🐼 Happy Ropsten Merge! – by DeFinn and Guneet Kaur

Long ETH, short Vitalik’s microphone

Today is a great day for the Ethereum community: in preparation for the Ethereum merge happening later this year, the merge was activated in the Ropsten test network. It means that we’re one step closer to activating the PoS consensus layer on mainnet! yaaay! 

In a live stream that happened in the EthStaker youtube channel, Vitalik and many representatives of client softwares talked about the next steps and what to expect from the process (and some music jam worth checking). After the call, Tim Beiko highlighted the future of each testnet:

Do you want to be part of it? So make sure to help #TestingTheMerge! Do your first transaction on an Ethereum PoS network! Here is what you can do:

1. Get some faucet Ropsten ETH;

2. Change your wallet network to “Ropsten”;

3. Go to Uniswap and swap it!

4. Check your transaction at Ropsten Etherscan (btw “Fee Recipient” is the new “miner”, since there is no “mining” on PoS 😉).

Get your Ropsten Merge POAP!

I really hope this newsletter gets to you in time of claiming this POAP from EthStaker!

1. Send 1 USDC or DAI to stateful.eth (you can use Mainnet, Polygon, Optimism or Arbitrum);

2. Submit it before 4:00 AM UTC June 9th! Go go go!

3. Wallet addresses will be collected and POAP will be distributed via POAP.delivery. – DeFinn

Your Network is Your Net Worth! So, Get Ready For Opportunities To Meet, Greet & Upskill This June

😳 Driving crypto and DeFi regulatory updates

🎯 The Sector Pulse

Crypto market sentiment trough Scalara’s indices.

• 📉 Scalara NFT Index (NFTI): $6.13 (-7.12%)

• 📉 DeFi Pulse Index (DPI): $97.49 (-3.7%)

• 📈 Inverse ETH Flexible Leverage Index (iETH-FLI-P) – $144.90 (+2.11%)

  👀 Latest News you shouldn’t miss

• The Graph Foundation awards Messari $12.5mm in the first-ever core subgraph developer grant.

• OpenSea employee charged with first NFT insider trading scheme.

• KuCoin launches a decentralized crypto wallet.

• Chainlink VRF v2 is live on Polygon.

• Tether launches a new stablecoin pegged to the Mexican peso.

• Devcon applications are open.

Breaking: Not so Optimistic

When I was in the last step of reviewing this newsletter, with the nice feeling that everything was going well, this tweet crosses my timeline:

On the report above, the Optimism Foundation states that 20M OP tokens were stolen from a transaction done with Wintermute. You can check the details in the thread above, but let’s explore the lesson to be learned here.

You should know that multi-sig wallets work differently from regular wallets, in a sense that they are essentially dApps. What does that mean? As any other dApp, if you have your multi-sig deployed in Ethereum mainnet, the wallet is not replicated to L2s!  If you send funds to your mainnet multi-sig wallet but from Optimism, Arbitrum or any other chain other than mainnet, your funds will be lost until a wallet with the same address is created there. The tricky thing is: if no extra caution is taken, anyone could replicate your multi-sig to other chains, and that’s what happened with Wintermute.

Check this in depth explanation on what happened by Banteg. – DeFinn

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Got ETH? As an ETH hodler, what do you need to do now?

At least for Phase 0, staking ETH should not be the default option. As a result, you should carefully conduct your own research (DYOR). Here are some actions you should take if you’re ready to start staking, even after thoroughly knowing the hazards involved!

👉Step1: Determine the amount of ETH you want to stake and estimate staking rewards

As soon as you have a certain number in mind, play around with the calculator simulators to get an idea of how much staking rewards you can anticipate to receive.

👉Step2: Try to run your own validators or access third party validators

Ethereum 2.0 (now consensus layer) was created to allow anyone to run validators from their own house. So, why not try one? The Ethereum Foundation’s launchpad announcement is an excellent place for new validators to start. However, you can stake ETH through custodians or exchanges if you don’t wanna run your own validators. Remember, you won’t own your coins, though!

You can also opt for staking pool services that will operate as a middle ground for fewer than 32 ETH, allowing them to pool their ETH and stake collectively, or you can use validator-as-a-service providers to stake your ETH. Access various staking pools and staking-as-a-service providers here!

Note: Before choosing any of the above options, ensure proper due diligence and do not hesitate to contact validator projects to get more information.

👉Step3: Stay up-to-date with Ethereum 2.0 news

The actual launch date of “The Merge” is still unknown, and it will depend on next test merges (though it can be expected in August 2022). Therefore, stay tuned for further updates in the DeFi Pulse’s upcoming newsletters. – Guneet

• Ethereum’s Ropsten proof-of-stake ‘test merge’ goes live
  TLDR:  Developers have initiated the merge on the Ropsten test network today in anticipation for the Ethereum merge later this year;

• Vitalik supports Optimism’s governance structure and OP gas proposal
  TLDR:  Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has expressed support for Optimism’s new governance structure, pointing out that suggestions like using the OP token for gas costs indicate a “clear representation of non-token-holder interests.”;

• Balancer launches on Ethereum L2 network Optimism
  TLDR: Balancer has gone live on Optimism, Ethereum’s much-lauded layer-2 scaling solution, in an effort to improve user functionality by enhancing scalability and lowering costs;

• Ethereum NFT game Illuvium sells over $72M in digital land plots
  TLDR: Nearly 20,000 digital land plots were sold to investors and potential players during the sale, which began on Thursday. The developers kept 29 of the 20,000 plots initially provided for future giveaways, while two more Tier 5 plots would be auctioned off in a traditional auction-style;

• Cosmos launches Ethereum ETF in Australia
  TLDR: The new Cosmos-Purpose Ethereum Access ETF, which debuted on Cboe Australia, invests directly in the Purpose Ether ETF, which is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Cryptowatch helps you acquire a competitive edge by watching your holdings over time with customizable charts and watchlists, fast price notifications, and frictionless multi-exchange trading all in one place.

Rollups, Validiums and Volitions: Learn About the Hottest Ethereum Scaling Solutions

While side chains as a concept are relatively easy to digest, other scaling solutions can be conceptually difficult. Today we’ll be breaking down some popular scaling technology, including rollups, validiums and volitions.

These topics are understandably complex, so it’s best to think of them in terms of the tradeoffs each solution provides. In this case, the tradeoffs are generally security, cost, efficiency, privacy, and trust.

To start, let’s define what each of those mean in the context of a scalability solution.

Read More

If you are looking for a job in Web3, here are a few tips that you may find helpful to land a career in the decentralized world of the Internet:

• Engineers and developers: Acquire knowledge of NodeJS, application programming interface (API) integrations, Solidity, Javascript, React, etc.

• Freelancer writers and researchers: Since developing is not the only way to contribute to the space, fill out this form if you’re interested in a freelance research role.

• Networking: Finding entry-level Web3 jobs or internships requires networking with like-minded people. Meetup.com is a good place to look for local such events. You can also meet people during hackathons and be aware of the opportunities of your interest.

• Upskill yourself: Upgrade your knowledge about Web3 and its sub-sectors through free courses on Coursera and edX or participate in mentoring programs (by securing a scholarship) such as the 18-week DeFi Talents program by the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center.

• Join a DAO: There is no better place to start building a professional network than among people who share your interests. Fortunately, in many DAOs, this is precisely the case. You can begin with volunteer positions to improve your visibility before starting to get compensated for your contributions- @eyeguneet, Senior Content Editor

All info in this newsletter is purely educational and should only be used as research. DeFi Pulse is not offering investment advice, endorsement of any project or approach, or promising any outcome. This post is prepared using public information (which does not account for specific goals or financial situations) and links provided to third-party sites are for informational purposes. Such sites are not under the control of DeFi Pulse, so DeFi Pulse or the author are not responsible for the accuracy of the content on such third-party sites. Be careful and keep up the honest work!