This Week Noteworthy Events (April 15, 2024, to April 21, 2024)

Solana Network Repair Update Expected to Launch Today

Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius, the Solana ecosystem development platform, stated that the current issues with Solana, specifically its network instability, are not due to protocol design flaws but rather bugs in specific implementations.

Mert Mumtaz explained that the protocol design is like the overall design of a car, while the specific implementation is like different models of cars from various brands. Having issues with one model doesnt mean all cars have design flaws. Solana uses the QUIC network protocol, but the current QUIC implementation version has some defects and bugs. Therefore, Solana only needs to replace the problematic 'parts' without changing the entire 'model'.

He revealed that the implementation being developed by Firedancer does not have the same issues. The repair update is expected to be released today, and if other issues are found during the testing process, the launch time may be delayed. Besides technical issues, he believes that Solana also needs to consider long-term economic sustainability factors. After fixing the bugs, clearer planning for the on-chain fee market and economic incentive measures can be made.

Arbitrum Foundation Grant Program Phase Three Applications to Open on April 15th

According to official announcements, the Arbitrum Foundation has announced the conclusion of its funding program, the Arbitrum Foundations Grants Program, Phase Two. Phase 3 Begins: New applications for Phase 3 will open on April 15, 2024, and will remain open until the end of June. This phase will continue to focus on dApps but will introduce a more standardized funding approach, primarily covering verticals such as gaming, NFTs, social, DAOs, and DeFi.

Everyworld: Season 1 Airdrop Claiming to Open During the Week of April 15th

Web3 reward advertising discovery protocol Everyworld announced on the X platform that the claiming for Season 1 airdrop will open during the week of April 15th. Everyworld's airdrop will reward the earliest members for their participation and contribution, with more updates to follow.

Gitcoin: Launch of GG 20 Grant Applications, Deadline on April 16th

Gitcoin announced on the X platform that its funding program, Gitcoin Grants 20 (GG20), has officially launched. The application deadline is April 16th. GG20 will introduce four types of project rounds, which are: Web3 Infrastructure; Developer Tools; DApps and Applications; and Hackathon Alumni. Gitcoin GG20 will allocate a total of $1 million in matching support funds.

SingularityNET, Fetch.ai, and Ocean Protocol Token Merger Voting Initiated, Deadline on April 16th

According to official announcements, SingularityNET, Fetch.ai, and Ocean Protocol have initiated the voting for the proposed token merger. The voting is set to conclude at 4:00 PM UTC on April 16th (8:00 PM Beijing time).

Binance NFT to Stop Supporting Bitcoin NFT Trading and Recharge Services on April 18th

According to an official announcement, in order to streamline the Binance NFT market products, after careful consideration and evaluation, Binance NFT will cease supporting Bitcoin NFT trading and recharge services at 6:00 AM (UTC) on April 18th. It is recommended that users withdraw their Bitcoin NFTs from Binance NFT via the Bitcoin network before 12:00 AM (UTC) on May 18th.

Bloomberg: Nigeria Delays Binance Executive Lawsuit Hearing to April 19th

A high-ranking executive of Binance Holdings Limited has been detained in Nigeria for over a month due to tax evasion charges. After the first court appearance, the case has been postponed to April 19th.

Tigran Gambaryan, the head of financial crime compliance at Binance, is also charged alongside the company. The charges include failure to pay value-added tax and corporate income tax, as well as conspiring to help clients evade taxes through the platform. He will remain detained by the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. (Source: Bloomberg)

Bitcoin Expected to Undergo Its Fourth Halving on April 20th

According to BTC.com data, there are less than 7 days remaining until the estimated fourth Bitcoin block reward halving, with 996 blocks left. The expected halving date is April 20, 2024.

So far, the Bitcoin network has undergone three halvings in 2012, 2016, and 2020.

Ripple to Potentially Hold Settlement Meeting with U.S. SEC This Week

According to @RippleArchive on the X platform, a settlement meeting with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to take place this week. Additionally, XRP community member Ashley Prosper analyzed that the legal dispute between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple is likely to end in a settlement. This is because the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the SEC's request to confiscate Ripple's illegal gains. Importantly, the court ruled that the SEC does not have the authority to recover funds from the seller if the buyer did not suffer any economic loss. Furthermore, it remains unclear which institutional investors incurred economic losses from purchasing XRP from Ripple.

Parcl: First PRCL Distribution to Take Place This Week, Permanent Points Expected for Second Community Distribution in Q2

Solana ecosystem decentralized real estate market Parcl announced on the X platform that the Perpetual points of Parcl's ecological incentive program have started to be calculated but have not yet been reflected in the new leaderboard. The Perpetual points leaderboard will go live after the first PRCL distribution this week. The Perpetual points will be used for the second community distribution of PRCL in the second quarter of 2024, and this round of distribution will be the largest in scale within the Perpetual points program.