Ilona

Ethereum’s shift to a staking-based consensus mechanism has highlighted the influence centralized providers might wield over the decentralized network. In turn, developers are racing to build infrastructure that might avert such an outcome after the network’s so-called “merge.”

Ssv.network, one such effort, said Tuesday that it had amassed $10 million to fund development of decentralized staking infrastructure. Its focus is on deploying “secret shared validators” that fragment control of the network’s validators between multiple nodes.At the time of writing, ssv.network’s testnet touted 2,661 operators and 7,954 validators with 254,528 ETH staked. Their collective effort powers an open-source network that project backers claim will “mitigate” the biggest vulnerabilities in centralized staking.

For example, client concentration continues to be an issue on the Beacon Chain, with over 68% of validators running Prsym as their consensus client. Large staking pools like Coinbase and Kraken have inadvertently increased client concentration and left the proof-of-stake chain susceptible to potential chain splits, correlated slashing and finality issues down the road.

“SSV fits into what we call layer zero, which is basically what secures Ethereum,” core contributor Alon Muroch said in an interview. “I think it’s very important that a lot of people care about it, because they want to keep Ethereum decentralized.”

It also gets at some of the less-visible realities of the Eth 2 staking landscape. It’s easy enough to see that big fish like Kraken and Coinbase represent a considerable percentage of staked ETH. Less prominent is the fact that validator client Prysm has around 70% market share.

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After months of teasing a possible move into social media, popular decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform Aave has finally made the leap.

On Monday, Aave founder Stani Kulechov announced the launch of Lens, what he described on Twitter as an “open, composable [Web 3] social media protocol to allow anyone to create a non-custodial social media profile and build new social media applications.”

The launch comes at a time when permissionless social media platforms are once again a hot topic of debate. Over the weekend, Ethereum Name Service core team member Brantly Millegan was removed after old posts condemning transgenderism and homosexuality were resurfaced on Twitter.

Read more: Ethereum Name Service Removes Core Team Member Brantly Millegan Over 2016 Tweet

The episode launched a heated debate about the nature of censorship in Web 3.

In the case of Lens, interoperability and composability will be key features of the new platform. According to the Lens website, the protocol’s name comes from Lens Culinaris, a “tall, branched plant” that has “a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria. If the roots are left in the ground, they will provide a source of nitrogen for its neighbor.”

In much the same way, Lens serves as a platform on which developers can hypothetically build a wide range of applications – all while growing on and drawing on a shared base of users.

“The cool part is that every app will expand the social graph, essentially there is less need for developers to growth hack for users, instead the focus can be shifted towards better and more humane user experience,” said Kulechov in an interview with CoinDesk.

Read more: Twitter Data Scientist Leaves for Aave as DeFi Social Media Plans Simmer

According to the Lens website, the protocol allows users to create NFT-based profiles that can store posts, publications and follower history; revenue-sharing features for content hosted on IPFS; it also has built-in governance for groups of mutual followers. The protocol is built on Polygon, the blockchain that just raised $450 million in a token sale.

Kazakhstan President Calls for Tax Increase on Crypto Mining: Report
Just weeks after a tax on mining came into effect, the government is looking to raise it fivefold.The launch comes at a time when permissionless social media platforms are once again a hot topic of debate. Over the weekend, Ethereum Name Service core team member Brantly Millegan was removed after old posts condemning transgenderism and homosexuality were resurfaced on Twitter.

Read more: Ethereum Name Service Removes Core Team Member Brantly Millegan Over 2016 Tweet

The episode launched a heated debate about the nature of censorship in Web 3.

In the case of Lens, interoperability and composability will be key features of the new platform. According to the Lens website, the protocol’s name comes from Lens Culinaris, a “tall, branched plant” that has “a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria. If the roots are left in the ground, they will provide a source of nitrogen for its neighbor.”

After months of teasing a possible move into social media, popular decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform Aave has finally made the leap.

On Monday, Aave founder Stani Kulechov announced the launch of Lens, what he described on Twitter as an “open, composable [Web 3] social media protocol to allow anyone to create a non-custodial social media profile and build new social media applications.”

The launch comes at a time when permissionless social media platforms are once again a hot topic of debate. Over the weekend, Ethereum Name Service core team member Brantly Millegan was removed after old posts condemning transgenderism and homosexuality were resurfaced on Twitter.

Read more: Ethereum Name Service Removes Core Team Member Brantly Millegan Over 2016 Tweet

The episode launched a heated debate about the nature of censorship in Web 3.

In the case of Lens, interoperability and composability will be key features of the new platform. According to the Lens website, the protocol’s name comes from Lens Culinaris, a “tall, branched plant” that has “a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria. If the roots are left in the ground, they will provide a source of nitrogen for its neighbor.”

In much the same way, Lens serves as a platform on which developers can hypothetically build a wide range of applications – all while growing on and drawing on a shared base of users.

“The cool part is that every app will expand the social graph, essentially there is less need for developers to growth hack for users, instead the focus can be shifted towards better and more humane user experience,” said Kulechov in an interview

Kazakhstan President Calls for Tax Increase on Crypto Mining: Report
Just weeks after a tax on mining came into effect, the government is looking to raise it fivefold.The president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, called for a higher tax on crypto mining just weeks after a new levy on the industry came into effect, local news sites reported on Tuesday.

The current rate of 1 Kazakh tenge ($0.0023) per kilowatt of power is negligible, Tokayev said, instructing the government to increase the tax as soon as possible and to come up with a full proposal for crypto mining regulation by April 1. The tax came into effect on Jan. 1.
The new rate could be as high as 5 tenge per kWh, and miners might have to pay import taxes on their equipment, First Vice Minister of Finance Marat Sultangaziyev said, according to local media reports.
Crypto mining doesn't create many jobs and consumes high amounts of electricity, and some miners pay less for electricity than the public, the president said in a government meeting today. They also aren't taxed on imported equipment.
Crypto miners flocked to Kazakhstan after China cracked down on the industry in 2021. The central Asian country once had an electricity surplus, but since the influx, the national grid has been struggling to meet demand.The national grid operator cut off power to all mines on Jan. 21. The measure was supposed to last until the end of January, but miners told CoinDesk that the electricity has yet to be restored.
The government is also trying to stamp out "grey mining," meaning operations that are not properly registered and licensed.
The president tasked the Financial Monitoring Agency to identify all mining firms and check their tax and customs records by March 19.