The Latest Tech News in Crypto and Blockchain

Dec. 7: Lantern Finance, a Web3 startup, has launched its user-friendly staking platform in 15 U.S. states, including major markets like California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, and Massachusetts, according to the team: “Inspired by the cofounders’ experiences with the 2022 crypto bankruptcies, Lantern aims to redefine the crypto landscape with an emphasis on clarity, security, and regulatory adherence. The platform’s goal is to democratize access to crypto banking services, making complex tasks like staking and taking on loans accessible and intuitive for everyday users, while upholding the highest standards of safety and compliance.”

Protocol Village is a regular feature of The Protocol, our weekly newsletter exploring the tech behind crypto, one block at a time. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Wednesday. Project teams can submit updates here. For previous versions of Protocol Village, please go here. Also please check out our weekly The Protocol podcast.

Dec. 7: Neon EVM, a smart-contract program on the Solana blockchain that accepts Ethereum-like transactions, integrates with Tide, a Web3 marketing and data analytics protocol, according to the team: “Tide’s approach incentivizes repeated community and product engagement, tracking on-chain transactions and fostering vibrant decentralized communities. With Neon’s cutting-edge dApp ecosystem and Tide’s features like building brand awareness, learn-to-earn incentives, Web3 quests and referral programs, users can participate in the first Neon EVM campaigns on Tide to earn badges and tokens on the newly launched chain.”

Dec. 7: Aori, an off-chain orderbook protocol with permissionless settlement, launches today to create more capital efficient peer-to-peer markets on Ethereum, according to the team: “Aori uses MEV ‘searchers’ as market makers for quicker settlements, bridging the CEX/DEX gap. It focuses on gasless order creation, fair pricing and speedy settlements. Aori is intended to feel like a CEX experience but is entirely self-custodied. All transactions clear through Seaport, also utilized by OpenSea. Aori seeks to move existing on-chain infrastructure off-chain, to minimize smart contract risk wherever possible.”

Dec. 7: Safe is joining forces with Sygnum Bank and CoinCover to launch Safe{RecoveryHub}, offering a suite of crypto recovery options ranging from fully self-custodial to fully custodial, catering to individual and institutional needs, according to the team: “With Safe{RecoveryHub}, users can recover access to their accounts through designated recoverers, which can be personal backup devices, family members and collaborators, also known as social recovery. In addition, trusted third-party services like Sygnum and CoinCover can be designated as recoverers to facilitate the recovery of assets in the case of lost keys.”

Dec. 7: Namada, a protocol that introduced to the world the concept of privacy as a public good, and scheduled to launch early next year, has initiated the Retroactive Public Goods Funding (RPGF) program, allocating 6.5% of its total NAM token supply to acknowledge and reward the invaluable contributions of individuals in the privacy, zero-knowledge (ZK) technology, and related ecosystems, according to the team. This distribution extends to:

– Developers of Zcash infrastructure.

– Rust dependencies vital for Namada.

-Contributors to various cryptographic protocols.

– Decentralized privacy solutions.

Dec. 7: HyperOracle integrates its zkOracle protocol with Polygon CDK, enhancing DeFi and on-chain AI capabilities, according to the team: “This collaboration enables the creation of advanced dApps, including decentralized stablecoins and AI-powered applications. Polygon CDK’s launch of ZK-powered layer-2 chains on Ethereum is augmented by HyperOracle’s zkOracle, offering verifiable compute and historical on-chain data access. The collaboration aims to drive innovation in DeFi, with HyperOracle co-developing a new zk-WASM based proving backend for Polygon CDK.”

Dec. 7: Bitcoin-focused project Babylon raised $18 million in an investment round led by Polychain Capital and Hack VC. Babylon is a marketplace offering bitcoin (BTC) as a staking asset, allowing proof-of-stake chains to acquire funding from the swells of capital stored in the largest cryptocurrency. Babylon will use the funds to advance the development of the staking protocol, according to an emailed statement shared with CoinDesk on Thursday. Framework Ventures, Polygon Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, OKX Ventures, Finality Capital, Breyer Capital and Symbolic Capital also participated in the fundraise.

Dec. 6: Beam, an open-source blockchain specialized for gaming and run by Merit Circle DAO, will now launch on Immutable zkEVM, a groundbreaking scaling solution powered by Polygon, according to the team: “Beam is an ecosystem and a blockchain. We want to remain chain-agnostic. Where we started as a subnet on Avalanche, we don’t want to limit ourselves to the Avalanche ecosystem. Right now, we’re working with Immutable to launch some of our products on the zkEVM, and integrate that network into our products as well.”