Margaux Nijkerk

Margaux Nijkerk reports on the Ethereum protocol and L2s. A graduate of Johns Hopkins and Emory universities, she has a masters in International Affairs & Economics. She holds BTC and ETH above CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.

Margaux Nijkerk

Latest from Margaux Nijkerk


Technologies

Polymarket Is a Success for Polygon Blockchain – Everywhere But the Bottom Line

One of the major breakout successes this year for the team behind layer-2 blockchain Polygon is Polymarket. But according to data, Polymarket has only brought in about $27,000 of transaction fees for Polygon PoS in 2024.

Cumulative gas fees Polymarket on Polygon PoS in 2024 have totaled just over $27,000 this year, through Oct. 23. (Token Terminal)

Technologies

Kraken Picks Optimism for New Layer-2 Network, Joining Coinbase's Base on 'Superchain'

The disclosure comes nearly a year after CoinDesk broke the news that Kraken was considering its own layer-2 network, following the runaway success enjoyed by Base after it launched in mid-2023.

Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell (CoinDesk)

Technologies

Uniswap Developer Unveils Own Layer-2 Network, Unichain, Built on Optimism Tech

Uniswap Labs, developer of the top-ranked decentralized crypto exchange, Uniswap, says adding its own network will bring faster, cheaper transactions with more liquidity.

Uniswap Labs CEO Hayden Adams (Uniswap Labs)

Technologies

Layer-2 Scroll Shares Plans for SCR Token Airdrop

The team said that the SCR token would be the first step in its roadmap to decentralization.

Scroll co-founder Sandy Peng (Bradley Keoun)

Technologies

Avalanche Unveils $40M Grant Program Ahead of 'Avalanche9000' Upgrade

The program, called Retro9000, is supposed to encourage developers to build on Avalanche ahead of a much-anticipated upgrade known as Avalanche9000.

Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer (Ian Allison/CoinDesk)

Technologies

Blockchain Data-Availability Project Celestia's Foundation Raises $100M

The news comes as as Celestia's native token, TIA, had fallen 54% since the beginning of 2024.

Celestial bodies. (NASA/Unsplash)

Marchés

DeFi Lender Sky Ratifies Plan to Offboard Wrapped Bitcoin, Due to Sun Concerns

The matter has been closely followed in crypto markets, since the Sky platform has $200 million of loans collateralized by the token, and since WBTC is one of the biggest cryptocurrencies, with nearly $10 billion outstanding.

Sky. (ELG21/Pixabay)

Technologies

Ethereum Developers Confirm Plan to Split 'Pectra' Upgrade In Two

The decision to split up the upgrade wasn't unexpected. Developers had discussed that Pectra was becoming too ambitious to ship all at once, floating the idea of splitting it up to minimize the risk of finding bugs in the code.

The latest Ethereum upgrade, Pectra, is partly named after Electra, one of the "seven sisters" in the star constellation known as Pleiades, shown in an artistic rendering here inside the ring of circles. (Wikipedia, modified by CoinDesk using PhotoMosh)

Technologies

Ethereum Devs Poised to Split Blockchain's Next Big Upgrade, 'Pectra,' in Two

On Thursday, Ethereum developers will decide if Pectra will be split into two forks. If developers agree on the split, the first package could come in 2025, as early as February.

The latest Ethereum upgrade, Pectra, is partly named after Electra, one of the "seven sisters" in the star constellation known as Pleiades, shown in an artistic rendering here inside the ring of circles. (Wikipedia)

Technologies

Starknet Token Holders Ratify Plan to Implement Staking, in Landmark Decentralized Election

The new mechanism on Starknet means that anyone holding more than 20,000 STRK will be able to stake on the network, from the fourth quarter of this year.

StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson, speaking at ETHDenver on Thursday. (Danny Nelson)