DeFi

Solana developer says new crypto phone ‘looks like madness’ – but it already has $65 million in pre-orders – DL News

Published

11 months ago

30 May, 2024

Digital Finance News Staff

Solana developer says new crypto phone 'looks like madness' – but it already has $65 million in pre-orders – DL News

Solana’s Steven Laver brings BlackBerry and Apple experience to the Chapter 2 handset.
Crypto needs to break free from the desktop if it wants to scale, says the Solana team.
Solana undertakes a herculean task by embarking on manufacturing.

At first glance, Steven Laver does not seem like the one who would lead the most daring project in crypto.

The 43-year-old software engineer worked on the BlackBerry in the 2000s, then helped develop the Windows Phone app store at Microsoft.

He didn’t even work in crypto until early 2022.

Nonetheless, Laver is now the lead software engineer in Solana Labs’ drive to change the crypto experience by putting blockchain capabilities in the palm of your hand.

“It has such great energy that the sky is the limit,” Laver said. DL News in a rare interview. “It sounds like crazy, but at the same time it feels like the end result.”

This result is Solana’s second cell phone.

It’s called Chapter 2 and is expected to be released in early 2025. Pre-orders for the new device cost $500, and Solana claims to have more than 130,000 pre-orders. This represents $65 million in pre-orders.

Daring bet

It’s a bold bet for the four-year-old blockchain network. Mobile telephony, one of the most regulated industries on the planet, is dominated by Apple and Samsung.

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Why Solana, a pillar of DeFi with symbolic value 82 billion dollars and one of the hottest brands in crypto, making such a huge bet on hardware manufacturing?

“It’s a very difficult question,” said Chris Lewis, an independent telecommunications analyst with more than 40 years of experience in the industry. DL News.

The answer: control.

Chapter 2 is Solana’s attempt to free cryptography from the desktop and the dominance of Apple and Google’s application platforms.

Silicon Valley powerhouses have long harassed crypto-friendly mobile developers by charging huge fees or banning apps from their platforms.

In a world where investing, shopping, banking, and everything else happens on a smartphone, crypto is still fighting to gain a foothold.

“We’re used to everyone bringing a laptop to dinner, so you don’t miss a drop or a claim,” said Emmett Hollyer, manager of business development and operations at Solana Labs. DL News.

The madness of Memecoins

Solana, of course, is not the first crypto company to attempt to open up the grip of incumbents.

Over the past decade, more than a dozen custom-built crypto phones have hit the market. But none gained popularity.

Last year, Solana took a chance with Android-based Solana Saga. Customers picked up about 20,000 of the $600 handsets, which was well short of the 50,000-unit goal.

In comparison, Apple shipped more than 80 million iPhones in the fourth quarter alone.

Graphic by Darren Joseph/DL News

But Saga discovered what appeared to be a not-so-secret weapon in crypto phone development: memecoins.

The device came with a dog-themed memecoin called BONK. Somehow, collectors fell in love with BONK and its price soared 560% last December.

When investors rushed to call secondary markets, Hollyer and his team realized they had stumbled upon a new type of marketing strategy.

Now they are producing a sequel.

“Consumer hardware is difficult, but phones are a much greater order of magnitude.”

—Steven Laver, Solana

Although the company declined to disclose how much money it is investing in Chapter 2, it’s not a small number.

“Consumer hardware, in general, is difficult, but phones are a much higher order of magnitude,” Laver said. “Building a phone is an exercise that is as much about operations, logistics and compliance as it is about the underlying technology. »

There was a time when BlackBerry dominated the smartphone market, and Steven Laver was there. Photo credit: Shutterstock

The project comes as Solana is riding a wave of momentum. Its native token, SOL, rose 78% this year, compared to a 64% rise in the price of Ethereum, according to CoinGecko.

With a market value of $81 billion, Solana is the fifth largest digital asset.

Solana has also largely conquered the hot memecoin market. Activity was so strong in March that the network generated more costs than heavyweight Ethereum – no small feat.

Lingering Questions

Still, questions remain about whether to launch a mobile phone.

“What are you bringing,” Lewis said. “Is it just security? Is this a new interface? Is this the latest chip power? I think those are the questions you ask yourself, and then being able to build the brand and market it.

And, perhaps more importantly, is there actually a demand for a crypto phone?

Deep roots

Solana’s project is deeply rooted in Silicon Valley’s mobile scene.

It grew out of a little-known but much-loved project called Essential, founded by Andy Rubin, the brains behind Android at Google.

After Essential closed in 2020, some employees started another cell phone company called OSOM. A few years later, it developed the OV1 phone, which, featuring a ceramic and titanium body, became a cult favorite.

If you look closely, it also looks a lot like the Solana saga. This is because they are almost the same. Solana Labs and OSOM announced a Partnership in June 2022.

Solana CEO Anatoly Yakovenko appeared at an event in Indonesia in May with a cellphone emblazoned with the Solana logo. Photo credit: Muhammad Alimaki/Shutterstock

In February 2022, Laver landed in Solana right in the heart of Saga development.

Originally from Canada, Laver studied computer engineering at the University of Waterloo in Ontario (the same alma mater as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin).

Iconic products

Laver was present at the creation of several iconic products. He worked on a range of BlackBerrys, made by Canadian company Research in Motion, which introduced portable email and texting to business life.

At Microsoft, Laver worked on what would become the Windows Phone app store. He has also worked on other consumer electronics products such as smartwatch maker Fitbit, as well as at Apple and Google.

“There are many low- and mid-budget Android phones that look like a cheap car dashboard from the late 90s.”

—Steven Laver, Solana Labs

From the start, Laver said the Saga was designed to have a satisfying weight in hand and a sleek matte finish.

“There are many low- and mid-budget Android phones that look like a cheap car dashboard from the late ’90s,” Laver said.

Solana’s device was designed with three features not found on normal handsets.

The first one was called Seed Vault.

This stores the seed phrases that users use to send and receive cryptocurrencies. Saga’s security falls somewhere between an internet-connected crypto wallet such as Phantom or MetaMask and the vault-style Ledger, Laver said.

It’s not intended to hold millions of dollars of crypto, but you can buy a few cocktails with it.

Challenge Apple and Google

The Solana Mobile Stack allows mobile app developers to create crypto apps for the phone. And the Solana dApp Store gives projects a marketplace for their work.

It is designed to be a purpose around the Apple App Store, which has taken down a few of the largest crypto apps in the industry, perhaps most notably MetaMask in October. It was later reinstated.

In-app purchases on the Apple App Store are also subject to a whopping 30% fee.

As for Google’s Play Store, it relaxed its crypto policy last summer. But he also generally charges developer fees between 15% and 30%.

Laver says the Solana Labs team is going to let crypto be crypto.

“We are adopting a much lighter policy,” he said. “We’re doing our best to get out of the way.”

Profit center

Solana Labs does not charge any fees, except for the fee for publishing application metadata on the Solana blockchain.

“It’s not a profit center for us,” Laver said.

The platform already includes NFT marketplace Magic Eden and decentralized exchange Jupiter.

“We need to find a way to give manufacturers a reasonable path to distribution.”

—Emmett Hollyer, Solana Labs

Hollyer hopes this will put pressure on Silicon Valley to take a more enlightened approach to crypto.

“Hopefully Google and Apple will come to their senses and see what might be possible if they relax some of their pricing structures and some of their restrictive policies,” he said. “Until then, we need to find a way to give manufacturers a reasonable path to distribution.”

Solana recently registered its 100th dapp.

“We’re just starting to get to that point where developers are starting to see the value in building a phone like Saga,” Laver said.

BONK goes boom

But the big change in the development of the Solana phone was BONK, the $2.1 billion meme coin. Each phone purchased came with $750 worth of BONK tokens, redeemable using a non-transferable NFT – a digital identifier linking buyers to each phone.

When the token skyrocketed in December, 30 million BONK tokens were integrated directly into the Solana Saga phone. An arbitrage trade emerged.

“With BONK, I bought other memecoins,” said Lui Kohl, product manager at token acquisition platform Streamflow. DL News. “Overall, I think I turned $800 BONK into $4,000, so it was worth it financially.”

Thanks to the BONK buzz, Hollyer said Solana was able to sell the rest of its phones in three days.

The episode also sparked anticipation for Chapter 2, which is already eligible for five memecoins. Kohl’s, for its part, has already pre-ordered the phone.

Absorbing the lessons of crypto mobile marketing, Laver admitted he was “personally a little confused.”

“Blockchain is just a little bit different,” he said. “Ultimately, putting a real, physical, well-integrated product in people’s hands is why I do this.”

Liam Kelly is based in Berlin DL News’ corresponding. Contact him at liam@dlnews.com.

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DeFi

Pump.Fun is revolutionizing the Ethereum blockchain in terms of daily revenue

Published

9 months ago

31 July, 2024

Digital Finance News Staff

Pump.Fun is revolutionizing the Ethereum blockchain in terms of daily revenue

The memecoin launchpad saw the largest daily revenue in all of DeFi over the past 24 hours.

Memecoin launchpad Pump.Fun has recorded the highest gross revenue in all of decentralized finance (DeFi) in the last 24 hours, surpassing even Ethereum.

The platform has raised $867,429 in the past 24 hours, compared to $844,276 for Ethereum, according to DeFiLlama. Solana-based Telegram trading bot Trojan was the third-highest revenue generator of the day, as memecoin infrastructure continues to dominate in DeFi.

Pump.Fun generates $315 million in annualized revenue according to DeFiLlama, and has averaged $906,160 per day over the past week.

Income Ranking – Source: DeFiLlama

The memecoin frenzy of the past few months is behind Pump.fun’s dominance. Solana-based memecoins have been the main drug of choice for on-chain degenerates.

The app allows non-technical users to launch their own tokens in minutes. Users can spend as little as $2 to launch their token and are not required to provide liquidity up front. Pump.Fun allows new tokens to trade along a bonding curve until they reach a set market cap of around $75,000, after which the bonding curve will then be burned on Raydium to create a safe liquidity pool.

Pump.Fun generates revenue through accrued fees. The platform charges a 1% fee on transactions that take place on the platform. Once a token is bonded and burned on Raydium, Pump.fun is no longer able to charge the 1% fee.

Ethereum is the blockchain of the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ether, with a market cap of $395 billion. It powers hundreds of applications and thousands of digital assets, and backs over $60 billion in value in smart contracts.

Ethereum generates revenue when users pay fees, called gas and denominated in ETH, to execute transactions and smart contracts.

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DeFi

DeFi technologies will improve trading desk with zero-knowledge proofs

Published

9 months ago

31 July, 2024

Digital Finance News Staff

DeFi Technologies to enhance trading desk with zero-knowledge proofs

DeFi Technologies, a Canadian company financial technology companyis set to enhance its trading infrastructure through a new partnership with Zero Computing, according to a July 30 statement shared with CryptoSlate.

The collaboration aims to integrate zero-knowledge proof tools to boost operations on the Solana And Ethereum blockchains by optimizing its ability to identify and execute arbitrage opportunities.

Additionally, it will improve the performance of its DeFi Alpha trading desk by enhancing its use of ZK-enabled maximum extractable value (MEV Strategies).

Zero knowledge Proof of concept (ZKP) technology provides an additional layer of encryption to ensure transaction confidentiality and has recently been widely adopted in cryptographic applications.

Optimization of trading strategies

DeFi Technologies plans to use these tools to refine DeFi Alpha’s ability to spot low-risk arbitrage opportunities. The trading desk has already generated nearly $100 million in revenue this year, and this new partnership is expected to further enhance its algorithmic strategies and market analysis capabilities.

Zero Computing technology will integrate ZKP’s advanced features into DeFi Alpha’s infrastructure. This upgrade will streamline trading processes, improve transaction privacy, and increase operational efficiency.

According to DeFi Technologies, these improvements will increase the security and sophistication of DeFi Alpha’s trading strategies.

The collaboration will also advance commercial approaches for ZK-enabled MEVs, a new concept in Motor vehicles which focuses on maximizing value through transaction fees and arbitrage opportunities within block production.

Additionally, DeFi Technologies plans to leverage Zero Computing technology to develop new financial products, such as zero-knowledge index exchange-traded products (ETPs).

Olivier Roussy Newton, CEO of DeFi Technologies, said:

“By integrating their cutting-edge zero-knowledge technology, we not only improve the efficiency and privacy of our transactions, but we also pave the way for innovative trading strategies.”

Extending Verifiable Computing to Solana

According to the release, Zero Computing has created a versatile, chain-agnostic platform for generating zero-knowledge proofs. The platform currently supports Ethereum and Solana, and the company plans to expand compatibility with other blockchains in the future.

The company added that it is at the forefront of introducing verifiable computation to the Solana blockchain, enabling complex computations to be executed off-chain with on-chain verification. This development represents a significant step in the expansion of ZKPs across various blockchain ecosystems.

Mentioned in this article

Latest Alpha Market Report

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DeFi

Elastos’ BeL2 Secures Starknet Grant to Advance Native Bitcoin Lending and DeFi Solutions

Published

9 months ago

30 July, 2024

Digital Finance News Staff

© Reuters Elastos’ BeL2 Secures Starknet Grant to Advance Native Bitcoin Lending and DeFi Solutions

Singapore, Asia, July 29, 2024, Chainwire

Elastos BeL2 to Partner with StarkWare to Integrate Starknet’s ZKPs and Cairo Programming Language with BeL2 for Native DeFi Applications
Starknet integration allows BeL2 to provide smart contracts and dapps without moving Bitcoin assets off the mainnet
Starknet Exchange Validates the Strength of BeL2’s Innovation and Leadership in the Native Bitcoin Ecosystem

Elastos BeL2 (Bitcoin Elastos Layer2) has secured a $25,000 grant from Starknet, a technology leader in the field of zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs). This significant approval highlights the Elastos BeL2 infrastructure and its critical role in advancing Bitcoin-native DeFi, particularly Bitcoin-native lending. By integrating Starknet’s ZKPs and the Cairo programming language, Elastos’ BeL2 will enhance its ability to deliver smart contracts and decentralized applications (dapps) without moving Bitcoin (BTC) assets off the mainnet. This strategic partnership with Starknet demonstrates the growing acceptance and maturity of the BeL2 infrastructure, reinforcing Elastos’ commitment to market leadership in the evolving Bitcoin DeFi market.

Starknet, developed by StarkWare, is known for its advancements in ZKP technology, which improves the privacy and security of blockchain transactions. ZKPs allow one party to prove to another that a statement is true without revealing any information beyond the validity of the statement itself. This technology is fundamental to the evolution of blockchain networks, which will improve BeL2’s ability to integrate complex smart contracts while preserving the integrity and security of Bitcoin.

“We are thrilled to receive this grant from Starknet and announce our partnership to build tighter integrations with its ZKP technology and the Cairo programming language,” said Sasha Mitchell, Head of Bitcoin Layer 2 at Elastos. “This is a major milestone for BeL2 and a true recognition of the maturity and capabilities of our core technology. This support will allow us to further develop our innovation in native Bitcoin lending as we look to capitalize on the growing acceptance of Bitcoin as a viable alternative financial system.”

A closer integration with Cairo will allow BeL2 to leverage this powerful programming language to enhance Bitcoin’s capabilities and deliver secure, efficient, and scalable decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. Specifically, the relationship with Cairo reinforces BeL2’s core technical innovations, including:

ZKPs ensure secure and private verification of transactions
Decentralized Arbitrage Using Collateralized Nodes to Supervise and Enforce Fairness in Native Bitcoin DeFi
BTC Oracle (NYSE:) facilitates cross-chain interactions where information, not assets, is exchanged while Bitcoin remains on the main infrastructure

BeL2’s vision goes beyond technical innovation and aims to innovate by creating a new financial system. The goal is to build a Bitcoin-backed Bretton Woods system, address global debt crises, and strengthen Bitcoin’s role as a global hard currency. This new system will be anchored in the integrity and security of Bitcoin, providing a stable foundation for decentralized financial applications.

As integration with Starknet and the Cairo programming language continues, BeL2 will deliver further advancements in smart contract capabilities, decentralized arbitration, and innovative financial products. At Token 2049, BeL2 will showcase further innovations in its core technologies, including arbitrators, that will underscore Elastos’ vision for a fairer decentralized financial system rooted in Bitcoin.

About Elastos

Elastos is a public blockchain project that integrates blockchain technology with a suite of redesigned platform components to produce a modern Internet infrastructure that provides intrinsic privacy and ownership protection for digital assets. The mission is to create open source services that are accessible to the world, so developers can create an Internet where individuals own and control their data.

The Elastos SmartWeb platform enables organizations to recalibrate how the Internet operates to better control their own data.

Home

https://www.linkedin.com/company/elastosinfo/

ContactPublic Relations ManagerRoger DarashahElastosroger.darashah@elastoselavation.org

This article was originally published on Chainwire

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DeFi

Compound Agrees to Distribute 30% of Reserves to COMP Shareholders to End Alleged Attack on Its Governance

Published

9 months ago

30 July, 2024

Digital Finance News Staff

Compound Agrees to Distribute 30% of Reserves to COMP Shareholders to End Alleged Attack on Its Governance

Compound will introduce the staking program in exchange for Humpy, a notorious whale accused of launching a governance attack on the protocol, negating a recently adopted governance proposal.

Compound is launching a new staking program for COMP holders as a compromise with Humpy, a notorious DeFi whale accused of launching a governance attack against the veteran DeFi protocol.

On July 29, Bryan Colligan, head of business development at Compound, published a governance proposal outlining plans for a new compound participation product that would pay 30% of the project’s current and future reserves to COMP participants.

Colligan noted that the program was requested by Humpy in exchange for his agreement Proposition 289 — which sought to invest 499,000 COMP worth approximately $24 million into a DeFi vault controlled by Humpy, and which appears to have been forced by Humpy and his associates over the weekend.

“We propose the following staking product that meets Humpy’s stated interests as a recent new delegate and holder of COMP in exchange for the repeal of Proposition 289 due to the governance risks it poses to the protocol,” Colligan said. “The Compound Growth Program…will execute the above commitments, given the immediate repeal of Proposition 289.”

Colligan added that the proposal would expire at 11:59 p.m. EST on July 29. Had Humpy not rescinded Proposition 289, Compound would move forward with it. Proposition 290 — block Humpy using the Compound team’s multi-sig to deploy a new governor contract removing the delegate’s governance power behind Proposition 289.

Hunchback tweeted that Proposition 289 had been repealed a few hours ago. “Glad to have brought Compound Finance back into the spotlight,” they said. added. “StakedComp… finally becomes a yield-generating asset!

Markets reacted favorably to the resolution, with the price of COMP increasing by 6.2% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.

Attack on governance

Proposition 289 proposed investing 499,000 COMP from the Compound treasury into goldCOMP, a yield-generating vault of the Humpy-linked Golden Boys team.

The proposal passed with nearly 52 percent of the vote on July 28, despite two previous iterations of the proposal being defeated by strong opposition. Can And JulyThe proposals notably asked for only 92,000 COMP, with security researchers warning that any deposit of tokens into the goldCOMP vault would cede their governance power.

In May, Michael Lewellen of Web3 security firm OpenZeppelin, note The first proposal was submitted by a new governance delegate who was suddenly awarded 228,000 COMP by five wallets that got their tokens from the Bybit exchange. Combined with his own tokens, the delegate got 325,333 COMP, which is over 81% of the 400,000 tokens required for a governance proposal to reach quorum.

“We have been alerting the community to the risk that these delegates could support a potential attack on governance,” Lewellen said. “The timing of the new proposal and these recent delegations are suspect.”

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