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The Protocol

Crypto Points: Off-Chain Derivatives That Everyone is Talking About

Debating also the integration of Layer 2 functions on Ethereum's main chain, the unexplored territory of Blockchains’ identity and personal data storage; and Vitalik's deeply technical essay.

Listen or watch all the new CoinDesk podcast episodes wherever you want.

ABOUT

This episode is sponsored by the Stellar Community Fund

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In this installment of "The Protocol," hosts Brad Keoun, the founding editor of The Protocol Newsletter, and tech journalists Sam Kessler and Margaux Nijkerk, explore the following stories:

Polygon and Celestia

Celestia's "data availability" solution – pitched as a cheaper alternative to storing data on Ethereum – will become an option for builders who are using Polygon’s customizable software stack to spin up new layer-2 networks.

Crypto Points

Points rely on highly performant off-chain database systems called Servers to store and verify individual point balances.

Sam Altman and WorldCoin

World ID has added integrations with Shopify, Minecraft, and Reddit alongside a slew of developer-focused updates that could expand the OpenAI founder's blockchain-based "proof-of-personhood" service to more users.

Cronos -Crypto.com Partner

The new "Cronos zkEVM chain" is launching initially as a test network, based on Matter Labs’ software tools, which can be used to spin up new layer 2 and layer 3 “hyperchains” atop Ethereum.

PROTOCOL VILLAGE SEGMENT

An Essay by Vitalik

Ethereum's Buterin Floats Prospect of Taking Some Layer-2 Functions Back on Main Chain

Vitalik Buterin, a member of the Ethereum Foundation's executive board, once pushed "layer-2" networks as a way to provide faster and cheaper transactions. Now he's got ideas for "enshrining" some of those functions on the main chain.

EPISODE LINKS |

Polygon to Offer Data Solution Celestia as Option for New Layer-2 Developers

Celestia, Blockchain Data Solution, Sees TIA Token Surge as Polygon Plan Announced

https://x.com/jonwu_/status/1735059813087015384?s=20

https://x.com/sassal0x/status/1734787782940168569?s=20

https://x.com/CoinDesk/status/1732889600425644235?s=20

https://x.com/gabrielhaines/status/1734911303980917048?s=20

https://twitter.com/puntium/status/1734722454566887843

Sam's Worldcoin

Cronos, Partner of Crypto.com, to Start Layer 2 Network With Matter Labs

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From Our Sponsor:

The Stellar Community Fund (SCF) is an open-application awards program that draws on community input to support developers and startups building on Stellar and Soroban. Accelerate your web3 project today.

Apply for Funding at communityfund.stellar.org

The Protocol has been produced and edited by senior producer Michele Musso and our executive producer is Jared Schwartz. Our theme song is “Take Me Back” by Strength To Last.

HOSTS

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.

Sam Kessler

Sam is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for tech and protocols. His reporting is focused on decentralized technology, infrastructure and governance. Sam holds a computer science degree from Harvard University, where he led the Harvard Political Review. He has a background in the technology industry and owns some ETH and BTC. Sam was part of the team that won a 2023 Gerald Loeb Award for CoinDesk's coverage of Sam Bankman-Fried and the FTX collapse.

Bradley Keoun

Bradley Keoun is CoinDesk's managing editor of tech & protocols, where he oversees a team of reporters covering blockchain technology, and previously ran the global crypto markets team. A two-time Loeb Awards finalist, he previously was chief global finance and economic correspondent for TheStreet and before that worked as an editor and reporter for Bloomberg News in New York and Mexico City, reporting on Wall Street, emerging markets and the energy industry. He started out as a police-beat reporter for the Gainesville Sun in Florida and later worked as a general-assignment reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, he double-majored in electrical engineering and classical studies as an undergraduate at Duke University and later obtained a master's in journalism from the University of Florida. He is currently based in Austin, Texas, and in his spare time plays guitar, sings in a choir and hikes in the Texas Hill Country. He owns less than $1,000 each of several cryptocurrencies.

EPISODES

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