June 27: Immunefi, an on-chain crowd-sourced security platform, released its “Crypto Losses in Q2 2024 report,” showing a loss of $572 million to hacks and rug pulls in Q2 2024, a 112% increase compared to the same period in 2023. According to the team: “This brings the total losses to over $920 million year-to-date, with May 2024 witnessing the highest monthly losses at $358 million. CeFi was the main target of successful exploits at 70%, compared to DeFi at 30% of the total losses in Q2.”

June 27: Developer teams behind the Tezos blockchain unveiled “Tezos X,” a set of technological upgrades they say could bring a “huge boost in performance, composability and interoperability.” The roadmap, setting out a development plan for the next two years, calls for splitting off transaction execution into a separate “canonical rollup” that would support “atomic transactions across smart contracts written in different programming languages.” The main Tezos blockchain would serve as a base layer for consensus and settlement. (XTZ)

June 27: REDACTED, building an ecosystem of products to form an “entertainment datasphere,” has raised $10 million in funding, co-led by Spartan Group with Saison Capital, Animoca Brands, Polygon Ventures Web3 founders, VCs, angel investors and whales like Dingaling and Grail, according to the team: “REDACTED’s data protocol enhances entertainment and gamification products, offering better, more targeted experiences.”

June 27: SCrypt, a full-stack Web3/blockchain development platform, has announced the launch of a developer tool kit designed for Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) blockchains. According to the team: “UTXO is the method the Bitcoin protocol uses to track balances as they move between digital wallets. The UTXO model is essential for maintaining the security and integrity of blockchain networks and solves the double-spend problem…. Xiaohui Liu, founder and CEO at sCrypt, said, ‘Historically, Web3 applications have been largely built on account-based blockchains like Ethereum and Solana. Ordinals have brought renewed development interest back to Bitcoin and UTXO blockchains.’ The sCrypt platform provides comprehensive toolkits such as Software Development Kits (SDK) and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that allow developers to seamlessly integrate UTXO blockchains into their applications. The platform will also integrate a vast ecosystem of JavaScript/TypeScript developers, estimated at 13 million globally.”

June 27: Rebar Labs, building “MEV-aware infrastructure, products and research” for Bitcoin, has raised $2.9 million in seed funding, according to the team: “Led by 6th Man Ventures, with participation from ParaFi Capital, Arca, Moonrock Capital and UTXO Management, the company aims to address MEV challenges in Bitcoin’s expanding ecosystem. As new protocols like BRC-20s, Runes, L2s and rollups emerge, MEV strategies similar to early Ethereum DeFi are appearing on Bitcoin. Rebar Labs is developing solutions to ensure fair value distribution, enable efficient markets and improve user and miner experiences in the Bitcoin ecosystem.”

June 27: BVNK has launched Layer1, a self-custody infrastructure for stablecoin payments, “enabling fintechs to enter the market swiftly while ensuring data privacy,” according to the team: “Layer1 simplifies blockchain payment infrastructure by handling wallet and asset management, reconciliation and third-party integrations. The self-custody infrastructure allows businesses to integrate digital asset payments with under 200 lines of code in weeks.”

June 27: Chainlink Data Streams has officially launched on Avalanche, with GMX as a launch partner using Data Streams to help power its decentralized perpetual exchange, according to the team: “By supplying high-frequency market data using robust, decentralized infrastructure, Data Streams enables high-throughput DeFi products to create a seamless user experience comparable to CEXs while providing unprecedented on-chain execution speed and battle-tested security infrastructure.” (LINK)

June 27: Validator infrastructure provider SSV Network has revised its incentivized mainnet program (IMP) after a successful decentralized governance vote, according to the team: “Key updates include extending the program to December 2024, restructuring reward tiers and excluding SAFE multisig wallets from eligibility. The new tiered rewards system offers significant APR boosts to early validators, enhancing incentives for participation. The revisions aim to maximize rewards, encourage validator engagement, and address previous program limitations.”

June 27: Cobo, a crypto custody and wallet infrastructure provider, launched “Cobo Portal, a one-stop platform that streamlines the process for businesses to build on a highly scalable wallet infrastructure and manage their digital assets seamlessly,” according to the team. Features include: “1. All-in-One Wallet platform with Custodial Wallets, MPC Wallets, Smart Contract Wallets, Exchange Wallets. 2. Advanced Risk control–customizable user roles, on-chain and off-chain transaction policies, governance rules, approval workflows. 3. Seamless Development Environment- documentation & support across all popular programming languages, blockchain developers can quickly integrate Cobo’s WaaS (APIs & SDKs).”

June 27: DFINITY Foundation, a major contributor to the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) while also working on decentralized AI, has announced the launch of “UTOPIA, aimed at tackling the $10 trillion global cybersecurity problem, through on-chain serverless clouds that offer unprecedented operational resilience and security,” according to the team: “This tech is crucial for high-risk, sensitive sectors such as defense, utilities and financial services, ensuring unbreakable security and 100% digital sovereignty.”

June 27: Wanchain, a layer-1 proof-of-stake blockchain focused on interoperability, has launched a token bridge between the Polkadot Relay Chain and the Cardano blockchain network, according to the team: “Despite clamor over the need for a bridge circulating in both communities, Wanchain is the first to successfully connect Polkadot and Cardano, accessible from the Wanchain Bridge Web Portal. Temujin Louie, CEO of Wanchain, said: ‘Wanchain believes in the need for interoperability between all networks, not just EVMs. We anticipate that this initial implementation will lead to further developments, such as cross-chain function calls between two non-EVM networks.'” (ADA) (DOT)

June 27: Theta Network is expanding its EdgeCloud computing platform, according to the team: “The new Elite Booster feature empowers users to earn TFUEL and partner TNT-20 tokens for performing GPU AI tasks, according to the team: “Theta EdgeCloud is the first hybrid computing platform for AI, video and rendering applications. It is powered by Theta Edge Network’s 30,000+ distributed edge nodes and cloud partners, including Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services. The decentralized mesh network offers over 80 PetaFLOPS of always available distributed GPU compute power.”

June 27: Worldcoin has announced that it is partnering with Alchemy to provide reliable infrastructure for World Chain, a new blockchain designed for humans, according to the team: “By partnering with Alchemy, World Chain developers will have immediate access to a complete and comprehensive Web3 developer platform including both core and data APIs, indexing solutions and a suite of other tools needed by developers to power their apps. Alchemy will also integrate World ID into its tool set and promote it as a fundamental piece of Web3 infrastructure, giving seamless World ID access to millions of developers worldwide.”

June 27: Rarimo has unveiled RariMe, a competitor to Worldcoin, and an app that allows users to generate passport zero-knowledge proofs (ZKs) verifying their uniqueness without revealing their identity, the company announced on Thursday. Unlike Worldcoin which uses orbs to scan eyeballs, Rarimo uses smartphones to scan passports and verify its users. Identify frameworks usually have a third party approve credentials but ZKs ensure no personal data is shared while verifying identities.

June 27: Superchain Network and Anyone Protocol have joined forces to revolutionize privacy management in decentralized environments, according to the team: “Leveraging Anyone Protocol’s DePIN Network ‘Anon’ and Superchain Network’s useable data, this partnership ensures unparalleled security, privacy, speed and data sovereignty. It addresses critical privacy issues in the crypto space, where current data providers expose clients to metadata logging and inference attempts, posing major privacy risks and compromising business confidentiality.”

Protocol Village is a regular feature of The Protocol, our weekly newsletter exploring the tech behind crypto, one block at a time. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Wednesday. Project teams can submit updates here. For previous versions of Protocol Village, please go here. Also please check out our weekly The Protocol podcast.