PLN Updates - Dec 13
Our last newsletter of 2023 celebrates the expansion of the PL network & the latest Exploring... episode on XONE. Plus, explore data privacy with Zama and blockchain scalability with StarkWare.
🎉 Highlights of the Year
It has been a remarkable year for our network's expansion, marked by the arrival of diverse and innovative teams. These new additions have brought fresh perspectives and cutting-edge technologies, significantly enriching our ecosystem. As we reflect on this past year, we eagerly anticipate the future, looking forward to continuing this momentum and seeing what new advancements and collaborations 2024 will bring.
Web3 Entertainment and Gaming: Orange Comet (January)
Interoperability and Protocol Development: Rarimo (February), Spheron Protocol (March), Tableland (April)
Data Management and AI: DataUnion (February), Gensyn (July), Bageldb (November)
Tooling and Infrastructure: Glif (February), QuickNode (April), Filebase (October)
Community and Social Networking: Mercle (March), OrangeDAO (May), Bluesky (July)
Advanced Technologies and Services: Waitroom (March), Encloud (March), Fathom Radiant (October)
Security and Smart Contract Auditing: Audit Wizard (July)
Decentralized Identity and Financial Services: Worldcoin (March), Haven (November)
🌟 The Best of LabWeek23
Last month Protocol Labs network teams came together in Istanbul, Türkiye, from November 13-17 for LabWeek23. More than 3,000 team members and domain leaders got together to connect and collaborate on topics like decentralized storage, zk proofs, public goods funding and more. Don’t miss the replays of PL Summit 23 and some specialized sessions like Filecoin Plus Day, ZK Accelerate, and the IPFS Connect Istanbul and make sure check out this recap of our favorite moments from LabWeek23.
💻 Fostering Innovation with Protocol Labs Venture Studio (PLVS)
Another standout highlight this year for Protocol Labs was the launch of the PLVS, a venture studio that aims to nurture startups leveraging Filecoin, IPFS, and Ethereum within the PL ecosystem. PLVS offers startups resources and expert collaboration, supporting them from concept to commercialization. The year saw the inclusion of startups focusing on blockchain scalability, data storage, and other innovative areas. Read more about it here and watch this video for wider context on PL’s roadmap:
🎥 New Episode Alert: Next-Generation Fan-to-Artist Connection
Join us in the latest Exploring… episode featuring Alica Molito, CIO and co-founder of XONE. Discover how XONE's mobile app empowers anyone to create 3D worlds, enhancing artist-fan engagement. Learn about their collaboration with artist Easy Life, introducing a unique scavenger hunt in a Wes Anderson-inspired 3D environment, and explore how gamification and digital environments are reshaping the music experience.
👋 Meet Zama: Revolutionizing Data Privacy with Encryption
Explore Zama's journey in advancing encrypted data. A cryptography company focused on homomorphic encryption, Zama enables secure data processing without decryption. Their latest product, fhEVM, offers private smart contract protocols, revolutionizing blockchain data confidentiality. Dive into Zama's innovative approach to data privacy and its impact on various industries in our latest blog post.
An Introduction to StarkWare from PL Summit 23
Save some time to watch to this insightful 3-minute video featuring Louis Guthmann, the Ecosystem Lead at StarkWare. He introduces the company’s innovative blockchain solutions focused on scalability and privacy. Learn more about how StarkWare's advanced zero-knowledge proofs are shaping the future of secure and efficient blockchain technology – and their contribution to our research report on zk proofs.
📡 Network Radar
PL People Solutions officially launches its new website and consulting services this Friday, December 15. With goals of education and empowerment, PL People Solutions offers flexible solutions to help bridge the people-programming gap in early stage and scaling organizations. The team will offer a range of free and paid resources, as well as consulting services on things such as performance, engagement, and overall organizational health. For support and general inquiries, please contact hello-people-solutions@protocol.ai. Keep up to date on LinkedIn.
Toku and Hedgey Finance have partnered to streamline token compensation and on-chain token vesting for crypto organizations. The partnership focuses on simplifying tax compliance, enhancing scalability, and providing user-friendly yet secure solutions for managing on-chain token infrastructure, aligning with global regulations and simplifying HR processes for crypto companies. Learn more here.
Lilypad introduced the Baklava Calibration Network alongside its AI Studio launch. This testnet, part of the Filecoin Calibration network, features faster blocktimes and cheaper transactions. It invites node providers to contribute computing resources, with potential rewards for joining the official beta testing group. Learn more here.
Check out the Filecoin Proof of Useful Space - Technical Report by CryptoNet. It offers an in-depth look into Proof of Space concepts and their application in Filecoin. It details the Stacked-DRGs proof of space (SDR) construction and security, provides an introduction to the Filecoin protocol, and explains how SDR is integrated into Filecoin's sub-protocols.
Lava Network announced Phase 2 of its development. This phase focuses on creating a unified, multi-chain RPC environment, enabling calls to over 30 chains using a single credential with the Lava SDK. The update also brings fast archive access and upcoming features like indexing and subgraphs. Learn more here.
Coinshift announced an integration with Polygon zkEVM, enhancing the financial layer of the Safe protocol. This update brings Coinshift's powerful treasury management tools to the Polygon network, offering a streamlined experience for managing multisig operations. Learn more here.
Koii Network announced a strategic partnership with Lava Network to enhance network performance and reliability. This collaboration addresses RPC-related scalability challenges by leveraging Lava's network for improved load balancing and endpoint management. Learn more here.
🔦 Spotlight: Benedict Lau, CTO of Starling Lab & Member of Hypha Co-op
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m an engineer of distributed systems, mesh networks, and collectively-governed infrastructures. I joined Starling Lab in 2021 to develop its early implementations for data authentication and decentralized preservation, and continue to provide technical guidance to the Lab’s strategy and partnerships. In 2019, I co-founded Hypha Worker Co-operative and Distributed Press, building a more decentralized web as part of a horizontally governed company.
How did you get into Web3?
My interest in encrypted mesh networks is how I discovered IPFS, and my earliest projects in Web3 involved building Raspberry Pi local networks that shared data over IPFS. Around the same time I was going down the meshnet rabbit hole, Ethereum was preparing for its mainnet launch and an active community developed in Toronto. Although the technologies I was playing with, such as Secure Scuttlebutt and Yggdrasil Network, shared cryptographic primitives with ledger technologies, there was only occasional overlap in their communities at the time. Today, there are more opportunities as the tooling matured and the use cases are more developed. It’s an exciting time working in decentralized technologies, but it’s also getting impossible to keep track of the progress.
What advice would you give to someone joining Web3?
The best way to learn about Web3 is to be hands-on and to try things out. It also really helps having guidance from someone familiar with the space because the signal to noise ratio is not in your favor.
A lot of different people are building Web3 projects for different reasons. Many projects are super exciting and promising, but ask yourself what excites you personally and what is the future you want to see. That may help you find your community.
What challenges or rough edges would you like to see solved in Web3?
At Starling Lab, I work on data authentication and decentralized preservation with many organizations in industries that have little Web3 exposure. Integrating with industry-standard tools and workflow are usually pretty high effort, with bespoke implementations all over the place. Perhaps one opportunity to improve usability and adoption is to focus on already well-adopted open source software, and instrument the applications with Web3 capabilities.
The legal ambiguity is also a rough edge that I hope will improve sooner than later. For example, conducting business with a DAO without a traditional legal host, making storage deals with a decentralized network, relaying peer-to-peer traffic or sharing compute resources on my personal computer. It would be great to have legal clarity around actions that are commonplace in a collectively operated internet.
What are your favorite podcasts or books?
I enjoy the ZK Podcast and appreciate their excellent host, Anna Rose. I also recommend this podcast about creativity by MJDorian called Creative Codex.
Brian Greene’s books about cosmology and string theory are some of my favorite. Now I am really enjoying The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.
Tell us something you like to do for fun.
I enjoy climbing and spending time in nature. It’s been a while since I found time to do this, but I enjoy building toys from electronics to anything that sounded fun to play with at the time!
☃️ Happy Holidays!
To celebrate art and community during the holiday season, Mona is hosting a virtual holiday party where guests can register and submit their favorite Mona space via this form by December 14. At the party on December 18, a special surprise will be unveiled for the spaces with the most votes. Expect surprises and gifts for all attendees!
📝 Tips?
Have a suggestion for the next PLN Updates newsletter? We’d love to hear from you! Contact Sara Hamdan at sara.hamdan@protocol.ai.