Colosseum Codex: Metaplex Aura, Phantom Embedded Wallets, Bullet L2
Metaplex Aura, Phantom Embedded Wallets, Bullet L2, Frankendancer Live, Turbin3 Programs, QuickNode Solana Streams
Breakpoint has come to a close, and sadly I was watching along from home feeling some serious FOMO!
The biggest note from this year's Breakpoint was a focus on products vs. infrastructure/tooling. Don't worry, there were plenty of goodies for devs too!
Some of the main themes, as noted by 0xrwu of Tensor, were cross-chain swaps, stablecoins & payments, embedded wallets, and DePIN. There was also a lot of big news around Mobile and real-world apps.
Overall, the sentiment around Breakpoint is excitement about the future of Solana!
If you weren't able to attend, or you were too busy making new connections, all of the session videos are available online to get you caught up:
Here's the rest of the news for Solana developers…
🌟 Metaplex Aura
Metaplex has launched Aura, a decentralized indexing and data availability network designed to extend the Solana ecosystem and SVM.
Aura provides developers with enhanced tools for building dApps by solving key challenges like data retrieval and scalability.
Aura is powered by $MPLX and operates through a network of decentralized nodes that handle indexing and data storage in real-time.
It features three core components:
- Data Availability for Digital Assets: Ensures that assets and media are accessible at all times, even when compressed, using decentralized storage solutions to eliminate reliance on a single point of failure.
- Multi-Program Consistent Indexing: Offers high-performance indexing across the Solana network and SVM, improving how data is retrieved and displayed across multiple programs.
- Elastic State Management: Developers can compress and decompress asset data efficiently, transitioning assets between SVM account space and different levels of state compression. This optimizes performance and reduces costs, especially when managing high transaction volumes.
One of the primary advantages of Metaplex Aura is its ability to improve scalability. Developers can manage millions of assets with far fewer transactions, thanks to Aura's compressed state management.
This reduction in transaction volume not only reduces network traffic, but also lowers costs, making it easier for developers to build applications to handle large-scale user bases without compromising on performance.
With elastic state management, developers can transition assets between SVM account space and various levels of state compression, letting data adapt to the changing needs of their apps.
Aura is a community-driven project that was developed with feedback from over 25 different projects, including NFT marketplaces, infrastructure providers, and game developers.
Launch partners for Aura include some of the top Solana-based platforms and services such as Magic Eden, Tensor, Solflare, QuickNode, and many more.
By open-sourcing the platform (see ⚙️Tools for link to repo), Metaplex invites developers to contribute to its development and help shape and improve the Solana ecosystem.
Metaplex Aura: A Decentralized Indexing and Data Availability Network for Solana
👛 Phantom Embedded Wallets
Phantom has introduced a new embedded wallet feature, making user onboarding easier for developers building on Solana.
With seedless sign-in, users can create self-custodial accounts using just an email and a four-digit PIN, removing the need for complicated seed phrases.
This reduces friction for new users, allowing them to access crypto without app downloads or browser extensions.
The embedded wallet features a full UI within the app, enabling users to swap tokens, view balances, and monitor transactions, all while developers focus on building their core products.
Additionally, the universal Phantom account ensures seamless access across mobile, embedded, and browser extension versions.
For developers, this simplifies wallet integration, streamlining onboarding and enhancing the user experience.
Phantom's launch partners include Jupiter Exchange, Raydium, Orca, Drift Protocol, Kamino Finance, and Lulo.
Developers can apply for early access.
Phantom Wallet Launches Embedded Wallets for Easy Sign-Up
🚅 Bullet L2
Bullet is a new Solana Layer 2 scaling solution being developed on Solana by Zeta Markets, known for its work in creating on-chain derivatives, and Sovereign Labs, a leader in building secure zk-rollups
It aims to drastically improve the performance of dApps on Solana by using an architecture that combines Solana’s powerful L1 for settlement and data availability with a zero-knowledge virtual machine (zkVM) that operates off-chain.
This combination allows Bullet to offer fast transactions and scalability without sacrificing decentralization or security.
The Solana community has long prided itself on being able to scale without the need for an L2.
Unlike Ethereum, which relies heavily on L2s to handle congestion, Solana has aimed to be a “single giant world computer” capable of processing transactions rapidly on its L1.
This has made L2 solutions somewhat controversial within the Solana community.
However, the developers behind Bullet have leveraged Solana’s existing strengths while introducing additional layers to improve performance in specific, high-demand use cases.
For Solana developers, Bullet offers several benefits:
- Speed and Scalability: Bullet will allow developers to build dApps that can operate at much higher speeds and larger scales than was previously possible, with a user experience that rivals centralized platforms.
- Customizability: By using a modular approach that separates execution and settlement, Bullet gives developers more flexibility in how they design their applications, enabling innovations that are not possible on L1 alone.
- Seamless Integration: Since Bullet uses Solana L1 for settlement and data availability, developers can easily integrate their applications with the rest of the Solana ecosystem while benefiting from the enhanced performance of an L2.
Bullet’s testnet is scheduled for Q4 2024, with a full mainnet launch expected in early 2025.
Bullet: Real-time L2 on Solana
👼 Frankendancer... It's aliiiiiiiive!
Jump CSO Kevin Bowers announced during Breakpoint that the Frankendancer client is now live on mainnet, while the much-anticipated Firedancer upgrade has launched on the testnet.
Frankendancer, a precursor to Firedancer, previously achieved an impressive milestone of one million transactions per second (TPS) on a globally distributed 100-node cluster.
Firedancer, currently live on the testnet, is a new validator client with a completely new codebase developed by Jump. It aims to significantly improve network throughput, resilience, and efficiency.
Jump Crypto’s Frankendancer client launches on Solana mainnet and Firedancer on testnet
👩🎓 Turbin3 Educational Programs
Turbin3 is gearing up for Q4 2024, offering a series of high-level programs aimed at Solana developers and researchers.
Turbin3's flagship Builders program will launch its 8th Cohort in mid-October, targeting driven individuals who aspire to build and ship innovative projects.
For more advanced developers, the Advanced SVM program will explore deeper Solana topics like Runtime and the SVM API.
Additionally, an Advanced Programming on Solana course will focus on Rust and C for performance optimization.
Finally, Turbin3 will soon announce a new research initiative, aiming to establish Solana as a leader in Web3 research.
I graduated both Turbin3's (then WBA) builders cohort and Artisans program. If you like in-depth, hands-on learning I would highly recommend signing up!
🌊 QuickNode Solana Streams
Solana Streams is a new push-based solution from QuickNode that delivers real-time blockchain data, eliminating the need for constant polling or complex processing.
This is vital for DeFi apps, NFTs, and trading platforms that require instant updates to function effectively.
Key Benefits for Developers:
Real-Time Data Delivery: Immediate updates on blockchain events like token transfers and account changes, perfect for applications needing fast reactions.
Efficiency at Scale: Subscribe to specific events, simplifying the data pipeline and reducing overhead.
Seamless Integration: Designed to handle millions of accounts with low latency, making it ideal for large-scale applications.
The Ultimate Solana Developer Platform Now Supercharged with Solana Streams
⚡ Quick Hits
How to Send Transactions with Solana Web3.js 2.0 - @QuickNode
Token-2022 Security Best Practices - Part 1: Mint & Token Account - Offside Labs
The top AI projects on Solana today - @0xGumshoe
Solana’s Hackathons: From 0 to hero (Part I) - Ari
Tensor is now fully open-sourced - @0xrwu
Jupiter Acquires SolanaFM and Unveils Major Updates: Everything You Need to Know - SolanaFloor
Squads Protocol v5: The Next Evolution Of SVM Smart Accounts - Squads
Deanslist announces two exclusive metaplex ecosystem grant programs - @deanslistDAO
The SolanaFM Story: From launch to acquisition - @nixxholas
⚙️ Tools & Resources
Aura is a decentralized indexing and data availability network that extends Solana and the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM).
wallet-adapter-svelte-ui is a direct port of Anza's wallet adapter to Svelte 5 with improved UI, accessibility, and performance. Svelte 5 & Tailwind CSS are required.
AppKit brings streamlined wallet, social, and email logins, embedded wallets, and more, all in one toolkit now available on Solana.
x-ray is an open-source, cross-platform CLI tool designed for static analysis of Solana programs and smart contracts written in Rust.
poseidon is a transpiler that helps you to convert your Typescript Solana programs to Anchor aimed at TS developers just getting started with Solana.
💸 Funding
- Helius has raised $21.75 million in a Series B funding round led by Haun Ventures and Founders Fund, with additional support from 6MV, Foundation Capital, Chapter One, and Spearhead. The funds will be used to expand Helius' services for app developers on Solana.
- Drift, a Solana-based decentralized finance platform, has raised $25 million in a Series B funding round led by Multicoin Capital. The platform plans to develop a suite of financial services tools, including spot and derivatives trading, as well as a predictions market.
👩🔧 Get Hired
- Helius is hiring a Developer Relations Engineer to be the face of the company to the developer community.
- Crossmint is seeking a Full-stack Engineer - Wallets and Full-stack Engineer - Minting.
- BloXroute Labs is hiring a Senior Software Engineer to build MEV tools.
- Solana ID is hiring a Head of Identity (Technical) to lead teams of technical co-workers
🎧 Listen to This
Lightspeed
In this episode Andrea Fortunio, co-founder of MagicBlock, discusses the current state of the Solana gaming industry, comparing AAA titles to mobile gaming, and explores the benefits and security implications of using optimistic rollups in on-chain gaming.
How Ephemeral Rollups Impact Solana Gaming | Andrea, MagicBlock
Bonus Episodes
SVM vs. EVM, VC Investment in Solana and Memecoins’ Future - Unchained
Mert Mumtaz, co-founder of Helius, explores the rising competition between SVM and EVM, the influx of VC investments in Solana, the heated debate surrounding rollups, the rise and fall of memecoins, and the future of high-performance blockchains.
Edison Chen, co-founder and CEO of CUDIS, the company behind the first Web3 and AI-powered wellness ring, discusses the CUDIS 001 ring, why rings are superior to watches and bands, the importance of individuals owning their data, and how they can financially benefit from it.
Solana Startup Series: Future of Global Payments with Anthony Emezu, CEO of Espresso Cash - The Index
In this episode Anthony Emezu, CEO & Co-founder of Espresso Cash, shares his entrepreneurial journey from working at major media companies to creating a groundbreaking mobile finance app, the app’s rapid growth strategies, and how they're building network effects within the open-source crypto ecosystem.
Follow @mikehale on X or Warpcast!
Thanks for reading ✌️
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