Margaux Nijkerk

Margaux Nijkerk reports on the Ethereum protocol and L2s. A graduate of Johns Hopkins and Emory universities, she has a masters in International Affairs & Economics. She holds BTC and ETH above CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.

Margaux Nijkerk

Latest from Margaux Nijkerk


Tech

At Last, Blockchain Developer OP Labs Delivers ‘Fault Proofs’ Missing From Core Design

The developer’s OP Stack software, the blueprint for Coinbase’s new Base blockchain, had been criticized for the lack of a crucial security feature – likened to driving a fast car without airbags.

OP Labs CEO Karl Floersch. (Optimism)

Tech

Ethereum Developers Appear Successful in Second Attempt at Holesky Test Network Launch

The original planned launch date of Holesky, on Sept. 15, was supposed to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Ethereum’s historic “Merge” transition. But things didn't go so smoothly. Now developers are trying again.

Ethereum Foundation's Parithosh Jayanthi, helping to host a livestream as developers of the blockchain launched the new "Holesky" test network. (EthStaker/YouTube)

Tech

Buenos Aires Releases Blockchain Digital Identity Solution Powered by zkSync's ZK Proofs

Citizens of Buenos Aires can access the identity solution, the QuarkID wallet, where they can store their birth and marriage certificates, according to the city government.

Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Sasha Stories/Unsplash)

Tech

EigenLayer’s Sreeram Kannan on the Hot (and Risky) Ethereum Trend of ‘Restaking’

In an exclusive interview, Sreeram Kannan, the founder of EigenLayer and a pioneer behind restaking, discusses his project's goals as a new landscape for restaking emerges.

EigenLayer CEO Sreeram Kannan. (Bradley Keoun)

Tech

Blocknative to Suspend MEV-Boost Relay After Economics Fail to ‘Materialize’

The decision followed internal discussions among the company’s leadership and board of directors, and the company plans to focus on "economically viable opportunities."

Blocks. (Desmond Marshall/ Unsplash)

Consensus Magazine

The State of Staking: 5 Takeaways a Year After Ethereum's Merge

Ethereum’s switch to proof-of-stake fixed some problems, like environmental damage linked to PoW mining. But it raised new issues, including worries about centralization, MEV and censorship, say Margaux Nijkerk and Sam Kessler.

Ethereum (ethereum.org)

Tech

Polygon Emerges as Suitor for Celo’s New Layer-2 Blockchain, Competing With OP Stack

Celo, which is ditching its standalone blockchain in favor of a new "layer-2" network atop Ethereum, had originally signaled plans to rely on Optimism's OP Stack, a similar customizable kit to Polygon's but using Optimism’s “optimistic” technology.

Image tweeted by Celo officials on Monday from conference in Barcelona. (Celo)

Tech

Ethereum’s Holesky Testnet Fails to Launch, in Rare Tech Misstep for the Blockchain

Developers of the Ethereum blockchain say there was a misconfiguration in the genesis files of the test network, and now they plan to try again in about two weeks.

Ethereum's latest ambition, to launch a new test network, quickly deflated. (Pixabay)

Tech

Ethereum Blockchain Launches 'Holesky' Test Network, on First Anniversary of Historic 'Merge'

The debut of the testing system – designed to be twice as big as the main network so developers can simulate massive scaling, comes a year after Ethereum completed its historic "Merge" shift to a "proof-of-stake" model from the original "proof-of-work" setup that Bitcoin uses.

The Prague train station after which Ethereum's new Holesky network is named. (Wikipedia)