The hottest Layer 2 Substack posts right now

Crypto businesses are evolving beyond just interesting technology. They need to solve real market problems to succeed.
Layer 2 solutions help reduce costs and improve transaction speeds. They thrive on attracting users by offering engaging applications.
Most crypto platforms operate as marketplaces, connecting different types of users. They make money by taking a small percentage of transactions.

BIS to focus on tokenisation & CBDC in 2024; tokenised treasuries market cap up 657% YoY
Polygon's Chain Development Kit received a boost from NEAR Protocol with lower data storage costs
Frax Finance completed V3 rollout, launches Frax Bonds for utility across DeFi protocols

DeFi protocols like Curve Finance were exploited in a $70 million hack due to reentrancy attacks.
Vyper is a secure programming language for Ethereum, used for writing smart contracts.
Stable Pools in DeFi facilitate efficient trading between stable assets with minimal price slippage.

Circle, the USDC issuer, has filed for an IPO in the US, aiming to become a publicly traded company.
Polygon launched a new testnet and zkEVM enters the next stage of development, enhancing developer resources.
Cosmos Hub is considering a proposal to reduce ATOM's inflation rate to 0%, if approved by the network.

Ethereum Layer-2 networks reach a record high TVL of nearly $21B in Jan 2024.
This week's DeFi market cap and volume indices were negative, while volatility was positive.
News highlights include Ethereum Dencun upgrade testnet dates and plans for PYUSD deployment on Aave.

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Ethereum Dencun upgrade goes live on Sepolia testnet.
Weekly DeFi market cap index was positive, volume and volatility indices negative.
TVL of top chains and top DEX by chain were highlighted.

The Pectra upgrade for Ethereum increased the maximum balance a validator can hold, allowing for better rewards and encouraging the consolidation of multiple validators into one.
The upgrade also doubled the available blob space, which improves how Layer-2 solutions can operate, making transactions cheaper and faster for users.
Early results show that more blobs are being used, and transaction counts have significantly increased, but there's still potential for even more growth in usage.