ETH Denver 2023

We recently attended the main conference and side events spanning throughout ETH Denver and have put together a special edition of DeFi Digest to highlight some of the protocols and themes prevalent in the digital asset space today. The panelists throughout the multi-day event ranged from Layer 1 and 2 networks, venture capital firms, dApp protocols and infrastructure service providers to provide color on topics including interoperability, modular design, security models for blockchain, and liquid staking derivatives (LSDs). 

Interoperability 

One of the issues discussed was the need for interoperability between the Ethereum Virtual Machines (EVM) and non-Ethereum Virtual Machines. Eclipse is making strides here by launching Polygon Solana VM, while Axelar is an IBC chain that connects Ethereum and Cosmos chains, bridges, oracles, and data availability (DA) layers that require a separate set of distributed networks to validate the data flowing through said channels. 

dApps usually assume the weakest security link of the stack, which is usually the off-chain to on-chain oracle. As such, the freedom to build a distributed network doesn’t extend to bridges, oracles, and data availability layers today, bec...