WhiteboardCrypto Newsletter - Aug 10

Welcome back to this week's edition of our WhiteboardCrypto Newsletter!

Bitcoin miners struggling

The halving in April reduced the mining reward to 3.125 BTC per block. For solo miners, the chance of mining a block depends on their share of the total network hash rate, not a fixed number like 1 in 5000. Other types of miners often join mining pools, where they combine their computing power with others to share rewards more consistently. Miners earn transaction fees only if they successfully mine a block, and their earnings depend on factors like hardware quality, internet speed, and energy costs. With reduced rewards, lower transaction fees, and a drop in BTC value, many miners are struggling to stay profitable, leading to shutdowns. This could slow transaction speeds, reduce network security, increase centralization, and possibly raise fees. However, fewer miners might slightly increase the chances of mining a block, which could balance the situation over time.

Learn more here.

Ronin bridge hacked again

March 2022 saw the largest hack of a crypto bridge at $622m stolen from Ronin bridge. February 2024 saw a smaller hack of “only” $9.5m. Now, August 2024 saw a hack of about $12m. Luckily, this latest was done by whitehat hackers who have returned the amount they were able to drain. Whitehat hackers are people who find vulnerabilities and report them for everyone’s benefit, and often for significant financial reward ($500,000 in this case). Bridges are one of the weakest points of DeFi because the code is so complex and they are often quite centralized. This hack identified an issue in a recent upgrade where the code didn’t accurately interpret withdrawal thresholds.

Learn more here.

USDC for gas?

Orbit is a toolkit that helps developers build their own custom Layer 2 and Layer 3 blockchains using Arbitrum’s technology. The Orbit framework now allows developers to choose USDC, a popular stablecoin, as a gas token for transaction fees. This means users can pay fees using USDC instead of holding multiple tokens, making transactions easier and avoiding the impact of volatile Ethereum prices. This integration is part of Arbitrum's efforts to expand its ecosystem beyond Ethereum, providing developers with more flexibility and the potential to apply for grants from Circle, the issuer of USDC.

Learn more here.

Use Cardano DeFi on Metamask?

Yep, that’s right! Metamask Snaps is a newish feature on the popular wallet that allows developers to create custom integrations and “apps” that extend the wallet’s functionality. Solana was one of the first networks to make a Metamask Snap, and now Cardano has done it too. NuFi and VyFy have collaborated to create this in a way that uses your Metamask seed phrase to generate a Cardano-friendly wallet address. We haven’t tried it ourselves yet so can’t say for sure how safe it is, but it is really cool to see projects working towards easier cross-chain usability.

Learn more here.

Thanks for reading and I hope you learned something!

- Theodore