ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, the blockchain startup accelerator Cronos Labs, dedicated to expanding the Cronos blockchain ecosystem, announced a strategic partnership with Google Cloud, making Google Cloud the primary cloud provider for the Cronos ecosystem and introducing it to Cronos validators to enhance on-chain performance.

ChainCatcher news, Cronos Labs announced that the Cronos zkEVM mainnet is officially live.Cronos zkEVM is a Layer-2 blockchain built on Ethereum, powered by ZKsync technology. Its testnet was launched in December 2023, processing millions of transactions and having over 3 million unique addresses.Cronos zkEVM uses zkCRO (a liquid staking version of $CRO) as the gas token.

ChainCatcher message, ZKsync posted on social media that Cronos zkEVM is an evolving dapp, builder, and user ecosystem, which has now joined Elastic Chain, allowing transactions with world-class applications built on other ZK Chains while providing a unified and intuitive user experience.

ChainCatcher news, Cronos announced the launch of the task aggregation platform Cronos Quests on the X platform. Projects hosting tasks on platforms like Galxe, QuestN, or projects providing rewards for crofam on the platform can visit the website and apply to list their tasks.

ChainCatcher news, Cronos's liquid staking protocol Veno Finance has announced its launch on zkSync Era. When zkSync Era users natively stake ETH, they will receive an equivalent amount of LETH tokens and can also earn additional yields using its DeFi protocol.It is reported that Veno Finance is a liquid staking protocol on the Cronos chain, recently launched on zkSync Era, aiming to achieve cost savings by leveraging its own node infrastructure and/or partner node infrastructure. Veno enables its users to stake their $CRO, $ATOM, or $ETH, and receive automatically compounded, yield-generating receipt tokens $LCRO, $LATOM, or $LETH on each chain respectively.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Cronos Labs, the developer behind the Cronos blockchain, announced a new Layer 2 network "Cronos zkEVM chain" in collaboration with Matter Labs, initially launched as a testnet, based on Matter Labs' software tools, which can be used to launch new Layer 2 and Layer 3 "hyperchains" on Ethereum.The testnet is supported by the ZK Stack software suite of zkSync, primarily developed by Matter Labs, and will add a new chain to the existing Cronos ecosystem, which currently consists of the Cronos EVM blockchain and the Cronos PoS chain. The goal for the Cronos zkEVM mainnet is to launch in the second quarter of 2024.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the blockchain incubation organization Cronos Labs has announced the launch of the third batch of accelerator program participant recruitment, aiming to recruit 8 startups to support early-stage crypto projects. The program lasts for 12 weeks, and the recruitment phase began on September 4.Cronos Labs has signed contracts with Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and blockchain security companies Paladin and Certik as mentors for the program.

ChainCatcher news, gaming giant Ubisoft has announced that it will support the Cronos Network as a validator, joining the ranks of 27 other blockchain validators including Crypto.com and Blockdaemon. Ubisoft will operate a node on the open-source network, which can interoperate with both Ethereum and Cosmos, generating or confirming new blocks on the network during transaction processing.Cronos Labs stated that Ubisoft will work with developers to promote the development of blockchain games and leverage the expertise of Ubisoft's Strategic Innovation Lab. This move is part of Ubisoft's ongoing expansion into the NFT gaming space, having previously developed and launched its own blockchain game prototypes that support various networks and platforms, and invested in projects.

ChainCatcher news, blockchain incubation institution Cronos Labs has announced the launch of the second batch of its accelerator program, focusing on the integration of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology, and plans to provide $100 million in support to guide and fund early-stage crypto projects.It is reported that a total of 8 Web3 projects have been selected for the second batch of the accelerator program, namely: Omnus, DeMe, Furrend, Solace, Sakaba, Eisen Finance, Earn Network, and CorgiAI. These projects have already received $30,000 in pre-seed funding, primarily covering Web3 game development, decentralized social networks, smart contract wallet integration, institutional trading aggregation, and generative AI-based P2P economic ecosystems. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, the crypto startup Spielworks announced the launch of the Web3 game accelerator "Wombat X," with partners including the EVM-compatible Layer 1 network Cronos, and the Web3 infrastructure service provider Newcoin. Other participants include the EOS Network Foundation, Avicenne, Lifty, and Beamable. Web3 game projects selected for the Wombat X accelerator will receive support in funding, education, and community engagement with gamers. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to PR Newswire, the blockchain startup accelerator Cronos Labs, which focuses on decentralized finance, blockchain gaming, and the development of the Cronos ecosystem, has announced the opening of the second batch of the Cronos Accelerator Program, with a scale of $100 million.It is reported that the second three-month accelerator program will start on April 24, 2023, with the application deadline set for March 24, 2023. The program primarily focuses on crypto verticals such as DeFi, GameFi, SocialFi, and infrastructure. Selected projects can receive a $30,000 pre-seed investment and have the opportunity to secure an additional $300,000 in seed funding, as well as participate in mentoring sessions, customized masterclasses, and fireside chats with industry experts. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, Layer1 blockchain Cronos announced that it will upgrade its mainnet to Cronos V1.0 "Galileo" on January 17, 2023. The main improvements introduced in Cronos v1.0 are as follows: memory pool priority further expands TPS; optimized node storage: full node storage reduced by 30%; GRPC query concurrent response and other node performance enhancements; node startup time generally reduced by about 50%; new Cosmos features provide better convenience for EVM/Cosmos interoperability (IBC incentives, IBC token transfer memo field). Developers can currently test Cronos V1.0 on the Cronos testnet. (source link)

ChainCatcher message, PeckShield stated on Twitter that a community contributor discovered a suspected Rug Pull on the lending protocol CroLend Finance on Cronos, where the TVL, which was previously close to $600,000, has dropped to zero, and the Twitter account has been deactivated. The stolen funds were previously stored in an address starting with 0xb9aA and have now been transferred. (Source link)