Weekly Layers 1 & 2 Update (Week 13, 29/03/2022 – 04/04/2022)

19 millionth BTC mined, network difficulty reaches record high. Intel launches new BTC mining chip. Axie Infinity’s Ronin bridge hacked, $620M stolen.

Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin (BTC) network difficulty reached an all-time high with the 19 millionth bitcoin mined. 
• Intel launched Blockscale, a new Bitcoin mining chip aimed at sustainability and hash rate scaling.
• Axie Infinity’s layer 2 solution Ronin bridge was exploited for more than US$ 620M. The hacker moved stolen funds into the Tornado Cash tumbler.
• Waves Protocol’s algorithmic stablecoin Neutrino (USDN) unpegged from the US$ dollar on the back of a new governance proposal to keep speculation at bay.
• Cronos (CRO) saw a +10.50% increase in total transactions to 27.67M, while its TVL grew to US$ 4.00B (+10.32% week-on-week). The total number of wallet addresses now stands at 533,801, up +8.94% from last week.

Highlights

• Polkadot, Kusama to launch Wormhole bridge to Ethereum, Solana
• Tezos deploys major ‘Tenderbake’ upgrade
• Chiliz plots sports, entertainment crypto ecosystem with 2.0 chain
• Bengal Energy to mine Bitcoin using stranded gas wells in Australian outback
• Bitcoin miner CleanSpark to add 500 MW of mining power, expand to Texas
• Ethereum layer-2 Boba Network integrates The Graph
• Helium becomes Nova Labs after raising US$ 200M in fresh capital
• LayerZero Labs raises US$ 135M to create omnichain crypto networks
• Cardano-based smart contracts surpass 2,000 mark first time ever
• Celo’s US$ 20M “Connect the World” campaign aims to vastly improve on/off ramp access and experiences for users
• Ethermine staking beta for Ethereum miner, a preparation for Ethereum 2.0
• Marathon Digital Holdings announces Bitcoin production and mining operation updates for March 2022
• Polygon announces new ZK-proof-based identity solution

Layer 1 Project Metrics

Sources: Coingecko, Etherscan, Ethernodes, Terra Station, Terra Etherscan, Avascan, Solana Beach, FTMscan, BSCscan, CronoScan, Cronos Explorer, DeFi Lla

Layer 2 Project Metrics

Sources:  DeFi Llama, Polygonscan, Clark Moody Bitcoin, 1ML, Ronin Explorer, Coingecko, Optimistic Etherscan, Arbiscan, Boba Explorer, Andromeda Metis Explorer