#Ethereum

The Merge stands as a pivotal moment in the crypto world. It signifies the integration of the Ethereum mainnet with a distinct PoS blockchain known as the Beacon Chain.

Buterin explained that he has successfully recovered control of his T-Mobile account, which the hacker had compromised through this method. The co-founder of Ethereum also shared some valuable lessons gained from his experience: “I had seen the “phone numbers are insecure, don’t authenticate with them” advice before, but did not realize this”. Removing phone numbers from X accounts and having 2FA enabled is a way to protect yourself from SIM-swap attack.

Polygon Labs has launched its Chain Development Kit (CDK), a software tool designed to help developers create Ethereum Layer 2 chains powered by zero-knowledge proofs. The toolkit will support an "Interop Layer," a new protocol that aggregates zero-knowledge proofs from multiple Polygon chains and secures them on the Ethereum mainnet. This move aligns with Polygon's shift towards creating more interconnected chains, similar to ecosystems like Cosmos and Polkadot.

MetaMask Portfolio now lets users cash out crypto to fiat currencies like USD, EUR, and GBP. Users can quickly convert crypto to fiat, sending it directly to preferred destinations like bank accounts or PayPal. Instead of relying on one provider, MetaMask aggregates multiple vetted providers, presenting real-time conversion options. Currently, this feature supports ETH on Ethereum Mainnet in the US, UK, and parts of Europe. Expansion plans include more regions and layer 2 network gas tokens.

Hackers managed to drain 6000 ETH, 3.9 million USDT, 1.1 million USDC, and 900,000 DAI from the company's address. Tongue-in-cheek, one might say Drake was responsible for the audit. UPD: Hacken has disclosed that an initial cyber theft of $20.69 million was executed on the Ethereum network, which was followed by subsequent heist amounting to $25.6 million across the BSC and Polygon networks. The project's team has not yet commented on the breach. The only information available is a Telegram channel update, indicating technical maintenance for the withdrawal of ETH, USDT, and ERC20 tokens.

After the announcement that MakerDAO intends to roll out a new version of its platform on Solana, Anatoly Yakovenko suggested this shouldn't be viewed as a challenge to Ethereum. In his perspective, MakerDAO's move accentuates the merits of open-source solutions rather than the superiority of one blockchain over another, especially given Ethereum's pivotal role in research for numerous developers. "Ethereum is awesome. Solana wasn’t built in a vacuum, and tons and tons of things that make Solana special were built based on Ethereum’s r&d," commented the Solana co-founder. Meanwhile, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has sold all his MKR tokens for 353 ETH.

London's Herodotus, in collaboration with StarkWare, has launched an "on-chain accumulator" tool that lets users read and verify any part of Ethereum's history. This tackles Ethereum's current limitation of validating only the last 256 blockhashes. The tool uses "storage proofs," a cryptographic method, to confirm the validity of data. This could be a game-changer for creating permissionless account recovery systems and insurance protocols that rely on historical on-chain data.