Parse notes
The SEC is reportedly likely to notify 14 asset managers as early as this week regarding the approval status for their respective Bitcoin ETF applications. This comes in anticipation of the January 10 decision deadline. Approved firms may even be allowed to launch by the given deadline.
BlackRock and Valkyrie, two spot Bitcoin ETF applicants, recently announced the authorized participants for their ETFs. BlackRock has chosen Jane Street and J.P. Morgan, whereas Valkyrie will use Jane Street and Cantor Fitzgerald. The selections caused a bit of a buzz due to J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon's recent public opposition to crypto.
Parallel Labs will soon launch the Parallel Network, the first Arbitrum Orbit chain on mainnet, aiming to effectively consolidate DeFi and NFT protocols from various chains into one platform. The system will streamline user experience due to its increased responsiveness and scalability while maintaining Ethereum's security standards. The network aims to address liquidity fragmentation, a common issue with L2s, by creating a unified multi-chain margin account, enabling a more efficient and user-friendly crypto trading experience.
This article provides an in-depth look at how Solana achieves high performance through its unique consensus architecture. Solana utilizes Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) and a unique mechanism coined Proof-of-History (PoH) for validating and sequencing transactions. PoH essentially creates a global clock across nodes reducing discrepancies and boosting speed, while DPoS relies on stakes for network governance, making it efficient and incentivizing integrity. This unique design has been a tailwind, as scalability became one of the main narratives throughout this bear market.
Ethereum's EIP-4844 is set to incrementally scale Ethereum's data layer, providing improvements such as blob data, a new resource with its own independent fee market, and cryptographic components. It also introduces the Danksharding proposal, which gradually uses cryptographic and networking components to obtain scalability and feature-completeness, potentially increasing bandwidth requirements. This EIP is one of the most highly anticipated upgrades to the Ethereum network, and many crypto experts are expecting this upgrade to shift focus and mind share back towards Ethereum L2s.
This article discusses the continuous prevalence of speculative investments in the crypto ecosystem, including internet money, memecoins, and NFTs. This trend is fueled by the broad access and the potential substantial rewards that crypto offers to ordinary individuals. While some people see these speculative investments as a form of entertainment, others view them as an opportunity to jumpstart their wealth-building journey. Regardless of the goals of users, these speculative cycles have consistently driven greater adoption of crypto platforms. This type of speculation will continue to drive growth and technical progress in the crypto space.
This essay from Vitalik Buterin reflects on the early ideals behind cryptocurrencies and decentralized technology, tracing their trajectory for creating a more open society and economy. It observes the shift away from these visions due to rising transaction costs and the dominance of financial applications. The piece further highlights advancements like rollups, privacy solutions, and zero-knowledge proofs that now offer a chance to realign with original goals. Buterin calls for a balance of incentives and values within the crypto community to meaningfully implement these technological improvements.
Vitalik Buterin released a new roadmap for Ethereum, showing few changes, emphasizing single slot finality in post-Merge PoS, progress in Surge and Scourge projects, and shifts in priorities like state expiry and VDFs.
SOL Shotty is a Solana RPC proxy that 'shotgun blasts' RPC requests to multiple providers, ensuring faster response and reliability, even if a provider is down.
SEI has been surging lately with the narrative of parallelized EVMs picking up. This thread provides a simple overview of what you can do on the chain to get a feel for what the ecosystem has to offer.
The creator of Inscriptions aligns with Bitcoin maximalism but is critical of its rigidity. They advise against whining about Bitcoin ordinals and inscriptions and urge people to focus on more impactful issues.