may 17: Oobita mobile payment app,” collaborated with the TON Foundation to integrate its native cryptocurrency, TON (Toncoin), on its platform, advancing the use of cryptocurrency as a means of payment”, according to the team: “Toncoin holders will be able to use Tap & Pay in more than 100 million retailers around the world. The integration will further strengthen the recent announcement of collaboration between the largest company in the digital asset sector, Tether, and the TON Foundation.” According to a separate press release on the Tether website: users will be able to “send USDT as a direct message on Telegram and spend the same USDT for instant Tap crypto payments on Oobit.”

Radix ‘Bottlenose’ Update Brings ‘AccountLockers’ to Routing Tokens

may 17: sourcea platform for DeFi and Web3,” proposed a bottle nose protocol update for its node runner community and expects it to be enacted around June 3rd. One of the standout features of the update is the introduction of AccountLockers, a ‘locker’ through which token deliveries are routed, which can be accepted or declined. AccountLockers aim to prevent unwanted deposits and facilitate dApp accounting. Other Bottlenose features include improvements to the API and Radix Engine and the addition of a recovery fee vault, eliminating the need for third-party rate locking during account recovery.”

Internet computer-based ‘Bitfinity EVM’ launches as Bitcoin L2 and supports runes

May 17: Bitcoin Layer 2 Bitfinity launched its Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to bring smart contracts Bitcoin protocols and leverage Runes to enable Bitcoin DeFi applications. Built on the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP), Bitfinity integrates with the Bitcoin network and allows bridging assets with other blockchains. The Internet Computer technology stack will allow applications using Ethereum’s Solidity smart contract programming language to access Bitcoin-based tokens.

Mintlayer, Salus Partner on Layer-3 ‘Thunder Network’ Connected to Bitcoin

May 17: Layer 2 Scaling Solution Mint layer and Salus, a security company specializing in zero-knowledge (ZK) technology, are partnering to advance Bitcoin by building the Thunder Network, a layer 3 ZK rollup-based solution, according to the team. “The Thunder Network is designed to resolve any potential scalability issues that the Mintlayer network may encounter, while also enabling additional EVM functionality that may be currently missing from Mintlayer,” according to a Press release.

DroppGroup Announces ‘DroppLink’ to Tokenize Generation AI Outputs

may 17: Dropp Group, aiming to harmonize AI and blockchain technology, “announced the launch of droppLink, an intelligent service platform poised to transform AI development and management across multiple blockchains. DroppLink’s architecture abstracts computational requirements, facilitates micropayments and democratizes data contributions by providing users with ownership and control, while stakeholders, known as Computing Resource Sponsors (CRPs), bear the infrastructure costs and share the revenue generated by the AI ​​processes they allow.” According to the project website, “Gen AI end-user outputs are tokenized as unique digital assets on the Solana blockchain and are stored on the Filecoin network.”

Schematic illustrating droppLink in a configuration with Solana and Filecoin (droppLink)

Union and Stargaze to Allow Transfer of ‘Blue-Chip Ethereum NFTs’ to Cosmos

may 17: Unitythe modular interoperability layer, is “partnering with Stargaze, a community-owned decentralized NFT marketplace, to enable the transfer of top-tier Ethereum NFTs to the Cosmos ecosystem via its decentralized, trustless zkIBC bridge. This collaboration opens the path to achieving a decentralized, trustless zkIBC bridge for NFTs,” according to the team.

Oracle Project Pyth Launches $22 Million Ecosystem Grant Program

may 17: Pytha blockchain oracle project, is “launching its Ecosystem Grant Program with 50 million PYTH (worth approximately $22 million at current prices) dedicated to this activation,” according to the team: “The program seeks projects focused on at least one of these three main areas: Community Grants, Research and Developer.”

DTCC, Chainlink Pilot Accelerates Fund Tokenization with JPMorgan, Templeton, BNY Mellon

May 17: The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC)the largest securities settlement system in the world, completed a pilot project with blockchain oracle Chain link (LINK) and several large U.S. financial institutions, with the aim of helping accelerate the tokenization of funds, according to a report published by DTCC. The objective of the project called Smart navigation was to establish a standardized process for bringing in and disseminating fund net asset value (NAV) data on virtually any private or public blockchain using Chainlink. CCIP interoperability protocol. Market participants included American Century Investments, BNY Mellon, Edward Jones, Franklin Templeton, Invesco, JPMorgan, MFS Investment Management, Mid Atlantic Trust, State Street and US Bank. (LINK)

Schematic illustrating the “Smart NAV” pilot (DTCC)

EasyA Consensus Hackathon – Call for Participants

This year, Consensus is hosting its first in-person hackathon together with the world’s #1 Web3 learning app, EasyA. This will be a three-day, multi-chain IRL hackathon with world-class sponsors from Sui to Stellar, Polkadot and more, and will attract the world’s best developers to build the future of Web3 and raise funds for their projects.

Projects launched by EasyA alumni are valued at more than US$2.5 billion. The EasyA Consensus hackathon will be the most important hackathon of 2024 so far.

We still have a few spots left for hackers, so if you’re excited about participating, be sure to sign here!

FLock.io merge decentralized AI training with Morpheus ‘smart agents’

May 16: FLock.ioa platform for “AI co-creation“, and Morpheus, a network to power intelligent agentsannounced a strategic partnership “to advance decentralized AI capabilities in Web3,” according to the team: “By merging FLock.ioWith the Morpheus-powered, community-driven, decentralized AI training model platform that empowers Intelligent Agent builders to deploy their code and receive rewards, partners aim to reduce reliance on centralized external function calls to OpenAI and integrate more Intelligent Agents in Web3 wallets. Ultimately, this integration will empower users to leverage AI directly from their wallets for seamless, secure and intuitive trading experiences.”

Interoperable, Tangled Data Infrastructure Layer with ‘Liquid Vaults,’ Launches Mainnet

May 16: Entanglean interoperable data infrastructure layer powered by underlying primitives”liquid coffers”, is launching its mainnet after two years of development and a rigorous testnet phase, according to the team: “The network currently has 71 validators, including Hashkey Cloud, Rhino, Nodefi and DaiC. The mainnet also features the Photon Messaging feature, enabling omnichain development across 16 EVM and non-EVM blockchains, including Solana.”

Alvara Protocol, Developing DeFi-Based System for Fund Management, Launches Testnet

May 16: Álvara Protocol is “launching its testnet, marking an important milestone in the development of a DeFi-based system for fund management”, according to the team: “Alvara democratizes fund management with an innovative tokenized fund factory leveraging DeFi, ensuring transparency, liquidity and cost efficiency compared to traditional hedge funds and ETFs. Built on the ERC-7621 token standard, it allows anyone to become a fund manager. With the live testnet, users can explore the platform, provide feedback, and help shape Alvara’s future impact on the DeFi and TradFi industries.”

Hashgraph Association and Qatar Financial Center Plan $50 Million ‘Digital Assets Venture Studio’

May 16: The Hashgraph Association signed a strategic partnership with the Qatar Financial Center to launch a US$50 million Digital Assets Venture Studio, according to the team: “The platform will support local Qatari and international portfolio companies in developing decentralized financial solutions in line with regulations and digital assets built on the Hedera Distributed Ledger Technology network. The studio will be part of Qatar’s Digital Assets Lab within the QFC Innovation Dome as part of Qatar’s ‘National Vision 2030’ to accelerate research and development in the digital assets space.

KYVE begins ‘Phase 0’ grant program with up to $50,000 per approved grant

May 16: KYVE Network representatives announced that the KYVE Grant Program: Phase 0 is live now: “This grant phase provides up to $50,000 in funding per approved grant that utilizes KYVE’s trusted datasets and/or tools,” according to the team.

Game Developer Param Labs, Behind Kiraverse, Raises $7M, Led by Animoca

May 16: Param Laboratories, an independent game development and infrastructure company behind the game Kiraverse and 3-D asset creation platform Pixel to Poly, announced a $7 million fundraising in an investment round led by Animoca Brands. According to the team: “Delphi Ventures, Cypher Capital, Mechanism Capital and other top-tier investors also joined the seed and private funding rounds. The company has incorporated more than 50 intellectual property partnerships into its ecosystem, with brands like Pudgy Penguins, Neo Tokyo, Animoca Brands’ Mocaverse, Pixelmon, as well as retail giants like GameStop.”

Protocol Village is a regular feature of The protocolour weekly newsletter that explores the technology behind encryption, one block at a time. Sign here to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday. Project teams can send updates here. For previous versions of Protocol Village, go to here. Also check out our weekly The protocol podcast.

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