Proof of Track 2024-04-20

Apr 21, 2024

ORA: Ethereum’s Trustless AI

Onchain AI (zkML, opML, opp/ai), OAO (on mainnet and on L2s), IMO (Initial Model Offering), OpenLM IMO (the world's first IMO). Tweet thread here.

🔍 🔑 ZK & Cryptography

a16z announced implementation and benchmark of Jolt

Kinda in response to this, RISC0 posted a feature comparison of zkVM, detailing why R0 is the most production-ready one.

explanation of zero knowledge proofs

Super easy to understand. By zooko and jessewldn.

Idea: prove validity of git rebase and squash in zk.

"It's more of a PCD-type proof proving existence previous commit signatures I had in mind. The goal is to prove authenticity of transformed (rebased, squashed) commits".

zkOpenFHE

A ZKP-augmented fork of the OpenFHE library.

starky_bls12_381

MVP implementation of bls12-381 in starky and plonky2.

Compiling to zkVMs: Parallelisation decoupling and abstractions

This has a nice list of zkVMs: STARKish zkVMs, IVC zkVMs, GKR zkVMs, Mangrove zkVMs, Jolt zkVMs...

🔍 🧠 AI

FHEML (Fully Homomorphic Encryption based Machine Learning) for privacy preserving computation

Privacy preserving computation, now in ML.

The uselessness of $TAO is truly spectacular

ercwl's thoughts on TAO. Bittensor is very controversial. Some people think it's tokenizing and incentivizing AI (profound design, deep dive), some people think it's just a scam with stupid design (no AI expert backing, ponzi, no one cared). Well, listed on Binance, so problem solved...

GPT-2 (2019) vs. GPT-4 (2024)

"look how beautifully original gpt-2 is! it's like comparing gpt's poetic child drawings vs. corporate emails from middle age." it will also be related to the data it was trained on. But they grow up so fast!

chatgpt_system_prompt

A collection of GPT system prompts and various prompt injection/leaking knowledge.

Navigating the World of Large Language Models

BentoML's site has a lot of good contents btw.

One reason AI works for code

"most people are just writing the same programs over and over."

What prompts should I use for nsfw images?

Very permissionless, very censorship-resistant.

🔍 ⛓️ Ethereum & Blockchains

Monad raised 225M led by Paradigm

Haseeb posted (then deleted) something controversy and considered “shilling bags on ct”. Here’s a response by @jtriley_eth on pointing out some of the “offs”.

Issuance Issues — Initial Issue

Mike's post on Ethereum PoS issuance.

Definitions of staker

Solo staker, home staker, staker.

Crypto's Biggest Skeptics are EVM-pilled

collected data on 60+ G20 central bank blockchain projects and takeaways are "-Innovation happens at the edges and eventually gets adopted by incumbents, -Network effects matter, -OSS is battle-tested". See tweet.

Coinum Memeticus: A Taxonomy of Memecoins

Pure meme, productive meme, utility meme, native-token meme, meme in disguise, de facto meme, money meme.

Cradle-to-unicorn public goods funding

The end-to-end funding lifecycle for Ethereum public goods.

failed transactions on Solana

It's bots.

4 types of cross-chain activity

Cross-chain Limit Order, Gas abstraction, Reading Ln state for a transaction on Lm, Updating Ln state via a traction on Lm.

🔍 🧱 Layer2 & Modular

EigenLayer announced mainnet of EigenDA

Now restakers can really “restake” into actual running AVS of EigenDA. A competitor to EigenLayer, Karak_Network raised 48M at 1B valuation. Difference is Karak can enable restaking for every chain every asset, but this may be a security risk. The most important question for EigenLayer: Wen Token? And actually EigenLayer can definitely don't do token. See whiteboard session.

Ethereum has blobs. Where do we go from here?

By Vitalik, and now fee on mainnet and especially l2s are super affordable thanks to blobs. Also blob flippening.

An Introduction to Modular Blockchains

A very beginner-friendly introduction to modular blockchains and its concepts.

How do challenge periods for fraud proof-based L3s work?

Add zk/different types of proof into it and achieve "fast finality optimistic rollups".

Do we need L3s?

"the L2s that interoperate frequently benefit if there is a canonical L2 on which these interactions happen. Now, depending on how much of value is routed though this central L2, we can think of this canonical L2 on which a bunch of other L2 interactions happen as really an L2 and the other L2s are really L3s." But some argued that "“L3”s are not a thing, there are only L1s (systems that provide settlement to other systems) and L2s (systems that settle to other systems)". See also this.

Rollups CAN be centralized AND still be censorship-resistant and secure.

Just shove the force transaction in!

Blake3 transaction has finally been mined

"One small opcode for BitVM, one giant script for Bitcoin."

Fraud Proofs Are Broken

TL;DR the fraud proof algorithms used by Arbitrum, Cartesi and Optimism all have issues.

🔍 🏦 DeFi & AMM & TradeFi

Uniswap Received Wells Notice from the SEC

Uniswap is carrying the industry on its back. Respect!

what’s the bear case for Uniswap v4? is there one?

"hooks too permissionless so hard for retail to understand + they get rugged + aggregators have a hard time integrating them".... Let me tell you what the real bear case is: I made a os awesome-list, then someone from / related to uf just use these contents to make a new site (thanks for the recognition tho, tho it's given after I asked for it), and then uf rejected my grant apps twice.

A Brief History of Memecoins: Their Past and Future

"a meme’s only function is to spread into other people’s minds".

Layer 2 be or Layer not 2 be: Scaling on Uniswap v3

By Austin Adams. TLDR: many of the current drawbacks with AMMs may be due to chain dynamics and are vastly improved with cheaper and faster transactions.

introducing: the 30 min token

Really like the bgm.

If Ethena’s strategy is delta neutral why aren’t hedge funds already doing it?

Answers - hedge funds are doing it, but not with size; - Ethena's strategy only works in bull markets, when there are plenty other strategies with better R/R.

AL #52: Logical Token Design

"Starting a $MEMECOIN counter-movement".

what protocols out there are still offering 0% fee flash loans?

Morpho Blue, Old dYdX, Uniswap v4, DODO, Maker, Balancer...

🔍 🤖 MEV

At what point will an MEV team acquire a well known wallet startup to get exclusive orderflow ?

Disclosed deals: Consensys bought SMG (reverse, but maybe same motivation). Undisclosed one: "MetaMask orderflow goes to titan, and zapier goes to badger build".

On OEV

Another great piece on MEV brought by oracle. "All About the Flow".

"Balance Abstraction"

"Balance Abstraction is a pooled inventory system with an integrated accounting layer and asynchronous clearing engine that empowers Users to redeem a balance "voucher" that is valid on any supported chain or rollup."

the recent Bloxroute/Lighthouse kerfuffle

TLDR, closed source MEV software matters about as much to Ethereum as open source client software and this isn’t good.

Just stumbled upon an EOA that collects all of the funds accidently sent to Optimism Portal contracts (e.g. Base Portal)

"The idea is simple. On Base or other OP stack L2s, pass a message from L2 to L1 with approve(Optimism Portal, Skimmer, uint(-1)) with the to address as a token contract."