Layers 1 & 2 (Week 29, 19/07/2022 – 25/07/2022)

Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum would only be roughly “55% complete” following its transition to Proof of Stake. Sustainable BTC mining power mix hits 59.5%. Polygon launches zkEVM layer-2 solution.

Key Takeaways

• Vitalik Buterin estimated that Ethereum would only be roughly “55% complete” following its transition to Proof of Stake. He described that Ethereum was in a “long and complicated transition” phase during his presentation at the fifth edition of EthCC.
• Nearly 60% of the electricity for Bitcoin (BTC) mining machines comes from sustainable sources, according to the Q2 2022 report from the Bitcoin Mining Council. 
• Polygon announced the launch of Polygon zkEVM, an EVM-compatible zero-knowledge based layer-2 solution. Meanwhile, Matter Labs, the company behind the zero-knowledge rollup zkSync, plans to launch zkSync 2.0 to Ethereum’s mainnet in October.

Highlights

• Ethereum net issuance can drop to -4.5% following Merge update
• THORChain phases out support for Rune tokens on Ethereum, BNB Chain
• Polygon partners with Kaleido to bring the power of custom blockchains to enterprises
• Cardano’s IOG gives lowdown on Vasil hard fork progress
• Sustainable Bitcoin mining power mix hits 59.5%: BTC Mining Council
• Bitcoin mining difficulty drops as miners feel the Texas heat

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Research and Insights Team