Happy Monday, another weekend of crabbing in the charts with a few liquidation runs that keep catching traders out. We could see some volatility this week as on Wednesday at 3pm UTC+1 we have Consumer Confidence numbers released and on Friday 130pm UTC+1 Core PCE Price Index.

What will the markets say this week? Who knows but we will be ready in the meantime let’s take a look at zkSync 2.0.

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In Todays Enclosure

• The Big Topic - What is zkSync 2.0?• Bitesized bits - Solana launches the “Saga” mobile phone, mainstream media loves CZ gossip and Polkadot Co-Founder Gavin Wood steps down ​• Chart of the day - $ETH, is it time?• Ape Chasers - 🕵️‍♂️

🔥 The Big Topic - What is zkSync 2.0?

zkSync 2.0 is set to go live on mainnet on October 28th and with it one of the most hotly anticipated airdrops of the year. You might remember that earlier in the year was when the hype of the zkSync airdrop started with some claiming it could be as big as the UniSwap air drop….if this turns out to be the case then happy days for those who have been following along. It’s worth checking this thread by @its_daenigma to see if you can sneak into the airdrop.

What Matter Labs have done with zkSync 2.0 is they have made it look and feel like Ethereum, but with lower fees. So for those UniSwap traders out there that remember $200-300 transactions during the bull run, this may just become your best friend.

Let’s take a look at what zkSync is and why you should care.

What is zkSync?

Taking a direct quote from the official zkSync documents;

Simply put, it’s a layer 2 scaling solution built on Ethereum that aims to solve scalability with zero security compromises. Even Vitalik is bullish on zkRollups as a scaling solution and see it as the “end game".”

There are two main types of roll-ups, zero knowledge (zk) and optimistic roll-ups. A roll-up is simply a smart contract that rolls up a slew of transactions from the main layer to be executed in a single transaction (hence increased speed from being an L2 scaling solution).

ZK Rollups are a layer 2 solution where all funds that are being moved around are health by a smart contract on the main chain whilst all of the computation and storage are performed off-chain. This means speed (from the L2) and security (from the main L1 chain). Zk-Rollups use validity proofs to determine the validity of the transaction before moving on so think of this as “guilty until proven innocent.”

Optimistic Rollups are similar to Zk Rollups but they have an “innocent until proven guilty” mechanism built in where they presume that the transaction data is true and legitimate.

So that’s the jargon out of the way, let's get back to zkSync.

What can we expect from zkSync?

If zkSync lives up to all of the hype and is executed to its fullest then we can expect a lot from a layer 2 scaling solution.

Some key highlights are:

• Mainnet-like security with zero reliance on 3rd parties.

• Permissionless EVM-compatible smart contracts.

• Standard Web3 API.

• Preserving key EVM features, such as smart contract composability.

• Introducing new features, such as account abstraction.

The zk token, wen wen wen wen?! That part is still to be decided but there is an airdrop coming and it is likely that the token will be used for staking to validate the network.

Whos building on zkSync and whos backing it for success?

There’s a lot going over on zkSync test net at the moment and we’d expect there to be a lot of noise once it is fully deployed. After having seen the Aptos airdrop and launch we are hoping, fingers crossed, that it doesn’t turn into another pump and dump.

Quite the board of visionaries especially being heavily backed by the Ethereum Foundation and Vitalik being very bullish on the long-term development and evolution of zk roll-ups.

This is only a snapshot of whos building in the zkSync ecosystem right now and for a full extensive list you can check out their website here.

UniSwap enlisted the help of its Dao to vote for the iteration of UniSwap v3 to be deployed on zkSync 2.0 and with a 74.42M votes to 120.52, I think its safe to say that the majority are in favour.

Yeah, that’s big news as UniSwap and zkSync 2.0 as it is the largest dex on Ethereum by volume that is about to start using the solution thats been hailed by Vitalik as “the end game.” It wouldn’t surprise us if we see other dapps and solutions moving over to allow for an even bigger more exciting ecosystem.

Our Take

All in all, it does look good and if there’s a solution that cuts transactions costs down and boosts security then we’re definitely in favour especially if it gains traction throughout the space and we see a wider adoption from the get go.

But let’s be honest now all we are really thinking about is wen air drop?! wen microcaps?! and wen will the top UniSwap traders, degens and hopefuls head on over?!

🗞 The Bitesized News Bits

The Good

1-800-Solana, as the Solana team jumps head first into the mobile phone market aiming to disrupt the likes of Samsung, Google and Apple with their flagship phone “Saga”. Founder Yakovenko added that Saga is “one of the moonshots” which could change the dynamics of web3 as developers are now at the center of the creation.

Fidelities expansion, as the investment giant looks to add 100 new hires to its crypto unit.

Gossip Girls, is mass adoption right around the corner, or is mainstream media just boring at the moment as we see the crypto superstar and CEO of Binance, CZ, making headlines with a possible scandal?

The Bad

Crypto security is under fire, as the once great rebasing ponzi Olympus Dao sees $300,000 drained through the Bond Protocol. Yet another frustrating blow to defi!

Gate.io users at risk, as the crypto exchange’s official Twitter account, was hacked and went under attack from a phishing scam. PeckShieldAlert is a useful Twitter account to follow to stay ahead of the game.

Another CEO bites the dust, this time it’s the Polkadot Co-Founder Gavin Wood with Björn Wagner taking the ropes of Parity Technologies. Stepping into the Chief Architect role Gavin will be focused on “making Polkadot more relevant to large swathes of the population."

🛡 Chart of the day: $ETH

Our Take

Is it almost time?! Since the Ethereum merge it’s been only down and a lot of sideways choppy crabbing action. Which, doesn’t make for the most interesting commentary. However…what happens next could be explosive, whether to the upside or to the downside as it looks like it is gearing up for a move in either direction.

The market makes have left footprints in the chart leaving two major imbalances, so far, untouched.

Bull case, if we can get a break out above the $1400 mark then a rapid move to $1650 could be on the cars to recover the Bull Case red candle.

Bear case, we go back down to retest the Bear Case green candle sitting at the $1000 mark and if that were to be broken then it’s back down into goblin town for us for a very unmerry Christmas.

🤝 Here’s the Deel

and a quick word from our super awesome sponsors who help us make this all possible

If you are a builder in this space and are hiring a remote-first team take a look at one of our partners, Deel. They allow you to hire, manage, onboard, and pay from anywhere in the world without the hassle. Yes, Deel allows you to pay your team in crypto too…

🦧 Updates from the bloc

The latest thread

I came across this the other day and having spent almost 15 years in the health and fitness industry it was a reminder of ALL of the advice I had given clients for years that I’d noticed I’d been ignoring myself.

A very good read as creating an optimal state for optimal performance is key to success in every aspect of what you do. BRB protein shake.

The latest podcast

Last week Jedi sat down with Gunny from HXRO in a live discord chat to talk about the future of HXRO, community importance, and incentives being launched over the coming weeks, plus building multiple projects on one network all centered around trading.

🕵️‍♂️  Ape Chasers

This week apes, let’s keep an eye on what happens with zkSync and zkEvm projects. If we are in a narrative-driven market then that would suggest that a zk movement might be occurring.

The Elrond X Day conference is just over a week away and the chart has been looking stronger than ever. It might still be worth keeping this on your watch list for a break over OR a sell-off.

Chikn Egg over on Avax, the team has just launched foraging which is a new layer to the game. The team has a long-term strategy and in a market with only down, these guys seem to be continually producing results.

🦍 The Ape Enclosure

We’re ready to ape in, at any time. Got a good idea that needs funding? Send us an email with all of the info to [email protected] - Equally, if you would like your project to be featured in our Sponsor Section, contact us and we will see if it is a good fit for our audience!