We are welcoming you to our weekly digest! Here, we discuss the latest trends and advancements in account abstraction, chain abstraction and everything related, as well as bring some insights from Etherspot’s kitchen.

The latest news we’ll cover:

• Kraken Introduces Ink: A New Layer 2 Blockchain for DeFi
• Vitalik Introduces “The Verge”: Ethereum’s Path to Stateless Nodes
• EIP-7702 Demo: Gasless Transactions and Session Key Control
• Zyfi Launches Public Sale for ZFI Tokens
• The State of Account Abstraction: October 2024

Please fasten your belts!

Kraken Introduces Ink: A New Layer 2 Blockchain for DeFi

Kraken has introduced Ink, a new L2 blockchain built on Optimism’s Superchain, aimed at simplifying decentralized finance access. Using Ethereum’s security and scalability, Ink provides a seamless bridge for users to move onchain. The blockchain integrates with top DeFi applications, offering a streamlined experience for those seeking opportunities in the decentralized space.

As a blockchain-backed by a major exchange, Ink focuses on capital efficiency and community building. Built on the OP Stack codebase, it joins the Superchain, contributing to a unified network of Ethereum Layer 2 solutions.

For developers, Ink provides access to a robust development environment, including documentation, technical support, and financial resources. Ink aims to encourage innovation in DeFi, helping developers build new financial products while improving onchain accessibility for users.

Vitalik Introduces “The Verge”: Ethereum’s Path to Stateless Nodes

Vitalik Buterin recently published part 4 of his blog series, “Possible Futures of the Ethereum Protocol,” focusing on the next key milestone: The Verge. This phase of Ethereum’s roadmap targets improving the efficiency of running fully-verifying nodes, with the aim of making it feasible for anyone, even on lightweight devices like mobile phones or smartwatches.

In this post, Vitalik highlights the challenges faced by Ethereum’s current architecture, where the state size and growing data requirements make it difficult for everyday users to run full nodes. The Verge seeks to tackle these obstacles by implementing technologies like Verkle trees or STARK-based validation, which would significantly reduce the computational resources needed to verify Ethereum blocks.

The blog outlines key goals such as stateless verification and the potential shift from Verkle trees to STARKs, weighing the pros and cons of each approach. Both technologies aim to reduce the state storage requirements for nodes while ensuring high security.

The Verge ultimately aims to make Ethereum more accessible to users and developers, driving decentralization and reinforcing Ethereum’s core principles.

EIP-7702 Demo: Gasless Transactions and Session Key Control

A recent demo by Timur Badretdinov from Scope highlights the capabilities of EIP-7702 for EOAs (Externally Owned Accounts) through an interactive dApp on the Odyssey testnet. The demo showcases three core benefits: gas sponsorship, transaction bundling, and privilege de-escalation (session management).

Timur’s demo features a smart EOA, allowing users to control their account with assigned session keys without accessing their private key. Two sessions are enabled — one for wrapping/unwrapping ETH and another for trading ETH/USDC, all with gasless transactions through Etherspot’s bundler and Pimlico’s paymaster services.

This open-source demo exemplifies the power of modular access and transaction flexibility with ZeroDev’s Kernel V3 smart accounts, the Smart Session module by Biconomy and Rhinestone, Etherspot’s bundler, Pimlico’s paymaster, and a token-gated feature with his own TokenValidator module.

Zyfi Launches Public Sale for ZFI Tokens

Zyfi, a blockchain-based platform focused on enhancing on-chain experiences, has announced its public community sale for all native Account Abstraction believers, offering $150,000 worth of ZFI tokens. This follows a $350,000 sale for whitelisted users.

Zyfi’s platform simplifies on-chain transactions through Paymaster and Intent technologies powered by ZKsync, forming partnerships with platforms such as Venus, SyncSwap, and PancakeSwap. These collaborations enable gas-free transactions and allow users to pay gas fees using various tokens, supporting both externally owned accounts (EOAs) and smart wallets.

Having processed over 1.7 million transactions for more than 230,000 users on ZKsync, Zyfi has also deployed smart contracts across chains including Cronos zkEVM and Abstract. Their API further streamlines the user experience by simplifying protocol complexities, reducing friction, and eliminating the need to manage ETH for gas.

The ZFI token, the platform’s utility token, can be used to pay gas fees, offering a 20% discount when used for this purpose. It also allows users to acquire stZFI, Zyfi’s governance token, which provides participation in the Zyfi DAO, influencing key platform decisions.

The State of Account Abstraction: October 2024

The latest report on Account Abstraction reveals significant developments across projects within the AAlliance. With the inclusion of more projects from various blockchain niches, the report reflects the state of AA adoption and highlights key market trends.

In September, AA activity consolidated with around 400k UserOp calls per day across all chains, spiking to 600k in early October. Base, which previously dominated the space, saw a surge in UserOps thanks to gaming and Coinbase Wallet, maintaining over 60% of transactions. Meanwhile, Polygon and Arbitrum have regained traction, contributing to overall growth in AA adoption.

New users continue to engage rapidly with AA solutions. While Base previously surged ahead, both Base and Polygon now share the majority of daily active users, accounting for 52% and 48%, respectively.

Another growing narrative is Chain Abstraction, which has seen significant attention in both social discussions and industry reports, such as a16z’s crypto analysis. This highlights its increasing importance alongside Account Abstraction, reflecting strong sentiment and room for continued growth in the space.

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