stablecoins, but it also offers the potential for higher returns.

• Decentralized: The Helio Protocol is a decentralized platform, which means that it is not controlled by any single entity. This makes it more secure and resistant to censorship.

What can you do

1. Follow their twitter to monitor regular campaigns

2. Use the platform : stake tokens, provide LP rewards, take loans etc

Links : Website Twitter

Manta Network

Manta Network is a privacy-preserving protocol built on the Polkadot blockchain. It uses zero-knowledge proofs to allow users to keep their transactions private, even from other users on the network. Manta Network also offers a number of other features, such as zkNFTs and MantaPay, which make it a powerful tool for privacy-preserving DeFi applications.

Here are some of the key features of Manta Network:

• Zero-knowledge proofs: Manta Network uses zero-knowledge proofs to allow users to keep their transactions private. This means that other users on the network cannot see who is sending or receiving funds, or the amount of funds being transferred.

• zkNFTs: Manta Network supports zkNFTs, which are non-fungible tokens that are secured by zero-knowledge proofs. This makes zkNFTs more private and secure than traditional NFTs.

• MantaPay: MantaPay is a privacy-preserving payment solution that allows users to send and receive payments without revealing their identity.

What can you do

1. Mint some zkNFTs/zkSBTs

2. Use the platform

https://manta.network/ecosystem.html

Kinza Finance

Kinza Finance is a decentralized lending protocol that allows users to lend and borrow assets without the need for a centralized intermediary. It is built on the BNB Chain and uses zero-knowledge proofs to provide a secure and private lending experience.

What can you do

1. Follow their twitter to monitor regular campaigns

2. Use the platform : provide LP rewards, take loans etc

https://app.kinza.finance/

Links : Website Twitter

KiloEx

KiloEx is a decentralized perpetual exchange built on the BNB Chain. It is a next-generation exchange that offers a number of features that are not available on traditional exchanges, such as:

• Gas-less transactions: KiloEx uses a zero-knowledge proof-based architecture to verify transactions, which means that they do not require gas fees. This makes KiloEx a more affordable option for users.

• Market-neutral LP positions: KiloEx allows liquidity providers (LPs) to take market-neutral positions, which means that they can profit from market volatility without taking on any directional risk. This makes KiloEx a more attractive option for LPs.

• Hedging tools: KiloEx offers a number of hedging tools that allow users to protect their portfolios from market volatility. This makes KiloEx a more risk-management friendly exchange.

• Decentralized referral program: KiloEx has a decentralized referral program that allows users to earn rewards for referring new users to the platform. This makes KiloEx a more rewarding exchange for users.

What can you do

1. Follow their twitter to monitor regular campaigns

2. Use the platform : provide LP rewards, trade perps, join their referral program etc

Links : Website Twitter

Altlayer Network

AltLayer Network is a Rollups-as-a-Service (RaaS) platform that allows developers to deploy highly scalable and secure applications on multiple blockchains. It is designed to be a modular and pluggable framework that can be easily customized to meet the specific needs of developers.

AltLayer Network offers a number of features that make it a compelling option for developers, including:

• High scalability: AltLayer Network uses rollups to achieve high scalability, which means that it can process a large number of transactions per second. This makes it a good choice for applications that require high throughput.

• Security: AltLayer Network uses a number of security measures to protect users’ data, including zk-SNARKs and MPC. This makes it a secure platform for deploying applications.

• Modular architecture: AltLayer Network has a modular architecture that allows developers to easily customize the platform to meet their specific needs. This makes it a flexible platform that can be used to deploy a wide variety of applications.

• Pluggable framework: AltLayer Network is a pluggable framework that can be easily integrated with other blockchain platforms. This makes it a versatile platform that can be used to deploy applications on multiple blockchains.

What can you do

1⃣Follow @alt_layer to monitor regular campaigns

2⃣Hold OG / Oh Ottie NFTs

Follow for pt2

Dear reader, in this article i go over what wallets are, why some wallets may do an airdrop, previous accounts to support my claims and some major wallets to pay attention.

First things, what is a wallet

In the most basic terms, a wallet is an interface(mobile apps, browser extensions, hardware devices, hot or cold) that enables users to create blockchain accounts, access, send and receive crypto.

Wallets have evolved over the years, with lots of funding in this area, the user interface and also the user experience have dramatically improved.

is there history to support my argument?

TrustWallet : They were acquired by Binance and the TWT tokens were airdropped to Binance users

In my research i could not lay my hands of any who have done an airdrop but 2020 redefined the airdrop landscape. Before now, airdrop were done to avoid regulatory scrutiny, rather than sell tokens,you airdrop them, the likes of TON crystal etc are examples of such, other times they were forks that were used to reward an existing user base e.g Ethereum Classic.

Today, airdrops are marketing drivers, before now airdrops were unexpected, today users expect them and will avoid your platform if you do not .

Ethereum Name Service did the $ENS airdrop, it came like a shock. When Sushiswap did their airdrop, no previous Dex had done an airdrop to the best of my knowledge, the allure of free tokens almost crushed Uniswap.

Okay one may argue and say “what use is the token if they do issue one”, my reply will be “what use is the $OP, $ARB etc token”.

Another argument on this is that of L2 blockchain doing airdrops, when Near protocol, Aurora network, Solana etc launched their networks, there were no precedents for aidrop. The crypto world is changing.

https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/wallets

Another point to support my argument is the already existence of crypto tokens : Exodus, Imtoken, Coin98, Blocto

Why they may do?

1. Fundraise : Many wallets have raised huge sums of money to build their infrastructure. Currently, they have no form of exit liquidity outside tokens.

2. Better UX : Wallets have gone beyond software or interface to access, send or receive crypto. Many offer users the ability to swap, stake etc right from the wallet

3. Business model : Many wallets charge a little extra fee for this services, this is how they make their money. Metamask made over $200m from swap fees alone. Since they are directly competing with dapps, they have no other option than do an airdrop. Remember users do not just want to use a platform, they want to get rewards(airdrops etc)

4. Competition : Have you noticed of recent that many projects are launching their own wallets, take 1inch, Uniswap etc they have their own wallet. The wallet landscape is huge because of the fees gotten from users interacting with the network. Imagine a high school that only dish out knowledge, whenever students want to go for lunch breaks, they go outside the school to buy food, they also go outside to buy books and other items, okay just imagine if the school have all those items in sale, how much will they make. The school can be likened to crypto wallets today, they want to offer you everything inside their app so that you will no reason to go outside.

This competition between fellow wallets and dapps for user attention is what we drive the next airdrop craze.

Possible airdrops

Metamask : The $MASK token have been teased by Joe Lubin for some time now, they have over $700m in fundraise. Consensys is the parent company behind Metamask, Infura, Linea L2 blockchain

Zerion : You can use the swap and bridge functions. According to Crunchbase, they have raised a considerable amount of money.

Rainbow : They have raised over $13m. Swap tokens, mint NFTs etc.

Argent : They are the king of account abstraction, they are top wallet on Zksync and Starknet. They have swap feature within the app along with other investment products that you can use.

Rabby : Debank the parent company behind the Rabby wallet have over $25m in funding. By using the rabby wallet and all the features it has,one might be setting himself for a possible Debank airdrop.

Phantom : This is one of the earliest wallets on Solana, their appearance made metamask looked ancient. With over $100m in funding, using their swap, stake and buying NFT features might set one up for an airdrop if they so choose to do one. They now support EVM chains like Ethereum and Polygon.

Xverse : Bitcoin seems to be pivoting beyond just a store of value, it is currently the most secure blockchain by hashpower. The rise of Ordinals, SRC20, BRC20 tokens are sparking new interest beyond Store of Value.

The network can be extended to support smart contracts thanks to* Stacks*, Babylon chain is building infrastructure that will help Proof of Stake blockchains more secure by leveraging Bitcoin mining, the likes of Rollkit from Celestia is trying to use Bitcoin as a data availability layer, the lightning network is also expanding. Xverse enable users to swap tokens, connect to defi applications, trade NFTs and lots more.

Echooo : Built with account abstraction in mind and with $15m from VCs, Echoo eanbles users swap tokens and also earn with DeFi.

WalletConnect : This is not really a wallet but a convenient and secure way for users to connect to any dapp. I do not really know how an airdrop may ensue but i do know that they have raised some funding.

Existing Dapps with Wallets : In this category are some major DeFi apps that have built their own wallets. Using them may possible you for a possible airdrop.

You may be asking “why we they do an airdrop?’, the answer is simple, many users do not use a platform or dapp after they do an airdrop.

supposing you have $100, would you use Uniswap to swap tokens or a tokenless AMM for possible airdrop.

So most dapps only have a chance to compete if they do a second airdrop to “loyal” users.

Reader,this is not an exhaustive list, drop any other ones in the comment sections. Hope you got value from this piece.

MAKE A PLAN

Everything rest and falls on plans, it is easy to get overwhelmed and swerved in this every demanding space.

How much is my general net worth and what percent am i willing to invest, what sectors will I invest it, Entry and exits etc

KNOW YOUR RISK APPETITE

Many have gambled away their life savings in the pursuit of financial freedom through crypto. How much risk are you comfortable with taking. By risks, we mean the amount invested, the asset invested

By amount, one should not invest what they cannot stomach if they lose, many in the space suffer from chronic anxiety, depression all due to taking more risks than they should.

By asset invested, the older a network or token the network is the less risky it is both for volatility, scam and returns. Older or more established tokens may give less return on your money but they pose less risk like as with new tokens that make rug pull, may be hacked or very volatile.

DYOR(Do Your Own Research)

One common question that people ask on twitter, reddit and other social networks people gather is “What do you recommend I buy?”

It’s inevitable for us not to come across what people are buying or say they are buying, we should only take such as information to do further research upon.

That someone in the time past had made a correct call which turned out to be profitable does not mean their next call will be, learn to devote time to do your own research.

Doing your own research gives you conviction when you invest in a project.

Will you marry a woman because someone said she is okay or because your own research says she is okay?

If you will not take such a move with your life, you should not as well with your hard earned money

TAKE PROFITS

This is why a plan is essential from the beginning, with a plan you know when to take profits, when to take out your initial investment etc. Know this, you will never be able to perfectly time the top, so taking profits from time to time may be good for you.

Supposing you bought coin Y at $0.01,you can draft the following plan

Take out my initial investment + 10% profit @ $ 0.02 — $0.03

Take out 10% profit @ $0.05

Take another 10% profit @ $0.08

And so on and so forth.

Though you will not get to take all your profits at the perfect top, you will take some profit and minimize your risk of loss.

CUT YOUR LOSSES

HODL(hold on for dear life) is often thrown around in the crypto space, but it’s okay to sell some, sell all and move on.

Some things will rebound after a heavy crash, others will not. Knowing when to sell and cut your losses may be a lifesaver, since all crypto are not the same in tech, make and other metrics, the decision to sell some or all is dependent on each crypto.

If you look 2017–2018 and compare with today, many crypto did not come back after the crash, so imagine holding to your detriment.

AVOID FOMO

Know this, you will never catch all the opportunity in crypto, you will miss some and this is okay.

The opportunity cost of catching one winner is losing some others, crypto is big and ever expanding, they are new projects across L1 and L2 chains, you cannot keep sync with them all.

Do not buy a crypto without researching, some people buy immediately and go to research later(this approach is bad).

Another reason why you should avoid FOMO is that you may be catching a falling knife, maybe when you discovered the project, the price may be too overvalued and buying means you are buying an overvalued asset.

DON’T BLINDLY FOLLOW INFLUENCERS

Influencers may be witchhunted for giving information about crypto, some do such without disclosing whether they have been paid or not, one thing I notice with crypto is that some coins start pumping shortly(like in minutes or hours) after a crypto influencer(be it on Youtube, Twitter) spoke about it.

No one can grasp all that is happening in crypto at once, so if an influencer talks about a project, you should take such as an information to do more research on to see whether it’s something worth buying or not.

FOCUS AND SPECIALIZATION

Warren Buffet is often criticized for not investing in tech stocks but the man is highly regarded as a very successful investor, one of the reasons for this success is that he narrowed down his scope.

Crypto investing is broad, from L1 to L2 blockchains, Centralized and decentralized exchanges, DeFi, NFTs, DAOs, gaming, metaverse etc, the list is endless, so picking one or few sectors may be the best strategy. Also apart from focusing on a sector, one should also focus on an ecosystem, the Ethereum ecosystem consists of thousands of apps, so does Polygon, other L1 and L2 chains.

LESS IS MORE

How many coins should you hold in your portfolio, why no one answer may be entirely correct, it’s safe to say that owning less is better.

You can trade as many assets on exchanges but for long term investing, you should own less.

Owning 4–10 coins(as 90% of your portfolio) is better in my opinion

FOLLOW TRENDS

Some times most gains in crypto investing may come from anticipating a trend direction, knowing when to come in and when to go out. 2020 saw the DeFi boom,2021 was NFTs, play to earn games and metaverse, 2022 may be something else

UNDERSTAND TIME FRAMES

Many make the mistake of not knowing what crypto is short term,mid term or long term, so they buy when they should not and sell when they should not.

Some crypto will go ahead to become the FAANG(Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) of crypto, others may be hear for a while and die while others will come and soon die with the hype, so it’s essential we invest accordingly.

TIME AND MONEY

Crypto is a 24 hr industry, while you are going to bed tonight, someone else is on the market, know how best to use your time as regards crypto. Many crypto people are often associated with depression, sleep disorders and other issues because many do not use their time well.

One should create systems that work for them

Another thing to note is that crypto is a multi- trillion dollar industry, whatever amount you are investing is nothing compared to the overall, so a wise investment of your money is the best decision you will ever make.

DRY POWDER

You should have cash set aside to buy more of some of your tokens(increase your bags) when need arise. Some people prefer dollar cost averaging, others prefer to buy the dip but nevertheless you should have some dry powder to take advantage of the opportunity.

BALANCE RISK WITH REWARDS

Every potential investment carries some elements of risks and also rewards,a healthy balance is okay, we will examine some of the tokens

Low Risk, Low Reward

These are often coins that have some form of established presence be it market capitalization, network usage, time in the market etc. They usually have a higher market cap but carries very low risk and volatility.

Some examples may include those in the top 10 like Bitcoin, Ethereum etc

. Medium Risk, Medium Reward

These include the likes of Smart contract blockchains like Ethereum, Avax etc, exchange tokens like Binance BNB, Crypto.com(CRO)

These exchange tokens support daily trading of coins as well have their tokens used as fees for paying for a blockchain transaction like BNB for Binance Smart Chain.

• Medium Risk, High Reward

These are those with 100+ million dollar market cap, have real world use cases and some adoption, lots of trading volume and good tokenomics

• High Risk, High Reward

These are those in the less than $100 million dollar market cap range, they can also be new ICOs

The how much question

Alice and Bob may be earning $10,000 monthly but they are not equal, one may have some form of debts to pay monthly(student debts, mortgage, auto loan etc), a family to support(wife, children, parents, siblings etc) and different financial goals.

How much you currently earn, how much of it goes to mandatory expenses goes a long way in determining how much you can invest.

Some tips

1. Never invest any money that is not free money

Money set aside for rents or other mandatory expense is not yours and should never be invested in crypto. Many have made such mistakes and have regretted it, one may cite few examples of people who did and got profits but such are outliers, the probability of you losing your money is very high and besides the investment may not pay quickly as at when needed.

2. Do not borrow to invest in crypto

We have seen how bad debts are and also how we can leverage debts to earn more wealth, in the broad sense, crypto are very volatile, up 50% today, down 99% tomorrow.

3. Do not borrow money to invest in crypto.

Imagine taking a loan against your house to buy a coin and the coin crashed or was hacked etc and now you have lost most if not even all your investment, how do you get to pay back the loan. What manner of pain would you subject your family(wife and kids) to.

4. Do not invest more than you are willing to lose

There is a thin line between ambition and greed, we hear stories of people making 10–1000x returns on their crypto investment and we are eager to do same but we should never put in crypto anything that we are not willing to lose.

Take the case of Bob, a father and husband who earns $10,000 monthly, he has bills to pay, imagine him putting the whole $10,000 into crypto, any little crash puts him in panic(this will in turn affect his concentration levels) and what if the worst happens and he lost most if not all of it, how shall he be able to fend for his family.

So back to the how much question, one should invest amounts that do not impact largely their current lifestyle and amounts they are comfortable with if lost.

So now, you have some basic knowledge about how to go about making your own portfolio, the next thing may be how do you create and secure your wallets

https://www.paradigm.xyz/portfolio

In this guide, i will to predict a possibility of some crypto projects that Paradigm has invested in that might likely do an airdrop, i make this postulation after studying some past patterns(i have attached all links to my research).

Some past investments that did an airdrop

1. Uniswap : Uniswap pioneered the AMM approach to decentralized exchanges, in April 24, 2019 Yahoo Finance reported Paradigm investment in Uniswap. Fast forward to Sept 17 2020, Uniswap airdropped tokens to their users.

2. Gitcoin : Gitcoin is a platform that caters to funding public goods through their gitcoin donations, it also as a marketplace where anyone(teams or individuals) can post bounties for any job they want do. They raised some funds in April 2021 according to data on crunchbase, in may 2021 they did a retroactive airdrop

3. DyDx : DyDx were among the first decentralized exchange to power the trading of derivatives. Their first fundraise was in 2017 and their last was May 12, 2021, few months before their mega airdrop

4. Optimism : Optimism is behind the optimism mainnet a L2 on ethereum and the OP stack, a framework for building L2s. Their first fundraise was Feb 24, 2021 and their last fundraise before airdrop was March 16, 2022. In May 31, 2022, they did an airdrop

5. Sky Mavis : They are the team behind Axie infinity, the Ronin bridge and other projects. They raised a sizable amount before their airdrop

6. Blur : The NFT marketplace at some point was handling over 50% of all NFT trades, they raised $11m from Paradigm and other VCs before doing an airdrop.

Some current investments that may do an airdrop

Zora

It’s an NFT marketplace that supports Ethereum ,Optimism, Base and their own L2 network. One can mint their own collections or mint from others. You can also refer others. They have got $60m in funding.

Magic Eden

They are the leading NFT marketplace on Solana. Billions of dollars of NFTs have been transacted on the platform since it launched. Initially on Solana, it has expanded to Ethereum, Polygon and you can even trade bitcoin ordinals on the platform. They recently raised $130m at a $1.6 billion dollar valuation

OpenSea

At some point, OpenSea were making billions in profit from NFT sales, they initially wanted to do an IPO but some issues have stagnated this move, so an airdrop may not be ruled out, they recently launched OpenSea Pro with NFTs as rewards for traders. With a valuation of over $13b, an airdrop if it does happen will be massive.

Aztec network

They are a privacy focused L2 network. They recently announced a relaunch of their platform. They are currently building. With $119.1m in funding, they are pushing for private smart contracts. Developers can start building with Noir and even apply for grants or hunt for bugs.

Starkware

They are an Ethereum scaling solution that leveraging the power of STARKs and other technology to scale Ethereum. They are behind the Cairo language, StarkEx and the Starknet L2 ecosystem. Their tech stack has been used in the past by DyDx and other teams. They have $273m under their belt.

Phantom

They have raised $112m from Paradigm and other VCs. They are the top most used wallet on Solana. They recently went multi by supporting Ethereum and Polygon.

Argent

They are the king of account abstraction, they are among the first wallet to support both zksync and starknet. They recently introduced web wallet, a wallet that only uses email. They have raised $56.2m in funding.

Yield protocol

They goal is to bring fixed term, fixed rate to the decentralized lending landscape. They have $10m in funding from Paradigm and other VCs.

Showtime

It has raised $7.6m, they are an NFT social network where users can share NFT arts.

Please note, not all Paradigm investments did or have do an airdrop. we are just speculating.

https://li.fi/

LiFi, a bridge aggregation protocol with DEX connectivity and cross-chain data messaging capabilities.

Just like the Layerzero team built Stargate, LiFi built the jumper exchange, you can swap tokens in one chain and across many chains, refuel gas on any chain and even buy crypto

They have raise $17.5m so far. According to a coindesk article on their fundraise,

Berlin-based Li.Fi helps developers navigate the increasingly fragmented collection of layer 1, layer 2 and layer 3 blockchains, the bridges that connect them and the decentralized exchanges that all exist in decentralized finance (DeFi). The firm offers an application programming interface (API) that developers can build on to create prototypes and go to market faster. source

Bungee Exchange

It’s a bridge aggregator like Jumper, you can swap and transfer tokens across many years and also do gas refuel. It is built by the socket tech team

It’s powered by Socket, Socket is a complete interoperability stack which allows asset & data transfer across chains, enabling developers to build truly cross-chain apps.

The socket tech is been used by the likes of metamask, synthetix, GMX etc

Metamask bridge

Metamask has gone beyond just a wallet for storing, sending and receiving crypto. You can swap tokens and now bridge from one chain to another.

Using the metamask bridge may qualify one for a possible, who knows the future. Remember they have over $720m in funding.

Zapper bridge

Like metamask, Zapper helps you store,send and receive tokens but they also have a swap and bridging function

Amount raised : $15m

Orbiter Finance

You can bridge across many chains, they run different Glaxe campaigns from time to time.

others include

📌 Zerion

📌 Via protocol

📌 Layerswap

📌 Portal Bridge

📌 Magpie

📌 Squid

📌 Owlto

⚠️ CAUTION

Bridges like everything out there are susceptible to hacks. when you bridge and received pegged assets on a chain, it’s advisable you swap it for something that is not pegged(something native to that chain).

The nomad hack is an example of what happens when you have assets that are pegged.

Notable bridge hacks include Ronin Bridge, Multichain, Nomad etc. learn more here

Be careful while you farm bridges airdrops

Check the launch date, start positioning yourself for the airdrop, in this guide we will explore how you can be eligible for Starknet token airdrop.

Why will they do an airdrop? 🧠

1. Precedence : Others have done same, the likely of Starknet doing otherwise is very slim

2. Retrodrop : I don’t think airdrop will go away anytime soon, consumer loyalty has been rewarded over the ages. All men seek their own interest , so do projects, incentives are the compromises both parties reach for mutual benefits.

3. Decentralization : 1 token still equal 1 vote, Starknet will not want to be seen as a VC chain

4. VC exits : VCs get equities in form of tokens

https://www.coincarp.com/currencies/starknet/fundraising/

Accessing Starknet

Though starknet is an Ethereum scaling solution, it is not EVM compatible, meaning it does not support ethereum toolings like Metamask or other EVM wallets. To access the starknet, one will need a wallet.

Braavos and Argent X are some of the most popular wallet out there and guess what they have both raised funds that will make their users eligible for possible airdrop.

Paradigm has invested in argent, they always do airdrops for projects they invest in

Bridging 🌉

At least for now, there are few to no centralized exchanges that support direct deposit and withdrawal to or from starknet, the only way to do that is through the help of bridges

Bridging tokens to starknet can make you eligible for both the skarknet airdrop and also the bridge airdrop especially if they don’t yet have a token, Hop protocol and other bridges have rewarded users in the past.

so what bridges are available for use out there.

Starknet official bridge ➡️ Layerswap ➡️ Rango ➡️ Orbiter Finance .***

Bridging to Starknet once in a month is a good way to pass the bridging criteria.

Also as concerning bridging out, it is essential that one leaves a 7–14 days time period between the date of bridging in before bridging out,so as to avoid been tagged a sybil.

Dexes

Decentralized exchanges are the heartbeat of blockchains, with low fees, one can swap and provide as much liquidity as possible.

https://l2beat.com/scaling/projects/starknet

Arbitrum launched 2021 may 30th, they did an airdrop in march 16th 2023( it took almost 2 years)

From the time Arbitrum launched on mainnet till the time they took a snapshot for aidrop, it was more than 52 weeks, supposing you conduct 3 distinct transactions every week for the next 52 weeks, you will have 156 transactions, so can adopt this strategy.

Some defi apps to use

10kswap ➡️ Zkx ➡️Yagi Finance ➡️ Rango ➡️ RabbitX ➡️ Jediswap ➡️ Carmine Options AMM

To increase your activity count,you can also use

Lending protocols : Nostra ➡️ Aura

Mint NFTs : Almanac ➡️ Unframed ➡️ Briq

Social : Get a domain name ➡️ Starknet social ➡️ Starknet quest

Play games : Imperium wars ➡️ The Ninth*** ➡️ Realms ***➡️ Influence

Transaction volume

Try and generate large volume, transaction volume is another criteria for qualifying for airdrops

Other possible addons

1. Be organic : Airdrops take a long time to happen. It is better to use the chain once per week for one year than conduct 52 transactions in one per day and not use it again. although both will give you 52 tnxs the former will position you for an airdrop more than the latter

2. Donate to Gitcoin grants

3. Create content about Starknet and submit on their discord

4. Understudy other airdrops and do something similar : examples include Optimism, Arbitrum etc.

Friends, it’s a marathon not a sprint. Don’t faint

Flashbot

Amount raise : $60m

Valuation : $1 billion

Lead investors : Paradigm

According to CoindeskThe raise will fuel the continued development of its maximum extractable value (MEV) network, SUAVE.

Flashbots is an Ethereum-centric research and development startup that aims to remove the negative impacts of maximal extractable value (MEV), the potential profit that network operators can extract by previewing or re-ordering upcoming blockchain transactions.

The SUAVE (Single Unifying Auction for Value Expression) platform is an independent network that can act as a mempool (essentially a transaction waiting room) and decentralized block builder. Developers can use SUAVE to launch intra-block applications such as block builders or orderflow auctions. Those applications can compete to execute user preferences, creating cheaper and more private transactions than those traditionally found on chains like Ethereum.

Futureverse

Amount : $54m

Lead investors: Ripple

They are behind The root network, altered state machine, Sylo, Fluf world, Seekers, AI league: FIFA World Cup , the next legends, cool cats, gods and goblins, ATEM car club and drug receipts

https://linktr.ee/futureverse

Ripple XRP will be used as gas in the root network

Echooo wallet

Amount raised : $15m

Valuation : ??

Lead investors : A&T capital

Echooo Wallet is the next generation smart contract wallet powered by ERC-4337 (Account abstraction), combines MPC & AI Technology. Echooo wallet is self-custody and seedless which provides bulletproof security for users’ assets.

Manta network

Amount raised : $25m

Valuation : $500m

Lead investors : Polychain

They launched the manta pacific testnet after the testnet,

https://twitter.com/MantaNetwork/status/1681650870570881025?s=20

Learn how to interact with manta ,

RISC zero

Amount raised : $40mValuation

$Lead investors : A16Z, Paradigm

They have built Risc Zero zkVM and Bonsai

https://twitter.com/RiscZero/status/1681650095270535168?s=20

The RISC Zero zkVM is a verifiable computer that works like a real embedded RISC-V micro-processor, enabling programmers to write ZK proofs like they write any other code.

This funding round will enable RISC Zero to bring its Bonsai computing platform to market, supporting rapid application development and deployment in both cloud and decentralized environments.

Bonsai: a Verifiable & ZK Computing Platform for a Modular World

Learn more about them in this blogpost

Cosmic Wire

Amount raised : $40m

Valuation : ??

$Lead investors : Solana foundation, Polygon

Cosmic Wire is at the forefront of Web3 innovation and blockchain solutions. The company’s proprietary technology and decentralized applications form the backbone operating system for the Web3 ecosystem. Cosmic Wire’s technical advancements transform the fabric of Web3, revolutionizing the functioning of the Internet.

DappOS

Amount raised : $50m

Valuation : ??

Lead investors : Binance Labs, OKX ventures

DappOS is a Web3 operating protocol that has recently closed a pre-seed funding round by Binance Labs. DappOS introduces unified account to provide CeFi-like user experience and a complete decentralization at the same time.

Everyone is talking about account abstraction , DappOS is pushing for chain abstraction

Cymbal

Amount raised : $18.5m

Valuation : ??

Lead investors : Coinbase ventures, Solana ventures

They hope to make blockchain data humanly readily

https://twitter.com/cymbalxyz/status/1681695477073612800

Check the launch date, start positioning yourself for the airdrop, in this guide we will explore how you can be eligible for Linea token airdrop.

Why will they do an airdrop? 🧠

1. Precedence : Others have done same, the likely of Linea doing otherwise is very slim

2. Decentralization : There are no other better ways to govern decentralized networks other than tokens

3. VC exits : They can’t list on a stock exchange,so VCs need to be compensated

4. Retrodrop : it is scratch my back, i scratch your back. Airdrops if not abused are great ways to boostrap and even sustain a network.

Bridging 🌉

Bridging tokens to chain can make you eligible, so what bridges are available for use out there.

Linea official bridge ➡️ OmniBTC ➡️ Layerswap ➡️ RhinoFi ➡️ Orbiter Finance .

Bridging to Linea once in a month is a good way to pass the bridging criteria.

Also as concerning bridging out, it is essential that one leaves a 7–14 days time period between the date of bridging in before bridging out,so as to avoid been tagged a sybil.

Dexes

Decentralized exchanges are the heartbeat of blockchains, with low fees, one can swap and provide as much liquidity as possible.

Arbitrum** launched 2021 may 30th, they did an airdrop in march 16th 2023( it took almost 2 years)**

From the time Arbitrum launched on mainnet till the time they took a snapshot for aidrop, it was more than 52 weeks, supposing you conduct 3 distinct transactions every week for the next 52 weeks, you will have 156 transactions, so can adopt this strategy.

Another criteria was how many months one transacted, you would still have been eligible for this criteria if you employed the strategy above as well.

To increase your activity count,you can use

DeFi : LeetSwap💱 Meso protocol 💱 Symbiosis Finance 💱 Lineaswap 💱 Horizon Dex 💱 EchoDex 💱 Syncswap

Lending* : Lineabank*** Peko Protocol

Mint NFTs : Get a domain name , Buy and sell NFTs

Wallet age

Though not currently applied, wallet age may soon be a key criteria.

Transaction volume

Try and generate large volume, if you have $1200, you can easily conduct 100 tnxs, generate $100,000 volume but someone with $120 will have to toil.

Other possible addons

1. Be organic : Airdrops take a long time to happen. It is better to use the chain once per week for one year than conduct 52 transactions in one per day and not use it again. although both will give you 52 tnxs the former will position you for an airdrop more than the latter

2. Donate to Gitcoin grants

3. Create content about Linea and submit on their discord

4. Vote on proposals

5. Use your wallet on other EVM chains( this will reduce your chance of been tagged a sybil, if all your transactions are on Linea,it means you are a sybil airdrop farmer)

6. Use Metamask services : Consensys is the parent company devloping both Linea and metamask, so you may never know 🤔

7. Understudy other airdrops and do something similar : examples include Optimism, Arbitrum etc.

Friends, it’s a marathon not a sprint. Don’t faint

Layerzero is a user agent platform, it solves the problem of interoperability by creating endpoints on any two chains for easy transfer of assets. it basically an interoperability protocol.

Funding

$255m raised so far, the likes of a16z, Sequoia capital, coinbase ventures and many others are onboard as investors.

To get the airdrop, one has to interact with as many dapps and on many chains as possible. The image below is a non exhaustive list of some chains, dapps building using Layerzero.

https://layerzero.news/

We will explore below some dapps you can use to make you eligible.

Stargate

This is among the first dapp on layerzero, it was built by the layerzero team themselves. one can bridge assets, pool liquidity across many chains, stake the STG token for as long as possible and lots more. By interacting with the Stargate platform, one might be eligible for the aidrop

You can bridge tokens via the stargate bridge

Buy some STG tokens

https://stargate.finance/stake

Stake at least 25 STG coins to get guild roles

Provide Liquidity

Vote on proposals

I have put into different category, some protocols and dapps ,one might use and may be an eligibility criteria. You can use the various bridges, DeFi and NFT dapps. I believe the more dapps one use and the more volume they create, the more likely they might be lucky.

BRIDGES

Testnet ETH

You can get testnet ETH on Goerli and pay for it with ETH from either Ethereum mainnet, Arbitrum or optimism. You can also provide liquidity. With this no need to wait for faucets to get testnet ETH.

Use the Bitcoin bridge

You can bridge Bitcoin to Avalanche ad other chains

• Buy BTC.b on TraderJoe

• Bridge by connecting your wallets

Liquidswap bridge

APTOS bridge

You can move assets across the bridge.

Other bridges include

https://www.plexus.app/

https://bridge.pancakeswap.finance/

Defi

https://www.rage.trade/

Rage Trade is at the forefront of developing on-chain perpetual products, utilizing the best on-chain perps in the market.

You can get eligible for both Layerzero and Rage Trade airdrop by using it.

Other DeFi protocols

https://abracadabra.money/

https://www.avault.network/

https://synthr.io/

https://www.altitudedefi.com/

https://unsheth.xyz/

https://app.thala.fi/account

https://www.angle.money/

https://tapioca.loan/

NFTs

You can use Omnisea to mint NFTs ( using the platform can make you also eligible for an airdrop) @omnisea

Others include

https://www.holograph.xyz/

https://omni-x.io/

https://minter.merkly.com/

in all you do, don’t miss the layerzero airdrop.

Follow the layerzero twitter page and interact with projects as they announce them.

Crypto remains an industry where many can make a fortune, it has remove gatekeepers, decentralized investing and redefine custody.

So now, anyone from anywhere at anytime can invest in anything , this is a double edged sword ⚔️.

In this piece, I will share some common mistakes people have made, are making and will most likely make and how to avoid them.

1. Not having a plan

Crypto is a zero sum game, your gain may be the loss of someone. When you are selling at a high price, someone is buying it with the hope that it will go higher, when you are selling at a lower price , someone is buying thinking that it will go up higher.

So when you are exiting a position, you may be exiting with gains or loss , also when a person is entering a position, he may be doing some at gains or loss.

Having a plan is very crucial, a plan could include the following:

⁃ Entry & Exit price

⁃ Entry & Exit time

⁃ DCA ( in and out)

⁃ Where to invest profits( real world business, real estate, other crypto etc)

⁃ When to cut losses

⁃ Time allocation for crypto ( crypto never sleeps, to keep grasp with everything, you need to budget part of your time for it )

2. Mistaking price for value

Crypto is a wild jungle. People have thrown money at meme coins and made 1000x, others did same and lost everything.

Many coins are overvalued, it’s safe to not invest based on price.

3. Investing too much in crypto

Many people are banking on the success stories of many crypto people. They leave everything and focus on crypto, they commit all their time and money to crypto.

They speculate , they FOMO into anything and everything.Except you are working in crypto, you should not focus everything on crypto.

Take time to get or improve your skills so that you can get a job in or outside crypto, don’t waste too much time speculating on things, get high paying skills.

Another thing is the capital people invest in crypto, it is only thoughtful to invest in real world businesses, own a business, invest in real estate, this sector may not give crypto gains in the short term but they serve as an hedge in your finances

Imagine some of the catastrophic events in the last year, FTX collapse, Celsius, Voyager, Terra Luna collapse etc, imagine 100% of your net worth is in crypto, you will be in a bad position.

Another reason is the volatility of crypto, this assets class is very risky

4. Not taking custody seriously

The Mt Gox hack, QuadriqaCX, Celsius etc are few examples of what is possible when one does not take self custody seriously.

It is easier, even cheaper and more comfortable to keep your coins in any exchange, no need to deal with seed phrases, hardware wallets etc but this ease will spell doom to our crypto.

Will Durant once said

Those who don’t know or learn from History , will repeat history

No exchange is too big to fail and in the day they fall and your coins are with them, you will be at the mercy of litigation.

Imagine you were among the MT Gox customers affected or had coins on FTX and you needed money to perform an important surgery for yourself or a loved one,imagine losing a loved one because you could not access your crypto 😢

5. Not taking security seriously

Crypto remains an honeypot for hackers . Avoid using crack softwares, you will lose more.

Always use strong and long password( use a combination of uppercase and lower case, add special characters, add numbers etc)

Avoid bragging or even talking about crypto in public, even when you have nothing , you may still be targeted for attack

Use hardware wallets, use extra layer of security like 2FA, hardware keys like yubikey, also use specific PC for crypto, specific account( twitter, email etc) for crypto related things

6. Using shady exchanges

There are many decentralized exchanges out there,they offer services that even rival centralized exchanges .

If you must use a CEX, make sure it is a legit one that has much volume and is reputable.

7. Outsourcing research and thinking to others

You must do your own research and come to decisions for yourself .

Have a framework for that, commit some time to it, join a community but think for yourself.

8. Falling for scams

Scammers are getting sophisticated, they now have verified twitter handles making it difficult to know real accounts

They even have websites identical to real ones. One common way to avoid this scam is to always bookmark 🔖 sites or accounts that you subscribe to.

Don’t fall for pump and dump schemes, avoid Ponzi schemes

I hope you have learnt something

History

⁃ began as Decentral bank

⁃ Rebranded to Frax Finance

The Defi empire

The empire consists of a stablecoin, an AMM, a lending protocol, a bridge, a liquid staking derivative and an upcoming layer 2 chain.

1. Frax stablecoin

It’s was partially backed by USDC and algorithmic allowed to float but after the TerraUSD collapse, it reverted to been fully collaterized by USDC. The ecosystem has 3 stablecoins, according to their documentation

The Frax Protocol currently issues 3 stablecoins. FRAX, a USD pegged asset. The Frax Price Index (FPI) stablecoin, the first stablecoin pegged to a basket of consumer goods creating its own unit of account separate from any nation state denominated money. FraxEther (frxETH), pegged to ETH for use as a replacement for WETH in smart contracts.

2. FraxSwap

It is the first AMM to be built using the Paradigm TWAMM(time weighted automated market maker).

https://app.frax.finance/swap/main

It gives for the execution of large orders over time with little to minimal price fluctuations

It is used for the buyback of FXS from the market

3. Frax Lend

Works like Aave or other lending protocols, you can borrow FRAX against assets as collateral.

https://app.frax.finance/fraxlend/available-pairs

4. Frax Ferry ⛴

Frax finance products are deployed across multiple chains, more than 12+ chains, the ferry is to allow for seamless bridging of Frax assets across any supported chains.

It’s an in-house bridge .

5. Frax Ether

Appeared October 2022, since then it’s been growing aggressively.

https://facts.frax.finance/frxeth

The v2 of FrxETH will see all Liquid staking derivatives LSDs as lending Ethereum to validators , users deposits Ethereum in any LSD form, it gets lent to Node operators after they have dropped some form of collateral. Stalkers receive interest payments as a form of yield.

6. Frax Share

It is the governance token of the protocol, it accrues fees, revenue and excess collateral value and gives it back to veFXS holders

7. Frax chain

https://twitter.com/FlywheelDeFi/status/1669463865116209152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1669463865116209152%7Ctwgr%5Ef02765064a74be855bfe3972bbec3c75ad252dc6%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcoinmarketcap.com%2Falexandria%2Farticle%2Fwhat-is-fraxchain

⁃ It will be a hybrid rollup( it will combine the best of optimistic and zero knowledge rollups)

⁃ It will integrate Frax ferry to expose the Frax empire to the new chain

⁃ It will use FrxETH as gas

⁃ These fees will be paid to holders of veFXS which means more profit accrual to those who locked FXS

⁃ More use of FrxETH will reduce the staked supply of FrxETH and increase the yield for staked FrxETH hodlers

⁃ It plans to use account abstraction accounts

⁃ It’s expected to launch by 2024

Reader, how do you see Frax Finance in the next few years.

originally published here by me

To address the scalability changes of crypto and attract more usage for the $BIT token, Some time ago, $BIT token holders proposed the mantle network.

It’s a modular network with lots of innovative design

In this piece, we briefly explore the current scaling landscape, Mantle design considerations and the case for Mantle network.

Current scaling solutions

1. Compromised design

They are centralized , sidechains do not possess sufficient security, they also rely on unsafe bridges

2. High fees

They can’t scale because the follow the old design of blockchains. Gas fees though lower are still a little high. This is because of their monolithic design.

3. The traction problem

Many of them have gone live on mainnet but have not yet gained traction, they also lack sufficient on-ramps.

4. Useless tokens

Many have tokens that are worthless, their tokens are not been used as gas, they use Ethereum.

Mantle vs Current L2

Mantle network employs the modular design, i believe that the future is modular, no longer will dApps or L2s be locked in because of poor design choices.

The mantle network consists of the Mantle

⁃ execution layer(here EVM logic is executed, sending and receiving transactions, minting NFTs, swap, LP, borrowing etc), everything is executed on the execution layer

⁃ Sequencers( sequencers receive transaction request, they order them and post them to the execution layer for interpretation and response ,Mantle network employs a decentralized approach to its sequencers , the risks of MEV are very low ),

⁃ Data availability layer( this is basically where you store the data generated from transactions to for reference purposes, it uses EigenDA)

1. Modular Data availability

The mantle network is modular, data availability accounts for most of the cost users pay for L2s. Many L2s due to their monolithic architecture uses Ethereum both as a DA layer and as a security layer

Mantle network uses Eigenlayer EigenDA.

2. MPC

It employs Multi party computation to improve the correctness of transaction execution off chain

3. Decentralized sequencers

It employs an algorithm to rotate the set of sequencers so as to offer secure and trust free blockchains

Why should you build on mantle?

$BIT token holders wanted to attract more usage for the token by solving a problem, hence the design of mantle network .

$BIT is the main token for the crypto exchange Bybit and also the governance token of BITDAO.

The community have voted for a change of the token from $BIT to $MNTL

1. A fast chain built for your needs

The modular design is to offer DeFi dApps and web3 games a chain fast enough for their needs

2. EVM compatibility

If you are already familiar with many tech stack for building on EVM chains, you are good to go with Mantle as well

3. Ecosystem

The community is proposing a $200m ecosystem fund for the next 3 years. Other partners onboard include Game7, EduDAO etc

4. High security, low cost

Uses EigenDA as a DA layer, Eigenlayer taps into Ethereum security layer through restaking and Mantle is secured by validators on the EigenDA layer. Hence greater security and less costs as Mantle does not offload data to or uses Ethereum L1 as data availability layer but EigenDA .

Another project that has been able to reduce gas cost tremendously is Momoka, they use Bundrl network to offload to Arweave as a DA layer.

Why Mantle network is using EigenDA?

1. Leverage Ethereum security

Ethereum has the largest trust network out there , aside bitcoin that is powered by massive hash power. Ethereum is the chain with the highest capital locked into security and it only keeps increasing.

Eigenlayer restaking approach means dApps, L2s etc can borrow from that security for their own security

2. More $MNTL utility

Anyone can stake $MNTL to register an EigenDA node. Also gas fees are paid in $MNTL.

3. Hyperscaled throughput

Validators before now could not maximize their computing power, now they can increase the throughput of any dApps or L2s they are scaling.

learn more

Website Forum Twitter

This article has been republished here for permanence purposes. link to original blog

1. Follow the money

Initial coin offerings allowed everyday investors invest in crypto projects, this avenue is almost none existent now due to heavy scams and tough regulations. Today many projects raise funds from venture capital , so have a tab of various VC investment and know how to take positions. Defillama Raise is a good place to start

2. Follow the updates

Crypto is a $1 trillion dollars industrial complex, it’s fast moving, the truth is that you can’t be in the know of everything . But however you can curate your feed to know what is happening.

I suggest the following

⁃ use twitter lists( curate accounts based on various topics like airdrops, Defi, VCs, ecosystem, NFTs etc)

⁃ Telegram ( subscribe to relevant groups on telegram to get real time update and help)

⁃ Discord( this app is becoming a go to favorite for all things crypto)

⁃ Calendar ( use tools like coinmarketcal etc to keep abreast of events)

3. Subscribe to tools

Onchain is becoming more and more accessible due to some tools, to know what is really happening on a chain, one needs to employ some tools. Some provide insights into blockchain data as well as top notch research on projects, topics and other insights. Some are free , others are paid for.

⁃ Defillama

⁃ Messari crypto

⁃ Nansen

⁃ Dune analytics

⁃ Debank

⁃ Bankless

⁃ Newsletters

4. Have a strategy

Crypto is a fast paced industry, one can get easily lost. Know what should take your time. Have a routine that you religiously follow.

Have a strategy as concerning time (what amount of time, when etc)

Have a strategy as concerning investing ( define your investment thesis, set an amount that you are willing to invest, know what metrics to track, know when to enter and exit).

Thanks to reading, this is a few insights into the world of crypto research, hope this piece was worth your time

Supposing we assume that they raised such money at a 10x valuation, that is $4.5 billion and guess what, they plan to give out 2/3 of the tokens to the community, that is $3 billion dollars to the community.

https://twitter.com/zksync/status/1592881066372517890

Why i think zksync will do an airdrop?

1. They said so : Because they themselves have in several occasions hinted about it

2. Precedence: other L2s like Arbitrum, Optimism have done an airdrop to reward their users.

3. Cash out for investors : Investors have committed $450m and tokens are currently the only way to cash out and to balance between community and investors, all projects that have raised funds, do an airdrop. Investors back projects, users form the community as they use and talk about the project. Investors get equity in form of tokens, users get airdrop as a form of retroactive reward

4. Decentralization : Public blockchains have to have tokens to be governed properly, even though there are debates as concerning token based voting.

https://docs.zksync.io/userdocs/decentralization/#how-decentralized-is-zksync

How to position yourself for zksync airdrop?

1. Use the platform: Zksync will be a ghost town if no dApps exist on it and if nobody uses them. So the more dApps exist on a platform, the more users have a pool to choose from and the more users exists on a platform, the more dApps developers are willing to build there.

2. Engage with the project: Engage in any marketing the project or others engage in ( like layer3, zealy, galxe tasks etc), join their discord, check their website regularly, sign up for their newsletter, follow them on twitter etc

3. Contribute: The problem is users just have funds to splatter on a platform, the question is if no one builds dApps, there will be nothing to use. So contribute to open source code, build dApps, contribute content( post your content on their discord group, the content section) .

4. Strategy: There are many other airdrops to hunt for, you have many other tasks taking your time from work to family etc, you need to draft a strategy that works for you. You may need to keep a spreadsheet of dApps on zksync and take a day or two in a week to interact with at least two dApps per week. A plan gives you direction and helps against wandering all over the place.

5. Be abreast : You should follow various sources to know the latest developments, the latest dApps launching on the platform and latest trends . You can use defillama to see some of the dApps on zksync and their various TVL position. You may also follow specific accounts on twitter , discord or telegram

What activities on the platform could qualify you for zksync airdrop

1. Create volume : Use various Dex on zksync. The more volume the better.

2. Bridge to zksync: one cannot create volume if they have not brushed funds to zksync.

3. Provide liquidity: The larger the amount and the longer the better. As more projects tighten their grip on Sybil airdrop hunters, the amount of a LP position and how long one has been providing that liquidity will go a long way. Supposing someone has $1000 to farm an airdrop, if he commits $500 to LP, he has less to Sybil with.

4.Buy or Mint NFT : You can buy and sell NFT on various platforms on zksync

5. Get a zksync domain name : You may never know.

6. Hyperchains: Use various L3(hyperchains) on Zksync. hypechains are Zksync solution for scaling, they can be built with the ZK stack.

Some practical ways to get the airdrop

1. Use bridges: You can use the official zksync bridge(it only supports bridging from Ethereum to zksync and vice versa, you can also use other bridging solutions as well, this is a 2 in 1 airdrop strategy. You can use orbiter finance, layerswap, Bungee etc to bridge to zksync , thereby positioning yourself for an airdrop.

2. **DeFi **: swap tokens and provide liquidity on various dApps, borrow and lend tokens out there. You can use syncswap, Mute, iziSwap . This is a 2 in 1 airdrop strategy as some of the dapps do not yet have a token.

3. NFT: You can buy and sell mint ,you can use Pinata , and others

4. Gitcoin: It was possible to make donations and checkout with zksync before now(I think zksync might reward all those who did this in the past) , however funding public goods through donation maybe a criteria for the airdrop, Optimism rewarded users who skated on Gitcoin during their airdrop

5. Vote : This may be a criteria for distinguishing between real or Sybil users, one may never know

Please know that nothing is guaranteed, hope you enjoyed this article.

EigenLayer aims to solve several problems that exist in the current AVS ecosystem, such as:

• Bootstrapping problem: New AVSs have to create their own trust networks or tokens to secure their services, which is difficult and costly.

• Value leakage: AVSs that have their own tokens or trust networks divert fees away from Ethereum, reducing its value accrual and network effects.

• Capital cost: Stakers who secure AVSs have to incur capital cost, which is the opportunity cost and price risk of staking in a new system. This cost can be much higher than the operational cost of providing validation services.

• Trust aggregation: AVSs that rely on different trust networks or tokens have lower security guarantees than Ethereum, as they are subject to the minimum cost of corruption among their dependencies.

EigenLayer introduces two key ideas to address these problems:

• Pooled security via restaking: EigenLayer allows stakers to reuse their ETH capital across multiple modules by restaking it via EigenLayer smart contracts. This way, EigenLayer aggregates ETH security across all modules, increasing their security and value. EigenLayer also acts as a staging system for Ethereum, where new innovations can be tested and integrated back into Ethereum.

• Free-market governance: EigenLayer provides a free-market mechanism for governing how ETH security is supplied by stakers and consumed by modules. Stakers can opt in or out of different modules based on their risk-reward preferences and capabilities. Modules can recruit stakers based on their validation requirements and incentives. This allows for a fast and efficient governance structure that complements the stable and conservative governance of Ethereum.

EigenLayer also enables new applications and possibilities for the Ethereum ecosystem, such as:

• Hyperscale data availability layer: A data availability layer that provides high data rate and low cost by utilizing EigenLayer restaking and horizontal scaling techniques.

• Decentralized sequencers: Sequencers that manage transaction ordering and MEV for rollups by using EigenLayer restaking and quorum signatures.

• Light-node bridges: Bridges that connect Ethereum with other blockchains by using EigenLayer restaking and light client verification.

• Fast-mode bridges for rollups: Bridges that speed up cross-rollup transfers by using EigenLayer restaking and proof verification.

• Oracles: Oracles that provide price feeds or other external data by using EigenLayer restaking and majority trust.

• Event-driven activation: Services that trigger actions based on events such as liquidations or collateral transfers by using EigenLayer restaking and blockspace management.

• Opt-in MEV management: Solutions that mitigate or distribute MEV by using EigenLayer restaking and opt-in validation tasks.

• Settlement chains with ultra-low latency: Chains that provide fast settlement with high economic finality by using EigenLayer restaking and new consensus protocols.

• Single-slot finality: A mechanism that achieves single-slot finality for Ethereum blocks by using EigenLayer restaking and attestation.

EigenLayer is a restaking collective for Ethereum that aims to enhance its security and innovation by enabling stakers to validate new modules built on top of Ethereum. By restaking their ETH, stakers extend the cryptoeconomic security of Ethereum to these modules and receive additional fees. By opting in or out of different modules, stakers participate in a free-market governance mechanism that allows for fast and efficient innovation. By leveraging staker heterogeneity and enabling opt-in validation tasks, EigenLayer expands the blockspace and performance of Ethereum. By enabling new applications such as hyperscale data availability layers, decentralized sequencers, light-node bridges, fast-mode bridges for rollups, oracles, event-driven activation, opt-in MEV management, settlement chains with ultra-low latency, and single-slot finality, EigenLayer enriches the Ethereum ecosystem.