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

Espresso, Project for Composability Between Blockchains, Pushes Main Product Live

According to the team, the new "confirmation layer" will be a critical piece of infrastructure for composability among layer-2 rollups, allowing two networks to read and trust each other's blocks of transaction data.

CEO of Espresso Systems Ben Fisch (Espresso Systems)

Tech

Ethereum's ENS Identity System Set to Launch Own Layer-2 Blockchain

"Namechain" will use a zero-knowledge rollup for scaling and is likely to go live around the end of 2025.

Ethereum Name Service founder Nick Johnson (ENS)

Tech

Ethereum Foundation's Treasury Shrunk 39% Over 2 1/2 Years to $970M

The foundation has spent roughly $240 million since March 2022, and holds most of its treasury in ether, which has slid roughly 22% since the last financial report.

Ethereum (ethereum.org)

Tech

In Win for Polygon's AggLayer, Magic Labs Unveils Chain Unification Network 'Newton'

Newton will allow for wallet solutions to plug into the AggLayer, which is a Polygon-backed effort to connect affiliated chains and allow tokens to freely move between them. Magic Labs claims its the first dedicated network for wallet solutions and chain unification.

Magic Labs CEO Sean Li

Tech

Is Optimism's 'Superchain' Winning the Ethereum Layer-2 Race?

One of the biggest trends of 2023 among the leading layer-2 projects on Ethereum was the emergence of “blockchain in a box,” where teams encouraged developers to clone their code to spin up new layer 2s. Now, one project in particular, Optimism, appears to be pulling away as the clear leader.

Optimism Foundation Chief Growth Officer Ryan Wyatt (Optimism Foundation)

Tech

Kraken Picked Optimism's 'Superchain' After Getting a Pile of OP Tokens

CoinDesk is first to report that the crypto exchange Kraken's decision to build on Optimism's OP Stack framework came with a big, previously undisclosed grant from the Optimism Foundation – of 25 million OP tokens, worth about $42.5 million at the current price.

Business deal. (Shutterstock)

Tech

Polymarket Is a Success for Polygon Blockchain – Everywhere But the Bottom Line

One of the major breakout successes this year for the team behind layer-2 blockchain Polygon is Polymarket. But according to data, Polymarket has only brought in about $27,000 of transaction fees for Polygon PoS in 2024.

Cumulative gas fees Polymarket on Polygon PoS in 2024 have totaled just over $27,000 this year, through Oct. 23. (Token Terminal)

Tech

Kraken Picks Optimism for New Layer-2 Network, Joining Coinbase's Base on 'Superchain'

The disclosure comes nearly a year after CoinDesk broke the news that Kraken was considering its own layer-2 network, following the runaway success enjoyed by Base after it launched in mid-2023.

Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell (CoinDesk)

Tech

Uniswap Developer Unveils Own Layer-2 Network, Unichain, Built on Optimism Tech

Uniswap Labs, developer of the top-ranked decentralized crypto exchange, Uniswap, says adding its own network will bring faster, cheaper transactions with more liquidity.

Uniswap Labs CEO Hayden Adams (Uniswap Labs)

Tech

Layer-2 Scroll Shares Plans for SCR Token Airdrop

The team said that the SCR token would be the first step in its roadmap to decentralization.

Scroll co-founder Sandy Peng (Bradley Keoun)