Matrixport View_Technology #14

Matrixport Research

Summary

The much delayed “Berlin” hard fork has finally arrived on ETH 2.0, with 4 new EIPs packaged in the update. The new hard fork aims to resolve the surging gas prices on the Ethereum network and allow for new transaction type, in addition to paving way for the larger and more important “London” hard fork.
ETH 2.0 encountered its first major incident where a bug was discovered in the popular software client, Prysm. The bug caused all the validators running the Prysm client to be unable to confirm blocks, resulting in over 403 missing blocks. While the problem has been resolved with an update, the Ethereum community is pushing for greater client diversity to prevent the reoccurrence of such incidents.
The Smart Bitcoin Cash team announced the launch of the Smartbch testnet on 29 April. The new testnet is a sidechain built on the BCH network ad leverages on its lower transaction fee, allowing dApp creators and programmers to test and deploy new experimental projects using the framework. The launch was met with great reception from the BCH community.
There are ongoing security breaches occurring across DeFi protocols.

Public Blockchain: Mainstream Tokens

“Berlin” Hard Fork is Live on Ethereum

Hard Fork ☆☆☆

The much anticipated “Berlin” hard fork went live on 15th April, incorporating 4 EIPs, targeting the surging gas prices and allowing new transactions type
The new EIPs include (1) EIP-2565, which reduce gas cost for transactions that use modular exponentiation; (2) EIP-2718, which allow addition of new transaction logic to the Ethereum code; (3) EIP-2929, which increase gas costs for “op code” transactions; (4) EIP-2930, where users can create template for future and complex transactions to lower gas costs
The hard fork is one of the key steps towards ETH 2.0 and is a prelude to the much larger and upcoming “London” hard fork

Bitcoin Cash Node Announced its Latest Release

Code Update ☆☆

Bitcoin Cash Node launched its latest version 23.0.0, where the updated version includes several updates to help the network run smoothly
The key updates include (1) removal of unconfirmed transaction chain limits; (2) enabling multiple OP_RETURN; (3) introduction of Double Sped Proofs (beta version); and (4) lifting of default soft limit for mining to 8MB
The update is mandatory for all BCHN users as the older version 22.2.0 will no longer be supported on May 15

Ethereum 2.0 Encountered its First Major Incident

Software Client Bug ☆☆

Ethereum 2.0 network encountered its first major bug in the Prysm software client, preventing 70% of the validators on the network from producing blocks
Prysm failed to properly ingest data from the blockchain resulting in all the validators running the Prysm client to miss out on block rewards, with approximately 15 ETH lost in the process
The incident lasted over two hours where more than 403 blocks were missing, resulting in a heavy loss in mining power on the network as Prysm controls over 70% of the validators on the network
While the problem has been fixed with the new upgrade, this has led to many proponents to call for greater client diversity to prevent such incidents from reoccurring

Smart Bitcoin Cash Team Announced the Launch of its Smartbch Testnet

Testnet Launch ☆☆☆

The Smart Bitcoin Cash team announced the launch of the Smartbch testnet, where developers and dApp makers can experiment and develop with the high-performance, EVM-compatible Bitcoin Cash sidechain
The testnet will allow dApp creators and programmers to test and deploy experimental projects using the testing framework, focusing on use cases around peer-to-peer cash
The protocol provides an EVM and Web3 compatible sidechain for Bitcoin Cash, while staking its hash power and utilizing BCH as the native gas-paying token, thus potentially increasing the scalability of the Bitcoin Cash network

Blockchain Adoption in Traditional Industries

Financial Industry

Societe Generale issued its first structured product as a Security Token directly registered on the Tezos public blockchain. The launch is the first step towards the development of Societe Generale – Forge, a subsidiary of the bank that will be offering crypto assets structuring, issuing, exchange and custody services in 2022. (Digital asset; Product launch ☆)
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the lending arm of the European Union, issued €100 million worth of two-year digital notes through the Ethereum blockchain. Goldman Sachs, Banco Santander SA and Societe Generale AG served as joint managers for the notes. EIB said the transaction is a series of bond tokens on a blockchain, where investors purchase and pay for the security tokens using traditional fiat. (Security asset; Blockchain ☆)

Security Incidents

DeFi

Force DAO, a DeFi quantitative hedge fund was hacked as five attackers exploit a weakness in the platform’s smart contract. The hackers made away with US$376,000 worth of FORCE tokens. ☆
Polkatrain, a decentralized fundraising platform on Polkadot, suffered a rebate arbitrage attack resulting in a loss of $3m. Attackers took advantage of the protocol’s update function where malicious arbitrageurs can continue to call the swap function and drain the rebates from the pool. The attacker has been identified as Mr Jiang, a Chinese resident residing in Mainland China. ☆
EasyFi, a DeFi Polygon Network-powered protocol, has reported suffering a hack of over $80 million. The hacker accessed the CEO’s computer and stole the private keys to the network admin MetaMask account resulting in a loss of both $75m worth of EASY tokens and $6m from the liquidity pool. ☆

Importance level：low-☆; medium-☆☆; high-☆☆☆

Sources: Bitcoin.com, Coindesk, Cointelegraph, Forbes, Medium, Societe Generale, Yahoo Finance, analyze by Matrixport

Disclaimer

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