The Protocol: MetaMask’s Secret Weapon and Ethereum’s Dencun Debacle

Last
month,
our
feature
in
The
Protocol
highlighted
how
the
blockchain
design
principle
of
“intents”
was
gaining
ascendancy
among
developers
on
the
industry’s
cutting
edge.
This
week
our
Sam
Kessler
is
back
with
a
scoop
on
how
the
popular
crypto
wallet
MetaMask,
from
the
Ethereum
developer
Consensys,
has
quietly
deployed
a
version
of
an
intents-based
routing
mechanism
that
could
revolutionize
how
users
interact
with
blockchains.

We’ve
also
got:

MOORE
IS
MORE.
Ethereum
co-founder

Vitalik
Buterin,
the
de
facto
high
priest
of
the
world’s
largest
smart-contracts
blockchain,
tossed
out
last
week
on
a

Reddit
“Ask
Me
Anything”
that
it
would
be
“reasonable”
to
raise
the
network’s
“gas
limit”
–
a
very
technical
way
of
referring
to
the
amount
of
transactions
that
can
get

jammed
into
each
new
block.
He
suggested
an
increase
to
“40M
or
so,”
implying
a
33%
increase
over
the
current
limit
of
30
million
gas.
(Yes,
for
the
underinitiated,
a
unit
of
gas,
in
this
context,
is
just…
a

gas.)
The
main
reason
this
is
now
possible,
according
to
Buterin,
is

Moore’s
law
–
the
observation
that
computing
power
seems
to

double
every
year.
That’s
relevant
because
of
the
amount
of
data
that
it
takes
to
store
Ethereum’s
“state”
–
the
complete
record
of
the
blockchain’s
history;
as
computers
become
more
powerful,
they
should
theoretically
be
able
to
handle
the
higher
transaction
capacity
–
potentially
helping
to
reduce
fees
for
end-users.
“There
appears
to
be
a
constructive
willingness
to

explore
this
topic
further,”
analysts
at
Coinbase
Institutional

wrote.
But
some
members
of
the
Ethereum
community
have
raised
yellow
flags.
Péter
Szilágyi,
an
Ethereum
developer,

tweeted
that
such
an
increase
could
slow
the
network’s
“sync
time.”
Galaxy
Research’s
Christine
Kim
wrote
in
a
weekly
newsletter
that
“larger
blocks
would
certainly

increase
block
propagation
latency
and
potentially
result
in

a
higher
number
of
missed
blocks.”
Marius
van
der
Wijden,
an
Ethereum
software
developer,

estimated
that
the
network’s
state
is
currently
around
87
gigabytes
(GB),
and
growing
at
2
GB
per
month.
That
would
put
it
at
111
GB
in
a
year
and
207
GB
in
five
years.
In
an
era
where
a
1
terabyte
thumb
drive
can
be
bought
on

Amazon.com
for
$19.99,
it
doesn’t
sound
too
terribly
daunting.
“The
problem
here
is
not
the
size
itself,”
van
der
Wijden
wrote.
“Everyone
will
be
able
to
store
that
amount
of
data.
However,
accessing
and
modifying
it
will
become
slower
and
slower.”
One
thing
there
seems
to
be
some
agreement
on:
It’s
worth
waiting
a
bit
to
observe
the
impact
of
the
upcoming
“Dencun”
upgrade
on
the
network,
which
will
introduce
a
new
way
of
storing
data
as
“blobs,”

effectively
providing
a
capacity
increase.

BLACK
DRAGON
BREATHES
FIRE:
Just
two
months
after

NEAR
Protocol
co-founder
Illia
Polosukhin
took
over
as
CEO
of
the
supporting
NEAR
Foundation,
he

announced
drastic
cuts
last
week
in
the
organization’s
workforce
–
impacting
35
colleagues,
or
a
40%
reduction.
According
to
Polosukhin,
the
decision
came
after
a
“thorough
review
of
the
foundation’s
activities,”
resulting
in
feedback
that
“the
foundation
has
not
always
been
as
effective
as
it
could
be.”
Polosukhin
noted
that
the
financial
picture
remains
sound,
with
over
$285
million
in
“fiat”
or
government-issued
currencies
and
305
million
NEAR
tokens
“worth
over
$1B,”
along
with
$70
million
of
investments
and
loans.
Referred
to
in
the
foundation’s
communications
as
the
“Black
Dragon,”
Polosukhin
may
be
under
pressure
to
breathe
new
life
into
the
alternative
layer-1
blockchain,
which
ranks
32nd
among
networks
based
on
the
much-watched
metric
of
total
value
locked,
or
TVL,
according
to

DeFi
Llama.
Notably
NEAR
is
trying
some
fresh
strategies,
pivoting
last
year
to
serve
as
a
“data
availability”
network
and
cutting
a
deal
with
restaking
pioneer
EigenLabs
to
create
a
“fast
finality
layer”
for
Ethereum
layer-2
networks.

ONE
BETTER
THAN
TWO:
The
Binance-incubated

BNB
Chain
ecosystem
has
announced
a
plan
called
“Fusion”
that
will
see
the
original
BNB
Beacon
Chain
decommissioned
while
reinforcing
the
primacy
of
the
sister
BNB
Smart
Chain.
According
to
a

statement
on
the
open-source
software
platform
GitHub,
the
proposal
will
help
to
“overcome
legacy
services
and
technical
debt,
enabling
faster
iteration
and
development.”
According
to
the

newsletter
Wu
Blockchain,
“BNB
Beacon
Chain
is
set
to
exit
the
stage
within
the
next
six
months.”

Highlighting
blockchain
tech
upgrades
and
developments.

1.


Taiko,
developing
a
so-called
type-1
zkEVM
to
help
scale
the
Ethereum
blockchain,

announced
the
launch
of
“Katla,”
its
alpha-6
testnet,
according
to
a
message
from
the
team:
“Katla
is
laying
the
foundation
for
Taiko’s
mainnet
launch
in
2024.”2.


Parallel
Network
has
officially
launched
on
mainnet
and
is
open
to
developers,

according
to
the
team,
claiming
to
be
the
first
layer-2
network
on
Arbitrum
Orbit
to
go
live.
“It
is
also
the
first
non-custodial
omni-chain
margin
protocol,
which
allows
liquidity
to
be
pooled
across
multiple
chains
and
makes
it
immediately
available
on
the
Parallel
Network.”

3.
Chainlink’s
Cross-Chain
Interoperability
Protocol
(CCIP)
has

integrated

Circle’s
Cross-Chain
Transfer
Protocol
(CCTP)
to
make
it
easy
for
users
to
transfer
USDC
across
chains,
according
to
a
press
release.
Developers
can
now
build
cross-chain
use
cases
via
CCIP
that
involve
cross-chain
transfers
of
USDC,
including
payments
and
other
DeFi
interactions,
the
statement
said.

4.
The
Hedera
Council

announced
its
newest
member,
the
electronics
maker
Hitachi
America,
Ltd.
(Hitachi).
According
to
the
team:
“Hitachi
aims
to
begin
creating
proof-of-concepts
for
end-to-end
supply
chain
and
sustainability
solutions
on
Hedera
in
the
next
year.”

5.
Lagrange
Labs,
developer
of
a
blockchain
proving
system
based
on
zero-knowledge
cryptography,
has
integrated
its
light
client
protocol,
Lagrange
State
Committees
(LSC),
for
the
Ethereum
layer-2
network
Mantle,

according
to
the
team.
LSCs
“are
a
ZK
light
client
protocol
for
optimistic
rollups
(ORUs),
designed
through
combining
Lagrange’s
ZK
MapReduce
Coprocessor
and
EigenLayer
restaking.
Each
state
committee
borrows
security
from
Ethereum
by
dual
staking,
both
through
EigenLayer
restaking
and
with
the
rollup’s
native
token.”

6.
Hacken,
a
blockchain
security
auditor,
has
introduced
an

open-source
Rust
library
for
code
coverage
generation
for
WASM-based
protocols,
according
to
the
team:
“Code
Coverage
utilities
are
crucial
for
automation
testing
to
ascertain
the
thoroughness
of
code
examination.
Without
it,
some
critical
components
can
remain
untested.
While
it
is
available
for
Ethereum-based
projects,
WASM-based
protocols
don’t
have
it.
Wasmcov
by
Hacken
is
already
integrated
into
the
Radix
ecosystem,
which
enables
all
Radix-built
projects
to
utilize
code
coverage
measurement.
The
next
protocol
to
get
it
will
be
NEAR.
The
rest
can
set
it
up
manually.”

See
the
entire
Protocol
Village
list
from
this
past
week
here.

MetaMask
has
quietly
rolled
out
a
limited
version
of
its
new
routing
tech
into
the
new
Smart
Swaps
feature.
(MetaMask,
modified
by
CoinDesk)

MetaMask,
the
most
popular
crypto
wallet
on
Ethereum,
is
testing
a
new
“transaction
routing”
technology
that’s
likely
to
have
major
ramifications
for
how
value
flows
through
the
second-biggest
blockchain
network.

CoinDesk
learned
of
the
new
technology
from
developers
briefed
on
the
plan,
and
key
details
were
subsequently
confirmed
by
officials
with
MetaMask’s
parent
company,
Consensys.

The
effort
capitalizes
on
a
concept
known
in
blockchain
circles
as
“intents”
that
is
rapidly
gaining
momentum,
potentially
leading
to
a
radical
shift
in
how
people
interact
with
blockchains:
Rather
than
specifying

how
they
want
to
get
something
done
(e.g.
“sell
X
tokens
on
Y
exchange
for
Z
price”),
blockchain
users
may
only
need
to
specify

what
they
want
the
outcome
to
be
(e.g.
“I
want
the
best
price
for
my
tokens”).

The
“what”
versus
“how”
distinction
might
seem
subtle,
but
it’s
a
big
departure
from
how
MetaMask
and
other
crypto
wallets
worked
originally
–
as
neutral,
relatively
simple
pieces
of
software
for
connecting
users
to
blockchains.
The
goal
with
the
new
tech
is
for
users
to
get
better
execution
on
their
transactions
and
improved
ease
of
use,
but
intent-based
programs
ultimately
represent
a
big
shift
to
where
–
and
to
whom
–
value
flows
on
blockchains.

The
new
technology
is
being
built
by
Special
Mechanisms
Group
(SMG),
a
blockchain
infrastructure
firm
that
MetaMask
owner
Consensys
purchased
last
year.

Read
the
full
story
by
Sam
Kessler
here

Fundraisings

Deals
and
Grants

Data
and
Tokens

We
finally
got
around
to
reading
Messari
analyst
Seth
Bloomberg’s
excellent
report
out
a
few
weeks
ago
titled,
“The
Onchain
Economics
of
ZK
Rollups.”
It
provides
a
good
snapshot
of
the
competition
between
major
Ethereum
layer-2
networks
as
2023
closed
out.
The
report
reinforced
the
oft-repeated
observation
that
“Data
publishing
(or
data
availability)
generally
remains
the
highest
on-chain
cost
for
rollups”
–
thus
underscoring
the
significance
of
Ethereum’s
upcoming
“Dencun”
upgrade,
which
is
supposed
to
lead
to
drastic
reductions
in
those
expenses.
But
there
are
different
ways
to
handle
the
data,
of
course,
and
the
zkSync
Era
project
stands
out
in
that
it
“only
posts
state
diffs
to
Ethereum,”
while
most
rollup
networks
“publish
the
full
rollup
transaction
data.”
Per
the
report:
“In
simple
terms,
publishing
state
diffs
means
that
if
two
users
send
ETH
and
other
tokens
to
each
other
multiple
times,
only
the
net
differences
in
their
account
balances
need
to
be
published
to
Ethereum
instead
of
the
full
transaction
history
between
the
two
users.”
The
upshot?
ZkSync
Era
has
the
lowest
average
transaction
costs,
at
18
cents,
seen
as
a
nice
bargain
compared
with
Polygon
zkEVM’s
45
cents.