Here are some of the major developments in the world of crypto over the past few days.
Linea's decision to halt block production following a hacker attack on its Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain highlights the need for Layer 2 companies to prioritize decentralization sooner rather than later, Matter Labs CEO Alex Gluchowski said. Linea has since resumed block production, but the team's decision to discontinue its zkEVM blockchain demonstrated the need for decentralization at the Ethereum level, as Gluchowski emphasized.
In April, Linea announced "The Linea Voyage: Surge" campaign, which aims to increase Linea's total treasury to $3 billion. According to L2BEAT, just over $1.2 billion is currently locked on the blockchain. However, one observer criticized the company for setting such a goal considering the recent hack.
Linea said it was informed of the hack by Hexagate, which helped it trace stolen user funds, vulnerable smart contracts, and abuser addresses. Consensys launched Linea in August 2023, onboarding more than 50 partners and raising more than $26 million in Ether at the time. Nearly all Ethereum Layer 2 solutions, including Base, remain centralized.
Maple Finance launches Syrup, a DeFi protocol offering secured institutional lending, amid lingering skepticism from the FTX-Alameda fallout. The release of Syrup comes after the business enterprise confronted considerable demanding situations because of the FTX-Alameda collapse, such as severing ties with Orthogonal Trading in December 2022.
Syrup gives users access to permissionless and secure institutional lending. By depositing Circles USD Coin USDC $1.00 into the platform, users receive SyrupUSDC liquidity pool tokens (LPs) that can be used to earn yield. Maple Finance experienced loan defaults due to exposure to entities connected with FTX, such as Orthogonal Trading, which defaulted on $36 million in loans.
In the announcement, Maple Finance also introduced the Syrup (SYRUP) token to allow holders to participate in the ecosystem. Holders of Maple Finance’s native Maple (MPL) token can migrate to SYRUP on a 1:1 basis with no planned additional dilution. However, affiliate protocol Syrup.fi addressed this concern, explaining that it is simply the name of the MPLv2 token.
Nigeria's young resident population now feels more confusion due to the administration’s recent actions against Nigeria’s crypto industry. There is a mixture of hope and concern in the Nigerian cryptocurrency industry. Stakeholders say the actions and policies of President Bola Tinubu's administration over the past year have brought clarity to the industry.
Adesina stressed that recent actions such as the crackdown on peer-to-peer (P2P) trading, the arrest of Binance executives and allegations of currency manipulation by state authorities have temporarily cast a bad light on the industry. This is despite the huge interest from the country's young and vibrant population. Luz maintained that the government has not taken sufficient steps, and more is expected.
The central bank published initial guidelines for banks opening cryptocurrency accounts in January, but banks are still prohibited from trading crypto assets or holding them in their own portfolios. The policy includes strict anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) measures, among others. In addition, banks are mandated to set so-called "prudent" transaction limits and not allow cash withdrawals from crypto accounts.