Deutsche Bank Institutional Trader Joins Japanese Crypto Startup 6662

A former Deutsche Bank trader has joined Japanese crypto exchange-startup FXcoin Ltd., Bloomberg reports September 3. According to the announcement, Yasuo Matsuda, an institutional trader from Deutsche Bank, will join FXcoin as a senior crypto strategist starting in September 2018. The strategist position includes providing analysis of crypto markets and daily reports on the market’s activity.

The newly appointed 49-year old Matsuda worked as foreign-exchange dealer at the German bank from 2012 until this June.

FXcoin Ltd., founded in September 2017, is currently seeking regulatory approval from Japan’s financial regulator the Financial Services Agency (FSA) in order to operate “virtual currency-related business.” The startup has reportedly applied with the regulator to exchange cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) under a licensing system that was adopted last year.

FXcoin’s founder and CEO Tomoo Onishi is a veteran employee at Deutsche Bank, having more than 12 years of experience in the bank’s FX division before he left his job in December 2017.

The crypto startup has reportedly attracted a number of former institutional employees, including trading experts from HSBC, Nomura, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial.

In a statement to Bloomberg, Onishi claimed that the startup is “trying to do all [it] can” while waiting for regulators’ approval, revealing that FXcoin plans to employ “another five people from financial institutions,” following the upcoming approval.

Founded in 1870 in Berlin, Deutsche Bank is considered to be one of the leading and most influential financial institutions worldwide. Earlier this year, Deutsche Bank’s CIO head Markus Mueller claimed that “governance,” which will legitimize crypto investments, could come in “five to ten years.”

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Moondance Labs Introduces Tanssi ContainerChains: The Next Phase in Appchain Deployment 4721

Moondance Labs, the company developing the Tanssi appchain infrastructure protocol, announced today ContainerChains, a more efficient and developer-friendly solution to deploying application-specific blockchains (appchains).

The rise of appchains is valued for their dedicated blockspace, customizability, and adherence to blockchain’s core tenets: security, governance capabilities, and decentralization. Yet, their intricate deployment demands often complicate projects, leading to higher costs and delays.

Developers need more flexible options. While smart contracts offer speedier launches, they compromise on depth of customization and scalability. On the other hand, rollups, despite their popularity, have decentralization concerns due to their reliance on centralized sequencers and face challenges like data availability and transaction ordering.

To easily overcome these obstacles, Tanssi’s ContainerChains provide immediate access to a wide set of infrastructure resources. By simply connecting an appchain to the Tanssi network, it is transformed into a ContainerChain. This drastically simplifies the deployment process and reduces it from months to just under an hour, delivering the benefits of appchains along with the ease of smart contract deployment.

“Tanssi is the only protocol that allows developers to deploy a secure and decentralized appchain in just hours. While the appchain and rollup sectors have grown considerably, there’s a glaring need for an automated yet uncompromised approach,” said Francisco Agosti, CEO of Moondance Labs and Co-founder of Tanssi. “With the launch of ContainerChains, we aim to fill this gap without sacrificing decentralization, security, or native composability, upholding the fundamental values of web3.”

ContainerChains: Advancing Appchain Capabilities

Tanssi ContainerChains are anchored in the Substrate framework, known for its modular architecture that promotes advanced customization. Substrate’s versatility is a strength, but can also present a steep learning curve. Using pre-built templates with essential components pre-installed for compatibility with Tanssi’s protocol eases developers into the Substrate and Polkadot ecosystem. Developers can deploy these templates directly or modify them to fit their specific needs. For those accustomed to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), EVM-compatible templates are available.

When an appchain connects to Tanssi and evolves into a ContainerChain, it benefits from the following:

  • Collation-as-a-service: Block-builder assignment to ContainerChains is overseen, with managed incentives to ensure continuous, secure chain activity.
  • Data-retrieval-as-a-service: Equipping developers with the capability to retrieve the complete chain history for ContainerChains.
  • Key integrations: Seamless integration with top wallets, indexers, and explorers, including EVM-compatible platforms like Frontier, is a feature of the nodes.
  • XCM integrations: While mastering XCM for cross-chain communications can be intricate, built-in templates simplify this with pre-configured XCM support and potential predefined connections.
  • Chain-Management tooling: ContainerChain management tools cover initialization, monitoring, easy upgrades, migrations, and maintenance, ensuring performance and efficient troubleshooting.

In addition to these extensive features, Tanssi’s connection with Polkadot’s Relay Chain leverages the advantages of Polkadot’s shared security and inherent interoperability.

Accessing ContainerChains: Join the Dancebox TestNet

Dancebox, Tanssi’s first public TestNet, paves the way for broader ContainerChains adoption. Over 40 projects, including RMRK (NFT infrastructure), LeverFi (DeFi), and Galaxia Studios (gaming), have joined the Tanssi ecosystem and will be onboarded to Dancebox.

As Tanssi’s early ecosystem grows, the community can expect enhanced cross-chain integration, user-friendly tools, and expanded features.

“Connecting RMRK with Tanssi’s Dancebox highlights our drive for chain-level customizations, a necessity that goes beyond what typical EVM L2 rollups can deliver,” said Bruno Škvorc, RMRK Founder. “Thanks to Tanssi’s pioneering approach to appchain infrastructure, our expansive vision for NFTs is taking shape. We can focus on constructing entire universes of interactive, evolving assets and refining these complex functionalities without infrastructure management distractions.”

In May, Moondance Labs secured a $3M seed round led by Arrington Capital and supported by renowned VCs such as Fenbushi, Borderless Capital, Hashkey Capital, among others.

Developers keen to explore the future of appchain deployment can delve into Tanssi ContainerChains via the Dancebox Testnet. Supported by comprehensive documentation from Moondance Labs, the platform is designed to facilitate a seamless onboarding experience for all.

About the Tanssi Network

Currently under development, Tanssi is an appchain infrastructure protocol designed to simplify and accelerate appchain deployment, making it more secure and efficient. This stands in contrast to the lengthy and complex processes associated with traditional appchain implementations. Through Tanssi’s permissionless and developer-friendly protocol, appchains can be deployed in under an hour — a stark improvement over the usual months-long timelines. Additionally, Tanssi leverages the shared security and native interoperability of the Polkadot relaychain. Learn more at tanssi.network.

Solar Dex to relaunch on Quai Network 6184

While many solutions for blockchain scalability have been proposed, they remain unable to crack the blockchain trilemma, sacrificing security and decentralization. Quai is the first blockchain protocol that is simultaneously decentralized, censorship resistant and infinitely scalable. Quai, in contrast to traditional cryptocurrencies, functions as a network of many interoperable blockchains braided together. Due to a breakthrough discovery that occurred during research on proof-of-work, Quai Network utilizes a new consensus mechanism, proof of entropy minima (PoEM), which eliminates all consensus-based forks and enables all Quai nodes to remain in “perpetual consensus.”

Solar Dex began as the first United States-based decentralized exchange on Solana, and will now be pivoting to build on Quai as one of its first DEXs. Due to a loss of TVL on Solana and many Solana-based projects moving strictly to NFTs, the Solar team has decided to get ahead of the DeFi curve and take advantage of Quai’s low-cost, high-speed decentralized network in order to better position Solar Dex for the next bull run. The team at Solar is building on top of Quai Network to “ensure a more sustainable future for Solar Dex.”

Roy Fardin, chief business officer, said: “After talking to the Quai Network team, we have never been more bullish about a layer 1 with scalability and its passion for growth. It was a clear eye-opener that they care about DeFi and want other projects that utilize this network to succeed. The vision behind Quai brings the best of Ethereum and Solana all together into this new network.”

Solar Dex will be reworking the DEX into several components as it builds on Quai. The DEX will not only support traditional swaps, but also add in customizable swap themes. In addition, Solar Dex’s Solar Sentries NFTs will allow staking as a yield opportunity derived by all exchange fees earned from Sentry Mode projects.

Richard, CEO of Solar Dex, said: “On top of traditional DEX swaps, Solar Dex will be adding limit orders on Quai. “We’re doing a total revamp of the website and DEX which should be very aesthetically pleasing and simplistic to onboard new users to DeFi and also Quai.”

With Quai’s Iron Age Testnet beginning in September 2023, Solar Dex will be prioritizing its deployment on Quai for the coming months. There will be incentives to beta-test Solar DEX on Quai and additional generalized rewards will be provided by Quai for participating in the Iron Age Testnet. On top of this, the Solar team will be adding a surprise feature to the DEX to build excitement for Quai’s testnet launch, as well as utilizing its incentive program to reward holders.

With backing from Polychain Capital and an expert team with backgrounds at Apple, GridPlus, Tesla, Consensys, Circle and more, Quai is excited to usher in a new generation of innovative applications that don’t sacrifice decentralization.

Concordium Enables a New Standard of Age Verification Amidst Growing Privacy Concerns 6285

Concordium, the Layer 1, science-backed blockchain creating a safer digital world, proudly unveils Web3 ID: a cutting-edge identification platform offering age-verification capacities designed to prioritize user privacy for both individuals and businesses. Concordium’s age verification tooling works to protect minors online amidst growing global privacy concerns and explicit data-harvesting from technology organisations.

Web3 ID harnesses Concordium’s Zero-Knowledge Proof technology to offer a novel approach to age verification – without ever compromising user data or privacy. By uploading a government-issued form of identification to their wallet, Web3 ID users can drastically reduce the amount of data they disclose during online identity verification, regaining control over any sensitive information.

Mikael Breinholst, Head of Product at Concordium, spoke to the widespread concern surrounding existing online age-verification tools, stating: “Current age verification tools online are a grave area of concern for many. Age-restricted sites have little to no barrier to entry, exposing underage consumers to a universe of adult themed content. Blockchain technology, and Web3 ID specifically, enable businesses to request proof of an individual’s age, without storing their data or selling it to advertisers. With Web3 ID, users maintain autonomy and safety over their personal information while benefiting from blockchain technology’s inherent security.”

Concordium´s built-in ID layer and Zero-Knowledge-Proof technology ensures a user’s online identity is verified in a secure and decentralized manner, all while maintaining privacy. Only strictly relevant information is requested of users when transacting on the Web3 ID platform, while unrelated details are held on a decentralized wallet. Web3 ID users are also granted an increase in transactional security through Concordium’s compliance-friendly technology. In result, individuals and businesses are empowered with complete control over their information, effectively countering the data ownership issues associated with centralized legacy systems.

Kåre Kjelstrøm, CTO & CPO at Concordium, commented: “Concordium’s Web3 ID is intuitive and easy to build upon, offering seamless usability while being cost-effective, shrinking online identification processes. Further to preventing children from accessing age-restricted sites, Web3 ID is capable of sharing specific medical information without the recipient having access to the entirety of an individual’s medical history, proving a user’s driving credentials, or simply ensuring user data is genuine and not the result of bots. This model addresses many of the shortcomings surrounding ID safety caused by big tech’s data monopoly.”

The creation of a new standard of age verification promotes Concordium’s mission of supporting a regulated future for new and existing organisations building on blockchain technology. This achievement follows recent partnerships such as AI service provider 2021.ai, and carbon offset management platform Aqualibre.

For more information on Concordium’s Web3 ID platform, please visit: Concordium.com

About Concordium

Concordium is a permissionless green layer 1, a science-backed blockchain that balances privacy with accountability through its ID layer and Zero-Knowledge-Proofs. Creating trust with ID is key to scaling businesses. Concordium provides a fast, secure, and high-scale blockchain platform that makes building use cases and using dApps easy. Concordium differs by having verified ID and instant finality with high throughput and low transaction fees pegged to FIAT. With leadership from Fortune 500 companies, Volvo, IKEA, Credit Suisse, Uber, and successful Fintech platforms, the team is scaling the chain to its extensive network of the world’s biggest enterprises. For more information: concordium.com

zkPass pre-alpha testnet opens for public testing 7219

In a significant stride towards revolutionizing data privacy and verification, zkPass, the innovative privacy-preserving protocol for private data verification, announces that its Pre-alpha Testnet is open for public testing.

A Glimpse into the Future: zkPass Pre-alpha Testnet

The zkPass Pre-alpha Testnet presents a transformative approach to private data verification. Built on the bedrock of Multi-Party Computation (MPC), Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP), and Three-party Transport Layer Security (3P-TLS), zkPass introduces TransGate—a gateway empowering users to selectively and privately validate their data from any HTTPS website. This encompasses diverse data types, including legal identity, financial records, healthcare information, social interactions, work history, education, and skill certifications. zkPass achieves these verifications securely and privately, obviating the necessity to reveal or upload sensitive personal data to third parties.

The Power of Scalability

zkPass can be readily incorporated into multiple application scenarios, including composable decentralized identity passes, DeFi lending protocols based on off-chain credit, privacy-ensured healthcare data marketplaces, and dating apps featuring verifiable zkSBTs, etc. Wherever there is a need for trust and privacy, zkPass can provide a solution.

By employing cryptographic technologies like MPC, ZKP, and others, zkPass enables users to validate their private data through the verification of their HTTPS-based web session—eliminating the need for file uploads or the exposure of sensitive details.

For example, through zkPass, Alice can prove:

  • Based on her server response to the Steam/GOG website, she has purchased 10+ games with 100+ hours of gameplay and is not required to disclose any other private information about her account to a third party.
  • Based on her server response with the Harvard Alumni website, she has a Bachelor’s degree and is an alumnus of Harvard University, but does not disclose any of her other superfluous personal data.
  • Based on her server response with the Porsche website, she owns a Porsche, but does not disclose her frame number, purchase order, or other private data.
  • Based on her server response with the bank’s website, she owns assets greater than $100K, but does not disclose any of her specific account assets, transfer records, or other private data.

zkPass can be applied in various scenarios to enhance user experience, trust, and privacy:

  • The Metaverse/GameFi program is looking for gaming ambassadors to participate in a test and offer a reward, and they can easily verify that Alice is their target user.
  • Alice can seamlessly access the Alumni DAO via her zkPass zkSBT while ensuring privacy and trustworthiness.
  • Alice leveraged her RWA ZKPs to establish a reputation for high ratings, which allowed her to access a DeFi lending platform and secure lower mortgage and borrowing rates, ultimately boosting her capital efficiency.

By redesigning the TLS protocol to Three-party TLS, zkPass makes it seamless for any HTTPS-based website to be used as a trusted data source for provenance of zero-knowledge metadata without having to authorize any APIs.

Open Invitation to Shape the Future

zkPass launched its Pre-alpha Testnet in July, receiving an overwhelming response with over 200,000 waitlist signups. Currently, tens of thousands of whitelisted users have already generated more than 100,000 zero-knowledge proofs, each representing their respective private data, identity, or ownership.

User feedback holds immense importance as it helps refine and enhance their solution. The public release of the Pre-alpha Testnet extends a warm invitation to technology enthusiasts, privacy advocates, and individuals who deeply value secure data practices. This invitation aims to shape the future landscape of data privacy alongside zkPass collectively.

Participating in the Pre-alpha Testnet not only grants users early access to an advanced solution but also empowers them to actively contribute towards its improvement. This collaborative effort is a key driver in tailoring zkPass into a privacy-focused protocol that empowers users in an increasingly data-centric world.

How to Get Involved

Getting involved in zkPass’s Pre-alpha Testnet is simple:

  1. Users can Install the TransGate Extension from Google Chrome Web Store.
  2. Interested users join pre.zkpass.org to be a part of the Pre-alpha Testnet and experience firsthand the power of private data validation.

More tutorial details can be found on the doc wiki and engage with the zkPass community. Users are invited share their insights, and become an integral part of shaping this groundbreaking technology.

About ZkPass

zkPass is an advanced privacy-preserving protocol for private data verification. It allows users to securely and selectively validate their data from any HTTPS website, making it highly versatile for various applications, including banking and DeFi lending protocols. zkPass is the ideal solution whenever trust and privacy are essential.

Yield IQ Announces Launch on Arbitrum 7400

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Maximizing earnings from liquidity provision and strengthening the Arbitrum ecosystem

August 31, 2023 — Yield IQ, the revolutionary liquidity provision tool that seeks to unlock new revenue streams for cryptocurrency token holders, is now live on the Arbitrum chain. Developed by a team of visionary developers and innovators in the DeFi space, Yield IQ limits impermanent loss and opens up new possibilities for individuals to effortlessly earn through liquidity provision.The launch presents an unprecedented opportunity for token holders, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and other DeFi projects to maximize their earnings through Yield IQ’s innovative strategies of yield optimization and liquidity management—while actively contributing to the growth and resilience of the broader Arbitrum ecosystem.

Arbitrum was chosen for this latest launch due to its scalability and efficiency, which will allow Yield IQ to maximize performance and better empower liquidity providers to generate substantial returns with improved liquidity, reduced costs, and enhanced trading opportunities. Yield IQ Vaults are also available on the Ethereum and Polygon networks.

Among the myriad benefits, Yield IQ’s introduction to the Arbitrum chain offers liquidity providers:

  • Improved Liquidity: Pairing Arbitrum tokens (ARB) with another token of choice can both enhance liquidity and foster a healthier, more vibrant ecosystem.
  • Additional Earnings for DAOs: When a Yield IQ deposit widget is integrated to a partner’s frontend paired with Chainlink Automation, projects become eligible for an additional 5% of the trading fees generated by the token’s pool. These earnings flow directly into the users’ DAO treasury, strengthening their financial position.
  • Lucrative Returns: To ensure a promising investment opportunity for DAOs seeking stable and reliable returns, Yield IQ offers a 25% Internal Rate of Return (IRR) for ARB deposits paired with ICHI over the next 12 months, backed up with up to 50k ICHI tokens.

“Right now, arbitrage traders are winning the battle over liquidity,” said Coburn Murray, CEO of values-driven investment firm Ethos Capital. “For most providers, it is not profitable or practical to ensure liquidity. Yield IQ, however, empowers providers to earn the most from their deposits, and we are excited to partner with the Arbitrum community to deliver optimal results and trading opportunities.”

Developed and launched by Offchain Labs in August 2021, Arbitrum was designed to improve transaction speeds, enable scalability and ensure increased network privacy. The ecosystem sparked industry conversations earlier this year by airdropping $120 million worth of tokens to projects built on its network—and, in the process, both highlighting the potential for blockchain projects to utilize incentives and rewards for participation.

Since inception, Yield IQ has achieved remarkable success—boasting a median 30% annualized return on Polygon and partnering with Retro—a leading ve(3,3) DEX and a new automated liquidity management marketplace. By accessing Yield IQ via Retro’s front end, users are able to lock their tokens for voting and gain influence over emission destinations, earning fees and rewards from the pools they support. This incentivizes users to thoughtfully consider their votes and helps steer the DEX in the right direction, promoting a community-driven ecosystem.

Yield IQ efficiently deploys liquidity to Uniswap V3 concentrated liquidity pools. With a single token deposit, projects can passively earn returns while the algorithm actively manages their preferred token and generates trading fees from liquidity pools. By leveraging a fully automated, on-chain liquidity provision strategy, Yield IQ enables liquidity providers to mitigate common challenges in generating consistent profits, capital inefficiencies, and a lack of expertise in liquidity provision strategies.

The launch on Arbitrum further strengthens Yield IQ’s commitment to empowering users and contributing to the growth and resilience of the broader DeFi ecosystem. When ARB tokens are deposited into Yield IQ Vaults, token holders contribute to the strength and growth of the entire Arbitrum ecosystem. This means more stable prices, more efficient trades, and a wealth of opportunities for projects to flourish.

Learn more by visiting the ICHI Website, Medium, Twitter, Telegram, or Discord.

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About Yield IQ

Yield IQ is a fully automated, single sided concentrated liquidity provision strategy. By making rebalancing decisions based on token composition instead of token price, Yield IQ limits impermanent loss and generates industry leading results. True to the spirit of DeFi, Yield IQ is governed by a self-executing smart contract, ensuring impartiality and decentralization. This ensures unrestricted, permissionless access and unalterable protocol behavior, serving as a truly decentralized financial tool.

AltLayer’s Rollups Suite Extends Support to OP Stack 6981

AltLayer has announced extended support for the OP stack, the Optimism Collective’s open-source, modular codebase, within its rollups suite. This means that dApps can spin up a customized OP Stack through AltLayer’s no-code rollup platform in just a few clicks, enjoying a hassle-free deployment experience. AltLayer will manage all node infrastructure for projects so that developers can focus on their core business and technical operations.

The OP Stack is the standardized, shared, and open-source development stack that powers Optimism, including OP Mainnet. It helps define a specific layer within the Optimism ecosystem. Alternatively, it can be used as a modular component within another layer, say for example, as infrastructure for a Layer 2 blockchain.

Dr. Amrit Kumar, COO, AltLayer said: “The Layer 2 space is very fragmented at present. With the emergence of scaling solutions on Ethereum came ecosystems that were built differently, with varied infrastructure. This created barriers for users who needed a cohesive and accessible network. The OP Stack will unlock new possibilities within Ethereum and beyond. We’re excited to streamline access to this stack and its benefits for anyone deploying rollups with AltLayer’s RaaS products, and look forward to collaborating further with the Optimism Collective.”

“With more and more OP Chains and OP Stack forks in the Optimism ecosystem, more developers than ever have the opportunity to experiment and build with the OP Stack codebase,” said Smit Vachhani, Head of DeFi Partnerships at OP Labs. “With their rollup suite now supporting the OP Stack, AltLayer is providing an even broader set of builders with access to a modular, easy-to-use codebase.”

For a detailed understanding of the OP Stack’s architecture and vision, check out this official, handy resource.

About AltLayer

AltLayer is an open and decentralized protocol for developers to launch highly elastic application-tailored rollups. The AltLayer protocol consists of a core network called the Beacon Layer that serves as a common sequencing, execution, and verification network for all rollups enshrined to it. Built on top of this protocol, AltLayer offers a no-code Rollups-as-a-Service dashboard that allows not only developers but also those with little to no coding experience to spin up a customized rollup within 2 minutes with only a few simple clicks.