EigenLayer-Powered Aligned Layer Raises $20M to Make ZK Proofs Faster, Cheaper on Ethereum
The fundraise was led by Hack VC and included contributions from DAO5, L2Iterative, NomadCapital_io, FinalityCap, Symbolic VC and Theta Capital

Protocol Village: Alchemy Launches 'Pipelines' to Streamline How Blockchain Engineers Extract Data
The latest in blockchain tech upgrades, funding announcements and deals. For the period of April 18-24.

The Protocol: Bitcoin Halving Spectacular, With Runes, 'Epic Sat,' Stacks Nakamoto
Unlike the last Bitcoin halving, a ho-hum affair where Covid-locked-down gawkers had little choice but to tune into livestreamed watch parties, the upcoming Bitcoin halving comes with project launches, competitions and IRL celebrations in Denver and Costa Rica.

Protocol Village: Lido Launches 'Simple DVT Module' With Distributed Validator Technology
The latest in blockchain tech upgrades, funding announcements and deals. For the period of April 11-17.

Worldcoin, Sam Altman's Crypto Project, Is Building a Layer-2 Chain
The human-focused blockchain network will be based on the OP Stack, a framework for building Ethereum-based layer-2 chains.

Bitcoin Dips Below $62.5K as CoinDesk's BTC Trend Indicator Turns Neutral
CoinDesk Indices' Bitcoin Trend Indicator has been indicating a strong uptrend since last fall.

Ether.Fi Inks $500M Restaking Deal With RedStone Oracles
Under its deal with RedStone, Ether.Fi will dedicate $500 million to help secure RedStone's data oracles, which are used to pass information between blockchains and the outside world.

Ethereum's Next Upgrade, 'Pectra,' Could Include Relief for Institutional Stakers, Wallet UX Improvements
Developers' aim with Pectra is to make some minor code changes while simultaneously working on a bigger code change, Verkle trees, for the following upgrade.

The Protocol: How to Engineer Harder Money, or Just Make Your Own
Bitcoin's supply growth is set to automatically drop by 50% when next week's "halving" arrives, Ethereum is pondering a cut in ETH issuance, and meme coin issuers are just no-holds-barred spinning up new ones. Blockchain tech is enabling all sorts of monetary strategies.
