ChainCatcher news, the Layer 2 network Blast based on Optimistic Rollup has completed a $20 million financing round, with participation from Paradigm, Standard Crypto, eGirl Capital, as well as angel investors including co-founder of Mechanism Capital Andrew Kang, Lido strategic advisor Hasu, and The Block CEO Larry Cermak.Blast stated that the current benchmark interest rate for existing Layer 2s is 0%, while Blast is the only Ethereum Layer 2 that offers native yields in ETH and stablecoins. Specifically, Blast natively participates in ETH staking, and the staking rewards will be returned to Layer 2 users and dapps. On Blast, users' balances will automatically compound, earning additional Blast rewards. Blast believes that this advantage alone can attract $20 billion in liquidity.

ChainCatcher message, the proposal "Metis on Ethereum Layer2 network will switch data availability back to Ethereum" has been approved.It is reported that Metis will re-store all transaction data on the Ethereum mainnet, converting from off-chain storage layer to the original traditional Optimistic Rollup format, thereby eliminating the complexity layer in the Metis architecture and enabling full data availability.

ChainCatcher news, Offchain Labs co-founder Ed Felten published a blog post explaining the reasons for his optimism about Optimistic Rollup.He stated that Arbitrum chose Optimistic Rollup over ZK Rollup because Optimistic is more cost-effective, simpler, and more flexible.Optimistic Rollup is cheaper because the proof cost is always zero for honest participants, while ZK Rollup requires generating cryptographic proofs, which are more expensive.Optimistic is simpler because it relies on standard programming languages and tools, while ZK requires complex mathematical and cryptographic theorems.Finally, Optimistic is more flexible, allowing for easy construction of new features since it uses standard tools, whereas ZK requires custom tools and programming methods.The finalization time for both is the same; in terms of cross-chain communication speed, ZK may be faster in certain cases, but there is no significant difference in most asset transfer scenarios.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Metis plans to become the first decentralized L2 on Ethereum this year, allowing its community to take over the key centralized components of the network.Metis co-founder Elena Sinelnikova stated that by empowering the community to control a decentralized sequencer pool, Metis aims to demonstrate that the advantages of L2 scalability can be maintained while reducing centralization risks. Additionally, it involves publishing complete transaction data to Ethereum, converting Metis Layer 2 back to the classic Optimistic Rollup.Furthermore, Sinelnikova attributed the rapid growth of Layer 2 in 2023 to the airdrops following the emergence of new networks such as Arbitrum, Base, Mantle, Linea, and zkSync.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Fantom Foundation co-founder and architect Andre Cronje stated that Fantom is considering integrating Optimistic Rollup to connect Fantom to Ethereum.Andre Cronje mentioned that if Fantom adopts Optimistic Rollup and provides a complete transaction history on Ethereum, then Fantom will need to pay transaction fees to write these snapshots to Ethereum. Fantom Foundation CEO Michael Kong added that implementing Layer 2 technology in this way would enable the Fantom network to gain more liquidity from the Ethereum ecosystem.

ChainCatcher news, blockchain infrastructure company Espresso Systems announced a partnership with Caldera to introduce a decentralized sequencer into the OP Stack. The team will build an Optimistic rollup within the OP Stack, and the testnet will soon be available for everyone.Caldera will provide the OP rollup interface, site hosting, block explorer, and indexer. Espresso Sequencer will integrate with the OP Stack, supporting developers to build decentralized Rollups from the start.

ChainCatcher news, the MetisDAO Foundation officially announced the launch of its incubated new project ZKM. ZKM will launch its testnet by the end of the year, upgrading the existing Optimistic Rollup to a Hybrid Rollup, enabling instant withdrawals (the original OP withdrawal period was 7 days) while ensuring security.It is reported that ZKM adopts the MIPS instruction set to implement zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) security for all virtual machines (VMs) and applications at the CPU level, and supports multiple blockchain smart contract engines. The plug-and-play feature allows developers to apply ZKP without changing the codebase, reducing adoption costs. With Ethereum's decentralized security infrastructure, ZKM can verify all blockchain and non-blockchain transactions. The project's goal is to go beyond L2, expanding into L1, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things, making Ethereum the settlement layer for the global blockchain and non-blockchain world.

ChainCatcher news, ConsenSys executive Laura Shi believes that account abstraction, also known as "smart wallets," can onboard 1 billion users in Asia to Web3. Shi pointed out that with the launch of zkEVM and the large-scale application of Optimistic Rollups, Ethereum and the Web3 ecosystem have seen significant growth in Asia.The development of account abstraction, which offers greater programmability and more "bank-like" features than ordinary cryptocurrency wallets, will lead to a significant increase in the number of users in the Asia region. (CoinTelegraph)

ChainCatcher news, Ethereum scaling solution MetisDAO officially announced that it is building the first hybrid Rollup by combining optimistic rollup architecture with zero-knowledge proofs, to provide Ethereum developers with a secure and developer-friendly Layer 2 for deploying all types of decentralized applications. (source link)