Welcome to Protocol, where Coindesk is a weekly summary of the most important stories in cryptocurrency technology development. We are Margaux Nijkerk and Sam Kessler, reporters on the Coindesk technical team.
In this issue:
- Will Ethereum really be private? Developers promote encrypted Mempool, default privacy
- Nvidia moves AI supercomputer production to the US, opening new paths for crypto miners
- Optimization incubated with MIT raises $11 million seed rounds to build missing memory layers in Web3
- Noble’s new “Applayer” allows developers to build Stablecoin tools in Celestia
This article is featured in the latest issue of Weekly Newsletter’s protocol, which explores the Tech behind Crypto one block at a time. Sign up here to get it every Wednesday in your inbox.
Network News
Privacy is hot among Ethereum developers: When the US government approved Ethereum-based mixed cryptocurrency service tornado cash in 2022, it sparked debate within the crypto community that continues three years from now. Advocates argued that compliance with sanctions amounted to censorship. President Donald Trump supported Cypherpunks and lifted Tornado’s cash sanctions this March, but for some Ethereum developers, the situation underscored the flaws within the network that still exist today. Perhaps encouraged by the recent tornado cash development, Ethereum developers and researchers have begun to discuss once again the ideas for making the Ethereum network private at its core. “Privacy should not be an optional feature that users must consciously enable. It must be the default state of the network,” the post outlined his vision for the privacy-oriented Ethereum roadmap. “Ethereum’s architecture should be designed to ensure that users are private by default, not by exception.” In response to a Pcaversaccio post, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin left a comment on the network’s main developer forum, with the privacy-oriented Ethereum roadmap much shorter. Buterin has proposed focusing on the privacy of on-chain payments, anonymizing on-chain activity within the application, anonymous communications over the network, and privatizing on-chain readings. To achieve all this, Buterin has listed various steps, including integrating specific third-party privacy features into the core network. -Margaux Nijkerk and Sam Kessler read more.
Production planning for NVIDIA AI supercomputers could benefit crypto miners. Nvidia is planning to fully manufacture the next generation of AI chips and supercomputers for the first time, the company said in a statement. The move reflects the growing demand for AI infrastructure and the broader driving force for localizing Advanced Tech Manufacturing. This could also be useful for crypto miners reusing facilities for AI and high performance computing (HPC). Many of these operators have already access to the large scale power and cooling systems needed to operate their data centers, making them potential players in the growing AI economy. Cryptominers, once specifically focused on hash power, are increasingly searching for ways to fit the AI and HPC supply chains. It provides existing access to power-dense infrastructure when performing industrial-scale operations and scaffolding as a demand for a surge in AI calculations. However, recent tariffs by US President Donald Trump have caused unease among miners as policy changes are expected to raise costs for ASIC miners, electrical components, networking hardware and more. Helen Brown read more.
The best memory layer raises $11 million in seeds: Optimum, a memory layer that improves the decentralized performance of any blockchain, has raised a $11 million seed round and invited creators from institutions like Harvard and MIT to dive into commercial crypto arenas from the academia world. The seed round was led by 1KX with participation from robot ventures, Finality Capital, Spartan, CMT Digital, SNZ, Triton Capital, Big Brain, CMS, Longhash, NGC, Animoka, GSR, Karadan, Reforge and more. According to a press release, the best ones will build what is called the missing memory layer of blockchain, creating a faster, cheaper, truly decentralized way of storing, accessing, propagating data. At the heart of Optimum’s innovation is the distributed coding method for distributed systems known as Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC), developed by MIT professor Muriel Médard. – Ian Allison read more.
Noble’s new “Applayer” allows developers to build Stablecoin apps on top of Celestia. Noble, a blockchain for publishing real-world assets (RWAs) and Stablecoins, announced on Wednesday that it will expand its platform by introducing “Applayer,” an Ethereum-compatible rollup that allows developers to create their own RWA applications and infrastructure. Noble’s Appleayer aims to enable developers to build new financial tools optimized for real-world assets like Stablecoins. This is a digital asset that has value in another asset, such as the US dollar. Applayer leverages Celestia, a data availability blockchain aimed at reducing storage costs for data-centric blockchain networks. Celestia, like Noble, is connected to the Cosmos Blockchain Ecosystem and is compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). This means you can read smart contracts from other Ethereum-based chains. – Margaux nijkerk read more.
In other news
- Mantra’s OM token fell from over $6 to under $0.45 in just a few hours Tuesday, but there was no obvious catalyst. CEO John Marin said in a post on Wednesday in X that he will burn the team’s tokens to regain the trust of the mantra community. Mullin said the price decline came from the exchange filling OM’s position, but members of the Crypto community held the Mantra team responsible. OKX founder Start Xu calls the incident a “big scandal.” – Jamie Crowley read more.
- With the exception of Solana (SOL), and with the exception of Solana (SOL), we’re probably building a SOL stack worth about $21 million, with the exception of Fintech Commercial Real Estate Platform Janover (JNVR), and we’re aiming to replicate it, with the exception that the stock price has risen nearly 20 times within a month. The company purchased 80,567 Sol Tokens, worth around $10.5 million earlier this week, bringing its total holdings to 163,651. – Christian Sandor read more.
- DWF Labs is investing $25 million in World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a decentralized finance protocol supported by US President Donald Trump and his family. Crypto Market Maker is entering the US market with its new New York City office as part of its broader expansion plan, according to a press release. – Francisco Rodriguez read more.
Regulation and policy
- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is not yet ready to make a decision on two key features that Crypto Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF) publishers hope to add to their products. Regulators have delayed their decision on whether to allow in-kind redemption of WisdomTree’s Bitcoin Fund (BTCW) and Vaneck’s Bitcoin Fund (BITB) and Ethereum Fund (ETHW) in kind. It also moved the deadline for Grayscale’s proposal to infiltrate the Ethereum Trust (ETHE) and Mini Ethereum Trust (ETH) requested in February by NYSE Arca, an Asset Manager replacement. – Helen Brown read more.
- Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange OKX has expanded to the US and is establishing a new regional headquarters in San Jose, California. The exchange deploys access to the platform and its native OKX wallets to US-based crypto traders. — Cheyenne Ligon read more.
- Search Giant Google will only allow cryptocurrency exchanges and software wallets to advertise in the European Union from April 23 to April 23 if they hold licenses under the EU market under Crypto-Assets (MICA) regulations. Google said it needs to demonstrate that advertisers have been certified by the company and are registered as Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) under MICA. The company also requires advertisers to comply with additional country-specific legal obligations.Francisco Rodriguez read more.
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