AminoChain has recently announced the completion of a $5 million seed funding round, led by the prominent venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). This marks a significant milestone for the company, which has been developing its technology in relative secrecy for the past two years. The core innovation of AminoChain is its Layer 2 blockchain protocol designed specifically for the healthcare sector. This protocol aims to connect enterprise medical institutions and facilitate the development of decentralized healthcare applications that are owned by users. One of the first applications to be launched on the AminoChain platform is a bio-sample marketplace. This marketplace allows researchers to query and license biological samples from a network of biobanks. Patients will have the ability to track how their samples are used, gain insights from the research conducted on their samples, and even receive financial compensation when their samples are sold. AminoChain envisions the creation of a new bioeconomy that operates on-chain, where users can benefit from decentralized applications (D-Apps) in various areas, including clinical recruitment, real-world evidence gathering, and federated learning, among others. For those interested in learning more about AminoChain, its funding round, and potential opportunities to join the founding team, additional resources are available on their website.

Assort Health has announced a $3.5 million funding round to scale its generative AI solution designed specifically for healthcare call centers.

Aavegotchi is set to launch Gotchichain, a Layer 3 rollup chain for blockchain gaming, in 2024. The new gaming console will run on top of Base, an EVM-compatible L2 developed by Coinbase. Besides offering lower transaction fees, Gotchichain aims to provide a dedicated block space for application-specific facilities in a bid to maximize scalability.

Ethena Labs has introduced reward-bearing asset proposals, inviting issuers to pitch for an allocation from its $45 million Reserve Fund and $250 million in USDe's liquid cash backing. Early applicants include Securitize, distributors of BlackRock's BUIDL, and SteakhouseFi's USDC. Governance will be managed by a newly launched Risk Committee of industry professionals to oversee and approve these allocations.

FlexAI launched with $30 million in seed funding led by Alpha Intelligence Capital, Elaia Partners, and Heartcore Capital. The company is rearchitecting compute infrastructure to deliver universal AI compute: effective and seamless infrastructure needed to propel advancements in artificial intelligence. FlexAI's cloud service, launching later this year, enables developers to utilize heterogeneous compute architectures to build and train AI applications reliably and efficiently.

Electric Capital's Annual Developer Report reveals trends around the increase in multichain development, the U.S. losing developer share, and the growth of new chains like Base and Bitcoin L2s. Infrastructure improvement has enabled the rise of social applications, which are in an experimental stage reminiscent of social media in 2003. NFTs are becoming multichain and are expected to serve as the foundation for various digital assets in the future.

Chainlink recently shared the results of the Smart NAV (Net Asset Value) industry pilot, which involved Chainlink, DTCC, and ten major financial institutions. In the pilot, the team successfully delivered mutual fund data onchain, which demonstrated DTCC's capability to provide NAV data across various blockchains (private/public). This pilot illustrates how Chainlink's CCIP can be used as an open blockchain interoperability standard to prevent fragmentation and improve automated data dissemination and access for fund tokenization.

Zellular introduces a Consensus Layer and Sequencing Service for developing decentralized applications (zApps) using both high-level and low-level programming languages. Key features include rapid state finalization, unlimited throughput through horizontal scaling, robust interoperability, dynamic security, Byzantine Fault Tolerance, and a decentralized transaction explorer.

Layer 2 solutions on Ethereum not only expand its technical capabilities but also foster a diverse and inclusive culture within the blockchain community, leading to unique technological advancements and cultural influences across different blockchains, ultimately driving innovation within the ecosystem.

Lamini, an Enterprise AI platform, makes it possible for software teams within enterprises to develop new LLM capabilities that reduce hallucinations on proprietary data, run their LLMs securely from cloud VPCs to on-premise, and scale their infrastructure with model evaluations that prioritize ROI and business outcomes over hype. It raised a $25M Series A led by Amplify Partners.

Degen Chain is a pioneering Layer 3 (L3) platform designed for the /degen community. It is built upon Arbitrum Orbit with Base for settlement and AnyTrust for data availability. Degen Chain uses $DEGEN as its native gas token, making it one of the first community tokens to operate with its own L3 infrastructure. This innovation, offering ultra-low-cost transactions and new scalable solutions for the EVM ecosystem, represents a significant step in onchain internet evolution.

Aave Founder Stani Kulechov hinted at the launch of the Aave Network, a new Layer 2, after the launch of Aave V4.

Bitcoin Virtual Machine, a layer 2 project, is set to launch Truly Open AI, a platform where users can launch AI models on the blockchain for use in crypto apps. Developed in partnership with Filecoin, Near, Avail, Polygon, and Syscoin, this design allows for monetization when other people utilize their AI models.

Ability AI, a marketing startup, has raised a round to build its marketing agent technologies.

Prominent Japanese electronics company Sony is launching its own Ethereum-based Layer 2, called Soneium. It is based on OP Stack technology and will be part of the Superchain Interoperability effort. The project aims to onboard existing Web3 users, and then integrate Sony products like Sony Bank, Music, and Pictures within two years.

Leveraging the introduction of Umbrella, Aave has proposed significant upgrades to enhance $AAVE's role in the ecosystem. Key updates include automating secondary liquidity management, transitioning the safety module to a slashing-free staking module, and introducing the "Anti-GHO" ERC20 token. These changes aim to increase efficiency, generate new revenue sources, and improve protocol coverage at controlled costs.

Aave has launched its V3 protocol, powered by ZKsync's zero-knowledge technology, on the Era Mainnet, enhancing transaction efficiency, security, and scalability within the DeFi space. This integration is expected to broaden Aave's user base, attract institutional investors, and support privacy-focused DeFi applications.

The commoditization of blockchain infrastructure, enabled by more competitors and options in the modular stack, is catalyzing a new wave of customized, application-specific rollups. By leveraging components like data availability layers (Celestia, Avail, and EigenDA), rollup SDKs (Sovereign and RollKit), and shared sequencers (Astria and Espresso), developers can focus on optimizing applications without the burden of managing the entire stack. At the same time, infrastructure providers can increase demand for their products and protocols by decreasing the cost of using them by commoditizing the complements or tools an application relies on.

FormAI aims to democratize artificial general intelligence by creating a blockchain-driven protocol for AI computation, data, and research. The Form protocol leverages a decentralized network for efficient AI training and inference. It supports various hardware, employs smart contracts for task management, and uses pipeline and data parallelism for task allocation. It also introduces a reward system and integrates synthetic data generation, data scraping and labeling, and AI evaluation. FormAI also aims to foster AI research and ensure community governance in AGI decision-making.

Celestia has raised $100 million in a round led by Bain Capital Crypto, with participation from other leading firms.

Circle has announced a new product suite called the Circle Compliance Engine, which offers tools like Transaction Screening, Monitoring, and a Travel Rule service to help companies build financial applications onchain while maintaining more strict compliance standards. The service also leverages Circle Programmable Wallets, with the goal of streamlining compliance for developers working across multiple blockchain networks.

Digital Asset has successfully tested its Canton Network, a blockchain service involving major financial firms including Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon. The trial allowed the seamless transaction and settlement of tokenized assets, with uses ranging from fund registry to margin management. The successful execution of 350 simulated transactions demonstrated potential advantages including reduced risk and optimized capital.

This thread highlights some of the most innovative rollups with technological and cultural differentiations from Ethereum. It includes a chain for halal finance, one with an MEV-free crosschain DEX, and another with EVM and SVM apps running in parallel. There are also L2s requiring all users to KYC and designed for banks.

Coinbase is launching a new web app designed to act as a hub for users to manage their entire crypto portfolio (tokens, NFTs, and DeFi positions), with the goal of simplifying the user experience and bringing its entire user base of ~100M "on chain." The app will allow users to connect multiple wallets and perform a range of on-chain activities.

Stacy Muur recently shared insights on the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency and Web3 technologies, particularly as we enter the fourth quarter of the year. She highlighted Grayscale's latest list of top-20 crypto assets, which now includes six new entrants: Sui Network ($SUI), Bittensor ($TAO), Optimism ($OP), Helium ($HNT), Celo ($CELO), and UMA Protocol ($UMA). This update invites discussion on the potential of these assets in the upcoming quarter. In a previous post, Muur discussed the recent $3.2 million seed round announced by Rise Chain, which has garnered attention due to participation from notable figures like Vitalik Buterin. This funding aims to develop a new layer-2 solution termed "Gigagas," which seeks to significantly enhance blockchain throughput. Muur explained the transition from merely scaling to maximizing speed, with Rise Chain aiming to achieve over 1 billion gas units processed per second, marking a shift into what she calls the "Gigagas Era." Muur also examined the driving forces behind Web3, identifying speculation, yields, and the culture of "degening" as key elements. She noted the rise of platforms like Polymarket and LogX Trade, which have seen substantial increases in total value locked (TVL) and trading volume, respectively. LogX Trade aims to consolidate various speculative activities, including perpetuals, leveraged prediction markets, and gaming, into a single platform. Privacy remains a significant barrier to Web3 adoption, according to Muur. She pointed out the challenges associated with data handling in current blockchain setups, where data must be decrypted for computations, creating potential vulnerabilities. Nillion Network is highlighted as a project addressing these privacy concerns, aiming to improve the efficiency and security of data processing. In the realm of gaming, Muur noted that while GameFi has been a strong contender for driving adoption, it has faced challenges. She referenced a report from Delphi Digital that outlines the current state of Web3 gaming, which has seen a decline in market capitalization but still accounts for a significant portion of decentralized application activity. Muur also provided insights into upcoming airdrop programs worth exploring in Q4 2024, emphasizing the importance of staying informed about these opportunities. She mentioned Morpho Labs, a lending platform that has quickly risen in prominence within the DeFi space. Lastly, she touched on the implications of token unlocks, referencing research from Messari Crypto that explores how these events can serve as potential sell signals in the market. Muur's analysis underscores the importance of understanding market dynamics and the various factors influencing the cryptocurrency landscape as it continues to evolve.

This thread explores the growth and potential of the Ethereum L2 Base. It asserts that Base differentiates itself as a 'builder chain'. While Base was relatively slow to gain traction, the current uptick in speculative activity, especially in memecoins, interest in the ecosystem has been increasing significantly. The affordable gas fees and increasing user base present ample opportunities for developers to build applications.