🦊Alpha Rush: All of DeFi is hinting on something exciting this Monday...

Let's deep dive into some alpha and degen opportunities in this letter.

Welcome to my first crypto newsletter! I understand there's a lot of uncertainty when starting something new, but I'm thrilled to embark on this exciting journey with you. My goal is to bring clarity to the crypto ecosystem by delivering concise and to-the-point updates. I believe simplicity is key and I'll do my best to make everything easy to understand. I hope you find this newsletter useful and I look forward to your feedback. Let's make this a journey worth taking!

So let’s start will our alpha roundup.

• Optimism Bedrock: A proposal for Optimism's first protocol upgrade, named "Bedrock," will be presented on Feb 1. They claim it as the most cost-effective, quick, & advanced rollup architecture to date. The update will be followed by a new fault-proof system called "Cannon”.

• zkSync: The next stage of zkSync’s roadmap i.e, "Fair Onboarding Alpha" is expected soon, new projects will be deployed on zkSync 2.0 (which will be closed to external users). Also, the testnet will undergo a regensis on Feb 8.

  

• Scroll: The new layer 2 which is currently on its testnet, recently unveiled an instance of Uniswap v3. You can try it out here. Also, you can check out my “A testnet guide on a new layer 2 solution: Scroll thread”

• Gitcoin: This week marked the end of the Gitcoin Alpha Test Season (Although previously planned for 5 rounds with 5 unique POAPs) only 3 of them were conducted and the rest were canceled as per the latest update.

• Ethereum KZG Ceremony: The ceremony is a process to upgrade the Ethereum blockchain by generating a new "zero-knowledge proof" system called "Kaleidoscope" (KZG) to improve performance and scalability. It’s still live and you can participate by following these steps👇

  - Open: https://ceremony.ethereum.org

  - Click on "Begin"

  - Enter any word

  - Move the cursor around until the green circle is complete

  - Hit "Submit"

• Zk-Rollup: The Zk-Rollup narrative is gaining traction and Vitalik is bullish on the tech. He bets that “Zk-Rollup will be way ahead in terms of scaling compared to Optimistic rollups”. It is a relatively new tech and digging deep into it is the best thing you can do at this moment. I recently made a thread explaining it, you can check it out here.

• Zksync X Unstoppable Domains: You can claim a free crypto domain that matches your Twitter username here: http://bit.ly/3WEmZRm

  - Just log in using Twitter.

  - And claim

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• ConsenSys zkEVM: The testnet early access application is now closed, and according to their admin on discord, the invites will be sent out in batches on an FCFS basis.

• SUI: The Aptos competitor recently launched their testnet V2, with a focus on Epoch management, Tokenomics, and Stake delegations, and A new game focused on token economics and staking. As of now, you can try out the staking part, check out my tutorial video.

• Shiba Inu: Shiba Inu's team has unveiled a preview of Shibarium, their Layer 2 blockchain, which will utilize its own ecosystem tokens, Shiba Inu, Leash, and Bone, as the underlying assets on the Ethereum network.

• Lamina 1: I recently covered this new layer 1 blockchain and made a step-by-step guide for trying out the testnet. They are mainly focused on the “Metaverse” and are also building interoperating tools and other services for the Open Metaverse. It’s based on a fork of the Avalanche blockchain. “L1” will be the name of their yet-to-be-launched token.

  

• Metamask: Metamask recently launched the staking feature on their portfolio Dapp. But the thing to note here is that they are not using their own contract. So there is no way they can snapshot your transactions or identify you in case there is any airdrop.

• GammaX: GammaX Exchange recently launched their point-based airdrop system, using which they will airdrop their native token to the participants. You can join them here.

  

  I recently covered 17 Early Stage Projects with the motive of discovering the next 100X, I have listed all of them below👇

  1. Nillion

  2. Numeon

  3. Perennial

  4. Anoma

  5. Namada

  6. Espresso

  7. Laconic

  8. Taiko

  9. Sentiment

  10. Primitive

  11. Scroll

  12. Superform

  13. Dolomite

  14. Blueberry

  15. Mugen Finance

  16. Cashmere

  17. Zetachain

• Yesterday, a number of DeFi projects used the 🤜🤛 emoji on their Twitter accounts, leading to speculation among the community. Some believe a new DAO is forming, while others suspect an upcoming liquidity event. There are also speculations about the launch of the ARB token by Arbitrum and a potential airdrop. The full significance of this emoji remains to be seen, with Monday being the day to reveal it all. Fingers crossed that people’s expectations are met.

• Some early stage token-less projects: (Posting for the first time exclusively on this newsletter)

  • C3: A self-custodial exchange

  • Infinity Pools: A decentralized exchange with unlimited leverage on any asset, with no liquidations, no counterparty risk & no oracles.

  • Vest: A decentralized perpetual exchange that enables trading on almost any asset you can think of.

  • Elixir Protocol: A decentralized protocol unlocking open participation in market making

🎵 My Jam this week: The Internet - Hold On

Don't go through life, grow through life - Eric Butterworth

Please note that the information provided should not be considered as investment advice and always conduct thorough research before engaging with any products mentioned.

That was all for this alpha-packed newsletter, I would love to hear your feedback and response💜