Protocol Village: Liquid Restaking Platform Puffer Launches Testnet for Ethereum Rollup 'UniFi'

The latest in blockchain tech upgrades, funding announcements and deals. For the period of Nov. 7-13.

Puffer Finance, a decentralized native liquid restaking protocol, has announced the testnet launch of UniFi, a "based rollup to Ethereum which is low-cost, capable of sub-second transactions and allows asset withdrawal from L2 (UniFi) to L1 (Ethereum) within a minute."

According to the team: "UniFi’s preconfirmations offer a strong improvement over traditional soft confirmations by using Ethereum validators instead of centralized sequencers, ensuring near-instant confirmation times with enhanced reliability, as validators face penalties for failing to include transactions. Builders can now join and experience Puffer Testnet."

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Cytonic, a layer-1 blockchain with a "MultiVM" design, has closed its $8.3 million seed round, co-led by Lemniscap and Lattice.

According to the team: "Developed by MultiVM Labs, Cytonic is the first layer 1 that runs multiple VM's within the same network layer using shared storage, addressing blockchain compatibility challenges. Cytonic is compatible with most blockchains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, enabling different transaction types to be processed together in a single block. The goal is to make on-chain interactions easier while reducing transaction fees and waiting times when moving assets between chains."

The Algorand blockchain is preparing to roll out what it describes as "crypto’s most inclusive staking rewards program."

According to the team: "Scheduled to go live in December after a consensus mechanism upgrade, ‘block rewards’ will start to be paid, in real-time, to validators successfully proposing blocks to the layer-1 blockchain. The rewards begin at 10 ALGO per block and will decay by 1% every 1 million blocks. Validators will also receive 50% of the transaction fees of the blocks they successfully propose." (ALGO)

Hyperbridge, a blockchain interoperability protocol, has launched its mainnet on Polkadot, and supports Ethereum, Optimism and BNB Chain.

According to the team: "With $2.5 million in seed funding led by the Web3 Foundation and Scytale Digital, it provides secure & scalable cross-chain solutions. Key features include the Gateway token bridge, which leverages zk-proof security for asset transfers, instant multichain liquidity and cross-chain messaging. Hyperbridge supports use cases like unified liquidity pools and multichain expansion for DAOs and stablecoins, positioning itself as a robust infrastructure for DeFi."

Solv Protocol, a Bitcoin staking platform, has introduced a classification system for the underlying assets of its SolvBTC reserve, dividing them into Core Reserve (native BTC, Binance-backed BTCB) and Innovative Reserve (wrapped assets like WBTC, cbBTC), according to the team: "This setup enhances stability and risk management through minting caps and cross-chain rate limits on the Innovative Reserve. Now one of the largest multichain BTC liquid staking token issuers, Solv spans 10+ networks, including Ethereum and BNB Chain, with over 24,000 BTC ($2 billion) in reserves, offering secure, yield-generating opportunities in DeFi."