Be the first to experience the future of perps

Synthetix is launching the first perp exchange on Ethereum Mainnet, and pre-deposits are now live. This is your chance to earn a spot on the Synthetix Mainnet alpha whitelist and be among the first to trade and earn Synthetix Points. Each week, 60 depositors will gain early access to the Synthetix Mainnet alpha. Find out how you can be among the first.

Deposit Early, Get Rewarded

Pre-deposits allow you to commit sUSD or sUSDe ahead of the Synthetix Mainnet launch.

• sUSD is used to fund the SLP vault, a protocol-operated liquidity pool that provides liquidity across all listed perp markets. Early sUSD depositors may choose to migrate to the SLP vault at launch.
• sUSDe is used as trading margin on Synthetix Mainnet perps. sUSDe depositors can choose to migrate their sUSDe deposits to trading margin as soon as they’re granted alpha access.

Your total deposit determines your position on the leaderboard. Each week, the top depositors receive guaranteed whitelist access, and 10 additional spots are awarded through a lottery for depositors who’ve committed at least $1,000. All pre-depositors will begin earning Synthetix Points, which will appear once the alpha launches. The more you deposit, the more points you’ll receive.

Earn Whitelist Access

Whitelist access is granted weekly to a new cohort of users:

• Top 30 sUSD depositors on the leaderboard each week receive access
• Top 20 sUSDe depositors on the leaderboard each week will receive access.
• 10 additional addresses are randomly selected from wallets that deposited at least $1,000 during that week

If you earn access, either through the leaderboard or the lottery, you retain it as long as your deposit remains in place. Any withdrawal removes your eligibility and forfeits your access. The leaderboard updates in real time and reflects the current weekly rankings.

Win the Alpha Lottery

Each Wednesday at 00:00 UTC, 10 wallets with a $1,000 minimum deposit are selected for alpha access. All eligible wallets are automatically entered each week. Each weekly lottery provides access to 10 fresh wallets, and your access is retained as long as your deposit remains.

Join us in the Synthetix Discord each Wednesday as we livestream the winners.

Even more benefits

Pre-depositing isn’t just about getting in early. It’s the only way to secure a place on the whitelist and access to all the benefits of trading during alpha:

1. Exclusive Alpha Access: Get access to Synthetix Mainnet perp trading before anyone else. Whitelisted users will be the first to test, trade, and explore features ahead of full launch.
2. Earn Points: You can be the first to earn points from early deposits, and by trading or staking on Synthetix Mainnet.
3. Convert Points to SNX: Points earned during alpha are redeemable for SNX tokens. The more points you earn, the larger your SNX reward at the end of the season.
4. Secure Top VIP Tier for 3 Months: All alpha traders start in the highest VIP tier, unlocking lower fees and premium perks. Early access gives you a cost advantage and a long-term edge.

How to Participate

1. Visit predeposit.synthetix.io
2. Connect your wallet and switch to Ethereum Mainnet
3. If you don’t already have sUSD or sUSDe, acquire it using your preferred DEX aggregator like Llamaswap
4. Choose your deposit asset, enter the amount, and click Deposit
5. Track your rank on the leaderboard, and come back each Wednesday at 00:00 UTC to see if you’ve earned a spot on the whitelist

It’s that simple. Deposit today to secure your spot on the whitelist and be part of Synthetix’s return home to Ethereum Mainnet. Whether you’re here to trade, provide liquidity, or earn early rewards, the path starts with a single deposit.

Early access starts now, but this is just the beginning. Join the Synthetix community as we build the next generation of perps infrastructure on Ethereum Mainnet.

Join the conversation: discord.gg/synthetix
Subscribe to Telegram: t.me/+v80TVt0BJN80Y2Yx
Follow on X: x.com/synthetix_io

Synthetix is done with L2s. 

With Arbitrum and Base gone, we’re now shutting down Optimism as a final farewell. By September, all remaining Synthetix functionality on Optimism will cease to exist. This marks the final step in our broader transition away from Layer 2 deployments, as we refocus all resources and development toward Synthetix Mainnet, the high-performance perp exchange built on Ethereum. 

If you are currently an SNX staker on Optimism in the 420 pool, you may remain staked, and enjoy the benefits of the Debt Jubilee. We salute our Optimism stakers and ask that you turn off the lights on your way out.

What’s Happening 

Synthetix will deprecate all remaining products on Optimism in three phases:

• August 18: Perps will enter close-only mode.
• August 25: All open perps positions will be force-closed, and margin will be airdropped to user wallets in sUSD. Users with contract or multisig wallets must open a support ticket in Discord to reclaim funds.
• August 31: All other Synthetix functionality on Optimism will be deprecated.

For the simplest experience, please exit your positions soon and bridge sUSD to Ethereum Mainnet in preparation for the next phase of Synthetix on Ethereum.

What You Should Do

Perps Traders

If you’re trading perps on Optimism, you should close your positions and withdraw before August 25. Traders who don’t close their positions will have their positions force-closed, and receive any remaining margin balance directly to their wallets. If you’re using a multisig or smart contract wallet, you will not receive an airdrop of your margin. Please open a ticket in Discord.

We encourage traders to bridge any remaining sUSD margin to Ethereum Mainnet. Once on Mainnet, sUSD can be staked, added to Curve liquidity pools, or deposited in the SLP early deposit vault to continue earning.

SNX or sUSD Holders

If you’re an SNX or sUSD holder on Optimism but not actively staking in the 420 Pool, bridge your tokens back to Mainnet using Superbridge:

https://superbridge.app/?fromChainId=10&toChainId=1

You can choose the native 7-day route with no slippage, or fast bridging with some slippage, depending on liquidity.

Once on Mainnet, you can:

• Stake SNX with no lockup to earn protocol rewards (~37% APR)
• Stake sUSD in the 420 pool to earn yield (~44% APR, locked until April 2026)
• Deposit sUSD in the SLP Early Deposit Vault for exclusive perks (coming in August)
• Provide liquidity in the sUSD/sUSDe Curve pool to earn rewards
• Hold sUSD in your Infinex account to earn yield and a chance to win prizes.

Infinex Users

If you’re using Infinex, no action is required. Your sUSD will be automatically bridged to Mainnet on your behalf, and rewards will continue.

420 Stakers on Optimism

420 stakers do not need to take any action at this time. Ensure you have the required sUSD staked to complete your Debt Jubilee.

All future development is focused on Ethereum Mainnet. Synthetix Mainnet offers a faster, simpler, and more secure perps trading experience. We invite you to make the move with us.

Join the conversation: discord.gg/synthetix
Subscribe to Telegram: t.me/+v80TVt0BJN80Y2Yx
Follow on X: x.com/synthetix_io

Synthetix is an OG DeFi protocol that launched on Ethereum Mainnet in 2018. Since inception, Synthetix has continually reinvented itself in line with changing technology and market conditions. This has included transitioning from a stablecoin to a Perps exchange and leading the Defi migration to L2’s…

It’s time for our next big move – Synthetix is coming home to Ethereum Mainnet, where our story began.

By early Q4, Synthetix will have launched the first Ethereum Mainnet settled CLOB perp exchange. A hybrid onchain-offchain architecture that allows Synthetix to overcome Ethereum Mainnet’s block latency and significant gas costs. This architecture evolved from years of experience running perps and allows Synthetix to make a unique set of trade-offs that is optimised for an L1 Perp.

• Real Ethereum L1 Asset security: Fully onchain custody, deposits and withdrawals. No Bridging. No rehypothecation.
• Composable with all Mainnet assets and DeFi apps, which have the deepest liquidity and the most TVL by far.
• Community market-making and liquidation vault. No insiders. No back room deals.
• An institutional-grade Centralised Limit Order Book (CLOB) – CEX level throughput and latency.
• Multi-collateral and cross-margin with subaccount support.
• Account data privacy – your orders and trades will not be publicly displayed.

Ethereum Mainnet Perps are a game changer

Ethereum Mainnet delivers unparalleled security, credible neutrality, and seamless composability, establishing it as the most trusted blockchain for custody and settlement. As such, it’s been able to maintain the majority of DeFi activity over the years. This feature which will enable Synthetix Perps on Mainnet to address a key challenge that even successful Layer 2 solutions face: liquidity fragmentation.

Despite the low fees and faster block times of L2s, Ethereum Mainnet continues to maintain over 50% of DeFi’s total value locked (TVL). The Synthetix CLOB on Ethereum Mainnet will be co-located with the largest and most liquid DeFi protocols (e.g., Uniswap, Curve, Aave), making integration for collateral conversions and hedging strategies simple. A perp on Mainnet will increase the capital efficiency across DeFi and is already garnering the interest of institutional players.

First some preamble

SR-2 in late 2024 marked the start of the next big Synthetix pivot. After meandering for 2 years down a fruitless path (decentralisation maxi’s and AMMs everywhere), SR-2 catalysed a significant departure from Synthetix norms. Make no mistake, the Synthetix of today is wildly different to the Synthetix class of 2022-24:

• A new crack team – 16/20 team members have joined in the last 12 months.
• OG leaders Kain and Jordan have returned – adding key strategic oversight and industry expertise.
• Full stack protocol – owning the consumer facing product massively empowers Synthetix by removing significant dependencies and improving brand positioning in the market.
• Game changing new strategy – CLOB not AMM, delegated not discretionary staking/minting, Ethereum Mainnet not L2s. 

Over the coming weeks/months as we get closer to launch, we’ll be sharing much more frequent updates, including releasing information and rationale on our key architectural decisions, core matching engine performance tests (showing 100k tps throughput and sub-50ms trade latency), deployments on testnest, our launch feature set etc. Make no mistake – this new and driven team are COOKING. 

One interesting observation from ETHcc was that so many people the team met talked about how much they wanted Synthetix to win. Synthetix has a special place in the hearts of the DeFi community, but it hasn’t delivered on an inspiring vision for the last few years, leaving many to mostly stop paying attention. We’ve acknowledged this and completed a dramatic overhaul. We are now rapidly iterating, innovating and driving to release products that will once again bring Synthetix into the forefront and mobilise our passionate community again.

Raging CLOB wars

Hyperliquid’s success in building a $13B onchain business that is a revenue generating machine was inevitably going to result in what is now dubbed ‘CLOB wars’. Hyperliquid’s primary success came from using more centralised trust assumptions, which is exactly what is required to truly deliver a high frequency trading system onchain… They just were the first to acknowledge delivering a CEX-like trading experience onchain far supersedes the importance of decentralising the complete architecture.

This has spawned a number of competitors including Bullet, Hibachi, Ambient, Lighter, GTE, Paradex, Kuru, Fuel Network, Injective, dYdX and Vertex, each of which simply offers nuanced variations and slight differentiation as they compete for market share over the next year.

Each of these competitors have consciously made a decision to operate with an offchain matching engine, or on a blockchain with a centralised sequencer. Each of these CLOB operators have staked their claim as to what matters when it comes to the spectrum of how decentralised their chain is and how much of their operations are on / offchain.

Synthetix has taken everything that it’s learned building perps engines over the last 5 years to optimise the tradeoffs required to launch a L1 Perp in the increasingly competitive CLOB wars.

Enter Synthetix

Synthetix is once again building the first perp market on Ethereum – We’re laser focused on developing a high-performance, non-custodial perpetual futures platform where it is needed the most, and where everyone has now realised they actually want it – on Ethereum Mainnet. 

Synthetix has long battled the trade-offs between product performance and toxic flow minimisation in the 4 years it’s operated a perp AMM. Whilst this proved to be the wrong battle, operating a perp for so long resulted in many important learnings that position us uniquely to deliver a robust perp CLOB, and intimately understand the spectrum of trade-offs and what is important to deliver a great blockchain based application.

A perp DEX, relative to a perp CEX, is foundationally interesting as a result of three core attributes they achieve from being onchain:

• Permissionless – Blockchain applications have low barriers to entry. Any trader with ownership of a blockchain address can access the DEX and start trading within seconds/minutes.
• Composability – The ability for multiple financial and non-financial applications to sit side by side on the same infrastructure creates opportunities and reduces friction.
• Non-custodial – users retain control of their funds via self-custodial wallets, reducing the risk of mismanagement of assets.

BUT, let’s not pretend CEXs are bad or fundamentally flawed. Perp CEXs are incredibly performant markets that offer some of the best UX in all of crypto. That’s why it’s been so difficult for DEXs to take market share. Key attributes that have resulted in CEX dominance include:

• Fast execution – centralised servers enable rapid order matching and execution, which is critical for a high frequency trading system.
• Privacy – There is a pretty good reason that all of Tradfi only offer level 2 order book data, it’s because NO ONE WANTS THEIR FINANCIAL DATA OR TRADING PERFORMANCE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.

How is Synthetix bringing all these features together?

High-volume traders’ priorities are well-defined – they seek a swift and efficient trading experience, minimisation of bridge-related risks, access to capital rapidly, protection against being hunted, and assurance that their financial data remains confidential.

To achieve this experience, Synthetix’s CLOB will:

• Operate on Ethereum Mainnet, the most liquid and secure blockchain.
• Accept deposits in a permissionless and non-custodial manner. Assets will remain in decentralised custody (e.g. smart contracts) until settlement.
• Operate an offchain matching engine to provide CEX level execution (latency and throughput).
• Offer gas-less trading and free withdrawals (with limits).
• Only display Level 2 order book data (i.e. quantity of asset available at each price level).

But offering this is not sufficient without an attractive feature set to back it all up. Synthetix is driving to launch a perp exchange from day 1 that has all the standard features (e.g. order types, funding rates, leverage, etc), but in a DEX first will uniquely offer:

• Ethereum deposit and withdrawal contracts – no bridging, no time delays to mainnet and composability with the largest DeFi applications.
• Multi-collateral support, including:
  • sUSDe – Imagine capturing Ethena’s returns (currently 12% APY) whilst using stablecoins as collateral for perp trading.
  • cbBTC – Never sell your Bitcoin!
  • wstETH – ETH collateralised trading whilst earning yield, where are my basis tradooors?!
• Subaccount support to enable organised portfolio management, risk isolation, strategy diversification, and client fund handling into distinct accounts.
• Trader privacy to prevent the world seeing your PnL, positions, liquidation prices and conditional order limits.

These are just some of the features, the rest we’ll be sharing in more detail in the leadup to launch.

Why an offchain matching engine

Having a centralised sequencer is currently THE ONLY way to develop a high frequency trading system that meets trader performance expectations. It can either be an exchange’s sequencer (the matching engine) or the blockchain’s sequencer.

It is our belief that operating a high performing offchain matching engine on the most secure and highest TVL blockchain (Ethereum Mainnet) far outweigh the downsides of operating a fully onchain matching engine on a decentralised blockchain. 

This is not to say that there aren’t ways we can minimize the trust assumptions required of an offchain system. The improvements to ZK technology, led by companies like Succinct and their zkVM SP1, have played a key role in expediting the ability to trustlessly verify large offchain computations with small fast proofs. Technology like this can play a role in the future of Synthetix to enable us to further minimize the ‘trust’ a trader needs to place on us without sacrificing our ability to operate a high frequency trading system on Ethereum Mainnet. 

The worst part of the current perp experience is having to bridge. Being on Ethereum eliminates this friction. There are no bridge risks and no waiting for another chain to receive your deposits (on and off an alternate chain). There’s just an Ethereum Mainnet deposit contract, co-located where the majority of DeFi activity takes place. Relative to building your own chain, where you end up requiring bridges to a new / your own island where you need to incentivise an ecosystem of activity.

In addition to this, whilst it’s cool to say how transparent everything is when operating a fully onchain matching engine, this introduces features that NO ONE ACTUALLY WANTS – fully transparent account level data. Traders are willing to give away their financial privacy to avoid CEX custody, but what if you could maintain privacy without doing so? Hosting a matching engine onchain voids an exchange’s opportunity to do this as all trading data ends up being posted publicly.

There have been many comments since our announcement that offering a high frequency trading system on Ethereum is not plausible, primarily due to PTSD from DeFi summer where a simple send would often cost over $50. Whilst Ethereum has come a long way since, and is now committed more than ever to scaling the L1, by operating an offchain matching engine, Synthetix can and will offer gasless order placement, and abstract away settlement costs.

Synthetix is Back and Better than Ever!

Synthetix is returning home to Ethereum Mainnet, where our story began, to launch a high performing perp marketplace. We’re mission driven to bring a perp market to Ethereum Mainnet, the home of DeFi. This will enable traders to manage asset exposure, hedge risk, access leverage, build structured products (e.g. basis trade vaults) and execute complex trading strategies ON ETHEREUM MAINNET. We’ve made very deliberate trade-offs in our designs and architecture that will offer a unique and market leading trading experience. We’ve combined the permissionless and non-custodial benefits of building on a blockchain, with high performance requirements and trader privacy that an offchain matching engine permits us to offer.

Synthetix will have its comeback arc. And for those paying attention it’s already in motion.

>> Ethereum Mainnet Perp soon <<

Follow Synthetix as we speedrun to mainnet:

Ethereum researcher Justin Drake unveiled the “Lean Ethereum” proposal on July 31 that reframes the base layer around the imperatives of survivability against nation-state and quantum threats and orders-of-magnitude performance gains without sacrificing decentralization.

The new guidelines were dubbed “fort mode” and “beast mode,” respectively.

Published on the Ethereum Foundation blog, the vision argued that the network can simultaneously harden security and radically scale by anchoring the mainnet in hash-based cryptography and restructuring all three protocol sublayers, which are consensus, data, and execution.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Drake recently addressed the concept during an ETH-focused event in Berlin.

Fort mode and beast mode

Drake’s security thesis highlights that Ethereum must run for decades, even centuries, under adversarial conditions. 

According to the roadmap, “if the internet is up, Ethereum is up” is the goal. On performance, Lean Ethereum targets roughly 10,000 transactions per second (TPS) on mainnet via aggressive vertical scaling and approximately 1 million TPS on layer-2 (L2) blockchains via expansive horizontal scaling. 

He added that enabling “moon-math” is no longer aspirational, suggesting real-time zero-knowledge virtual machines (zkVMs) for execution and data availability sampling (DAS) for data throughput. 

A complementary usability aim is full-chain verification on consumer devices, such as browsers, phones, and wallets.

Three “lean” sublayers

Lean Ethereum proposes coordinated upgrades across three different layers. The first is “Lean consensus,” or Beacon Chain 2.0, focused on hardening the Beacon Chain for maximum security and decentralization, with near-instant finality measured in seconds.

Lean data (Blobs 2.0) is the second layer. The goal is to enable post-quantum “blobs” with granular sizing to preserve a calldata-like developer experience while boosting throughput.

Lastly, Lean execution (EVM 2.0) consists of a minimal, SNARK-friendly instruction set that preserves EVM compatibility and network effects but accelerates proving and verification.

Together, these changes aim to deliver “performance abundance” under non-negotiable continuity and simplicity constraints.

Hash-based crypto as the standard fabric

Lean Ethereum treats the hash function as the fundamental primitive across layers. Aggregate signatures in consensus supplanting Boneh-Lynn-Shacham (BLS), hash-based commitments replacing Kate, Zaverucha, and Goldberg (KZG) in the data layer, and hash-centric zkVMs streamlining execution verification. 

The approach is designed to simultaneously future-proof against quantum adversaries while harmonizing with the rapid rise of SNARKs across the stack.

Drake said that Lean Ethereum is as much an engineering aesthetic as a roadmap. The concept is based on minimal modules, encapsulated complexity, formal verification, and provable security and optimality. 

The emphasis on “lean craft” seeks to prune legacy complexity while standardizing on primitives that are easier to reason and verify.

Mentioned in this article

RGB V0.11.1 is released on Bitcoin Mainnet, allowing the issuance and management of digital assets such as Stablecoin, NFTS, and tokens on Bitcoin and Lightning networks.

RGB is a smart contract and tokenization protocol that uses client-side validation to verify transaction without intermediary. Operates without a trusted third party, validator, or coalition. The assets are pinned to Bitcoin, but they validate off-chain to maintain scalability and privacy.

“The launch of RGB is not just a technical milestone, it’s a turning point,” said Viktor Inatiuk, co-founder of Boosty Labs and the RGB Association. “In the context of the new Bitcoin Bull cycle, RGB programmerism and privacy combined with Lightning’s scalability, the industry may ultimately realize that Ethereum, Solana, or other chains are no longer needed to build meaningful decentralized products.

“With RGB being live on Bitcoin Mainnet, tools for native programmable assets are finally realistic,” said the founder of BitMask & RGB Protocol Association Gideon Nwzem. “We have moved from prototypes to real products. Bitmask currently supports RGB20. This is just the beginning. It unlocks a new era of tokenized Bitcoin real-world assets and the transition to Bitcoin standards for the global financial system.”

This release allows users to create, send and receive assets in Bitcoin, use programmable agreements and transfer tokens over lightning at a low cost. This update also supports asset issuance and trading within the Bitcoin system.

“The power of RGB on Bitcoin is locked by the Lightning Network. LNFI unlocks Defi for Multi-Asset Lightning and provides a scalable payment layer for the performance needed for serious financial applications, mass trading, asset management, and steady liquidity. “We are building the underlying infrastructure to allow projects to deploy powerful RGB applications from day one.”

The RGB Protocol Association was officially announced on July 14th as a joint effort by leading players developing protocols such as Bitfinex, Fulgur Ventures, Diba, Plan B Network, Boosty Labs, Kaleidoswap, Thunderstack, Bitcoin Tribe, Lnfi, and more.

So far, several companies have already been launched built on top of RBG.

• The LNFI network provides the infrastructure for issuing and trading RGB assets.
• Bitcoin tribe provides apps for sending, receiving and managing RGB tokens.
• It supports RGB20 and RGB21 tokens and enables scriptless atomic swap on July 21st.
• Thunderstack has released Thunderlink, an API for RGB asset transfer.
• Iris Wallet, a wallet that supports local management of RGB assets and Bitcoin.

“This release shows a huge step forward not only in RGB, but in how people interact with Bitcoin assets,” said the founder of the Bitcoin Tribe & RGB Protocol Association Anant Tapadia. “With Bitcoin Tribes, you can freely issue, send and manage everything while still maintaining control. With hole punch power, you’re building more than a wallet. You’re building a real community layer for Bitcoin.

Telegram’s one billion users will be able to interact with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) decentralized apps (DApps) directly within the messenger following the launch of the Tac mainnet on Tuesday. This new feature could boost DApp adoption and asset inflows into the TON network as it lowers the technical barrier to entry for mainstream users.

Could Toncoin (TON) break above its overhead resistance? Let’s analyze the charts to find out.

TON price prediction

TON rose above the moving averages and is nearing the downtrend line of the descending triangle pattern.

The 20-day exponential moving average (EMA) ($2.94) has started to turn up, and the relative strength index (RSI) has jumped into the positive territory, indicating advantage to buyers. Sellers are expected to defend the downtrend line with all their might because a break above it will invalidate the negative setup. That may propel the TON/USDT pair to $3.69.

Instead, if the price turns down sharply from the downtrend line, it suggests that the bears remain sellers on rallies. That could keep the pair inside the triangle for some more time. Sellers will gain the upper hand if they sink the price below the $2.75 support.

Related: Ethereum’s ‘crucial’ breakout hints at 30% rally versus Bitcoin next

Both moving averages have started to turn up, and the RSI is in the positive territory, indicating that the bulls have an edge. Buyers will try to push the price to the downtrend line, which could pose a substantial challenge.

If the price turns down from the downtrend line but bounces off the 20-day EMA, it suggests a bullish sentiment. That increases the likelihood of a break above the downtrend line. The pair could rally to $3.40 and then to $3.50.

On the contrary, a drop below the moving averages suggests that the bulls are losing their grip. The pair may then slump to $2.90.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/ton-news-update-tac-mainnet-launch-could-send-the-altcoin-to-3-50/feed/ 0 48056 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/ethereum-foundation-roadmap-targets-zkevm-in-mainnet-within-a-year/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/ethereum-foundation-roadmap-targets-zkevm-in-mainnet-within-a-year/#respond Fri, 11 Jul 2025 11:55:51 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/ethereum-foundation-roadmap-targets-zkevm-in-mainnet-within-a-year/

Ethereum is preparing for a significant architectural upgrade that could see a zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) integrated directly into its layer-1 blockchain within a year.

In a post by Sophia Gold, a developer in the Ethereum Foundation’s (EF) protocol support team, the EF outlined a path toward replacing traditional block execution with zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs). 

Instead of requiring every validator to re-run transaction blocks to verify them, the system will switch to validators only checking ZK-proofs, which are tiny cryptographic receipts that confirm everything was done correctly. 

The roadmap proposes allowing validators to verify execution using stateless proof verification from multiple zero-knowledge virtual machines (zkVMs), which means having multiple independent checkers verifying multiple proofs. This adds an extra layer of security without slowing things down. 

Ethereum to become the largest zero-knowledge application

ZK-proofs are a cryptographic method that enables a prover to validate a claim without disclosing information about the claim itself. It allows the verification of confidential data without disclosing the data. 

The EF’s initiative positions the Ethereum network to eventually become the world’s largest ZK application. To support the transition, the network will define real-time proving as a technical and hardware standard that zkVM teams should aim for. 

The EF is pushing zkVM teams to follow specific goals to ensure that the technology is fast, secure and can be run from home. More specifically, the EF wants zkVMs to create proofs in under 10 seconds, be secure and work on hardware costing less than $100,000 and use less than 10 kilowatts of electricity. 

This would allow everyday people to help secure the network, protecting Ethereum against censorship and central control. 

Related: ETH maxis scream for $3K, but data shows pro Ether traders cautiously positioned

Ethereum’s ZK rollout will be gradual

Gold said the change will be gradual, with optional ZK clients running alongside current validator setups. However, as ZK clients prove their reliability and performance, the network will shift to requiring proof verification instead of re-execution. 

While the timeline seems ambitious, the EF said the momentum in ZK research and open-source developments makes it achievable. The foundation urged zkVM teams to work toward real-time home proving.

Magazine: Ethereum is destroying the competition in the $16.1T TradFi tokenization race

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/ethereum-foundation-roadmap-targets-zkevm-in-mainnet-within-a-year/feed/ 0 47019 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/gunzilla-begins-mainnet-migration-as-off-the-grid-heads-to-steam/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/gunzilla-begins-mainnet-migration-as-off-the-grid-heads-to-steam/#respond Fri, 04 Jul 2025 15:27:13 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/gunzilla-begins-mainnet-migration-as-off-the-grid-heads-to-steam/

Gunzilla Games has shared a detailed update on the state of its GUNZ blockchain ecosystem, coinciding with preparations for the upcoming Steam release of its multiplayer shooter—Off The Grid. The studio has initiated a wave-based migration of players to mainnet, marking a significant shift toward on-chain asset ownership within its gaming platform.

This update forms part of a new monthly reporting initiative by Gunzilla, aimed at providing clearer insight into development milestones, ecosystem activity, and regulatory progress. According to the studio, June marked the start of a “new phase of growth” for the GUNZ ecosystem following months of limited public communication.

Alongside the blockchain developments, Off The Grid has received several gameplay updates and is confirmed to be launching on Steam in July. Due to Steam’s current policies on blockchain integration, the PC version will use testnet rather than mainnet features for the time being.

Gunzilla Games is also finalising regulatory licensing and expanding the reach of its token through a new partnership, all of which will feed into the studio’s broader strategy to establish a compliant, scalable blockchain gaming platform.

Key Insights

• 21,000 players have been migrated from testnet to mainnet, with full migration planned
• Asset activity on mainnet includes over 413,000 HEX decodings and $12.9 million in $GUN volume
• Validator NFTs are now live, with the majority of 10,000 nodes operational
• VASP licensing is nearing completion, which will enable broader access to mainnet features
• Off The Grid launches on Steam in July 2025, using testnet to comply with platform policies
• OTG Gameplay updates include new arenas, a new weapon, and changes to weapon handling
• A web3-focused roadmap and further announcements are expected starting July 4

What’s happening in the GUNZ ecosystem?

Gunzilla Games has begun migrating players to the GUNZ mainnet, allowing them to retain and manage their in-game assets on-chain. The first 21,000 users have already been transitioned, with plans to eventually move all 17.3 million wallets. This migration is being carried out gradually to meet compliance standards and monitor any technical issues. With this shift, users gain permanent ownership of their items, including weapons, skins, and earned loot. In terms of mainnet activity, the studio reports 413,000 in-game asset decodings and a total marketplace volume of $12.9 million in $GUN tokens so far.

The company is also close to securing its Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licence. Once granted, this will allow Gunzilla to open up mainnet access more broadly to its player base.

Additionally, Validator NFTs—which function as nodes in the ecosystem—have also gone live with most of the 10,000 available nodes already active and producing in-game assets. More information about how validator rewards will scale is expected in future reports.

In terms of infrastructure expansion, Gunzilla has entered a partnership with decentralised exchange Blackhole to introduce $GUN token pools on Avalanche, though the launch date has not yet been announced.

What’s new in Off The Grid?

Off The Grid—Gunzilla’s extraction-based multiplayer shooter—is scheduled to arrive on Steam in July. However, because of Steam’s policy on blockchain content, the PC version will operate using the testnet version of GUNZ. Blockchain features will remain active on console platforms, where they have already been integrated on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

In the June development report, Gunzilla also outlined several gameplay changes including a new 20-player free-for-all deathmatch mode and four additional arenas: Marshlands, Midtown Harbour, Stork City, and Ocio. A new melee weapon, the Cyberlancer, has also been added.

The update also introduced gyro aiming support for PC and PS5 users, along with the option to toggle between first- and third-person scopes for certain optics.

Finally, all weapon classes have undergone changes to recoil and spread behaviour, aiming to rebalance time-to-kill values and ammo dynamics. The Kestrel sniper rifle now features new attachments and improved fire rate, whilst other weapons such as the AZV100 have been adjusted for balance.

What’s next for the Gunzilla Games?

Gunzilla plans to publish a new web3-focused development roadmap in the coming weeks, detailing upcoming features and updates across the GUNZ ecosystem. The studio also indicated that additional announcements and feature reveals will begin from 4 July onwards.

Player assets earned during testnet participation are expected to carry over once full migration to mainnet is complete.

In the meantime, Off The Grid remains available in early access for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC devices.

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Crypto exchange Bybit has announced the development of its first decentralized exchange, Byreal, built on the Solana blockchain. The platform is expected to enter testnet on June 30, with a mainnet launch planned for the third quarter of 2025.

This marks a significant step for Bybit as it expands into decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure, aligning with broader market trends favoring transparency and decentralization.

Hybrid Trading Model and New Features

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou shared the update via social media, describing the new platform as a “hybrid model” that combines centralized exchange liquidity with “decentralized transparency.”

The announcement comes at a time when decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are steadily increasing their share of global spot trading volume, indicating a shift in user preference towards non-custodial solutions.

According to Zhou, Byreal incorporates features such as Request For Quote (RFQ) and Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker (CLMM) routing.

These mechanisms are designed to provide users with reduced slippage and more transparent trade execution, often associated with higher-frequency trading strategies on centralized platforms.

Bybit believes that such a setup allows for a more balanced and efficient market-making process within a decentralized framework. In addition to standard trading functions, Byreal will also support unique DeFi offerings, including a curated token launchpad and yield-generating vaults.

The platform plans to offer access to assets such as bbSOL, a liquid staking derivative on Solana. This broader suite of services positions Byreal to compete not just with DEXs like Raydium or Orca but also with token launch and yield platforms built on Ethereum and BNB Chain.

Lily Liu, president of the Solana Foundation, commented on the collaboration, emphasizing the potential for synergy between centralized and decentralized exchanges.

She stated that the combination of liquidity from centralized exchanges and the global accessibility of DEXs contributes to the broader vision of an open financial market on the internet.

Cex / Dex can work in harmony, and amplify one another.

The asset diversity and global availability of a dex, plus the liquidity of a cex.

Building internet capital markets means having asset and product venue diversity, all on the shared rails.

We are excited to collaborate!… https://t.co/1Q75QWxsdw

— Lily Liu (@calilyliu) June 15, 2025

Rising DEX Market Share and Solana’s Role

Bybit’s move comes during a noticeable uptick in DEX activity. In May 2025, DEXs accounted for over 20% of the global spot trading volume, according to data from DefiLlama. PancakeSwap currently leads the market with $132 billion in monthly volume, and the total trading volume across DEXs stands at $405.88 billion.

The growing popularity of these platforms signals increasing confidence in decentralized protocols for executing trades without intermediaries.

The Solana network has played a significant role in this trend. As of June, Solana-based DEXs hold roughly $77.43 billion in monthly volume, with majority concentrated on Raydium.

Featured image created with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView

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