Margaux Nijkerk

Crypto exchange Kraken announced last week that it will build a layer-2 network atop Optimism’s OP Stack blockchain framework. CoinDesk is first to...

One of the biggest trends of 2023 among the leading layer-2 projects on Ethereum was the emergence of “blockchain in a box,” where teams encouraged developers to clone their code to spin up new layer 2s. Now, one project in particular, Optimism, appears to be pulling away as the clear leader.

The foundation has spent roughly $240 million since March 2022, and holds most of its treasury in ether, which has slid roughly 22% since the last financial report.

That's down 39% from $1.6 billion on March 31, 2022, the last date for which the foundation published its financials.

The Beam Chain groups a number of big-ticket upgrades, including zero-knowledge support and fast finality, into a single Ethereum upgrade.

The new platform, called the “Ethereum time machine,” extends Ethereum’s programming capabilities by allowing smart contracts to execute transactions based on uncertain or not-guaranteed future events.

Like other decentralized AI networks, Morpheus seeks to curtail the negative side effects of AI, such as centralization, censorship, and data monopolies.

Tulad ng iba pang desentralisadong AI network, sinisikap ng Morpheus na bawasan ang mga negatibong epekto ng AI, gaya ng sentralisasyon, censorship, at monopolyo ng data.

Far from making zero-knowledge rollups obsolete, the Beam Chain would make them work better, says Polygon. zkSync builder Matter Labs is also bullish.

The Beam Chain “is all about improving the long-term health and security of the consensus layer, it has nothing to do with performance,” Drake said in an interview with CoinDesk.