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The TON Application Chain (TAC) is teaming up with Polygon Labs. Their goal? To make the TON ecosystem play nice with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). It's a big deal. TAC is building a Layer-2 network for TON. This blockchain is known for its ties to Telegram, the messaging app. Why does TON need this Layer-2 integration? It's simple. They want to tap into Ethereum's massive developer community. The new Layer-2 chain will use Polygon's tech. It'll leverage Polygon CDK and Agglayer, an interoperability protocol. This combo will let EVM-compatible decentralized apps (DApps) run on TAC. Pavel Altukhov, TAC's CEO, spilled the beans to CoinDesk. "We're going with Polygon for a few reasons," he said. "EVM compatibility, easy liquidity access, solid support, and their EVM know-how." What's in it for developers? A lot, actually. They can port their Ethereum-based apps to TAC without breaking a sweat. And they'll get access to Telegram's huge user base. Altukhov's pretty stoked about recent developments. He pointed to USDT's integration on TON and the success of Notcoin, a popular Tap-to-Earn game. The numbers are looking good. TON's got 5.8 million monthly active on-chain wallets on Telegram. That's nothing to sneeze at. Here's a kicker: TON recently beat Ethereum in daily active addresses. On June 3, it hit 568,300 DAAs and it's worth noting that Ethereum - second most popular crypto in the world - hasn't seen those numbers since September 2023. The Layer-2 race is heating up. Coinbase launched Base last August. It's built on the OP Stack and has already locked in over $6 billion. Other players like Blast, Optimism, and Arbitrum are in the mix too. With TON joining the fray, things are bound to get interesting. It's a young man's game, and TON's playing to win.

Celo, the mobile-first blockchain, has taken a big step. It's launched its Dango Layer 2 testnet. This move kicks off Celo's plan to join the Ethereum ecosystem. The decision wasn't made overnight. Celo voters gave the thumbs up last July. They wanted to turn their Layer 1 network into an Ethereum Layer 2 chain. It took eight months to figure things out. In the end, Celo chose Optimism's OP Stack. This tech will power their Layer 2 network. With this choice, Celo joins the "Superchain" club. It's now in the same league as Base, Zora, and Mode. These are all Ethereum Layer 2 networks. What's in it for Celo users? For starters, they can still use USDT and USDC for gas fees. But there's more good news. Bridging tokens between Ethereum and Celo will be a breeze. Speed is another perk. Celo claims transactions will be zippier. They're talking about a 50% boost in throughput. Block time will drop from 5 seconds to 2 seconds. Marek Olszewski, CTO at cLabs, shared his two cents. "For most EVM-compatible chains, it's increasingly hard to justify a standalone positioning," he told The Block last year. "Ethereum's scaling roadmap is proving itself." The Celo team isn't wasting time. They're eyeing a mainnet launch in "early winter 2024". This move shows Celo's willingness to adapt. It's betting on Ethereum's growing dominance in the blockchain space. Will this gamble pay off? Only time will tell. But one thing's for sure - Celo's not sitting on its hands.

Circle has introduced its euro-backed stablecoin, EURC, on the Base network. This move expands EURC's native availability beyond Avalanche, Ethereum, Solana, and Stellar. It's a first for Base. EURC is now accessible on an Ethereum layer-2 network in native form. Previously, layer-2s only used derivative EURC backed by versions on other networks. Circle claims this new version will boost global e-commerce. The company stated, "The Base versions of EURC and USDC are the first stablecoins on Base from a global issuer to be compliant with the new Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation." This development could be a game-changer. It may allow Base users to swap euros for dollars more easily. A 2023 study found blockchain forex trades can cut costs by up to 80%. However, there's a catch. Major decentralized exchanges on Base haven't listed EURC yet. Searches on Aerodrome, Uniswap, and BaseSwap came up empty at the time of writing. PancakeSwap offers EURC trading through its "import" feature. But it comes with a strong warning to users. Circle provided the official token address for EURC on Base mainnet: 0x60a3e35cc302bfa44cb288bc5a4f316fdb1adb42. This launch follows Bitstamp's recent delisting of Tether Euro (EURT). The exchange cited EURT's alleged non-compliance with MiCA regulations. EURC's expansion to Base could shake things up in the stablecoin market. It potentially offers users more options for euro-dollar trades on layer-2 networks. As the dust settles, it remains to be seen how quickly major exchanges will adopt EURC on Base. The move could pave the way for more efficient forex trading in the crypto space.

The TON Blockchain ecosystem is set to expand. A new layer-2 network is in the works. It's called the TON Applications Chain (TAC). TAC will use Polygon's technology. This includes Polygon's Chain Development Kit and AggLayer. The Open Platform, a TON-focused investor, backs the project. The announcement came on Tuesday. It was made at the Ethereum Community Conference in Brussels. The new network will be EVM-compatible. This is a big deal. EVM compatibility means easy porting. Ethereum developers can move their apps to TAC with little fuss. And that is very promising as it opens so many doors for the TON ecosystem. The press release outlines TAC's goals. It aims to bring EVM-based decentralized apps to TON. It also wants to attract Ethereum developers to build for Telegram users. TAC could boost TON's capabilities. DeFi apps, gaming, and decentralized identity solutions are on the cards. Polygon's tech is key to this expansion. Pavel Altukhov, TAC's founder, explained the choice. "We chose Polygon for its EVM compatibility," he said. He also cited liquidity availability and deployment support as factors. This move follows a trend. Major blockchain companies have been launching layer-2 networks. Most have focused on Ethereum. Coinbase kicked things off last August. They launched "Base" using Optimism's OP Stack. Others followed suit. Celo and Worldcoin announced similar plans. OKX joined the party in April. They launched "X Layer" using Polygon's CDK. The layer-2 race is heating up, and TON is jumping in with both feet.

Consensys has unveiled a new product. The MetaMask Delegation Toolkit aims to simplify decentralized app development. It also seeks to improve Web3 user engagement. The toolkit will be available on Ethereum Virtual Machine chains. These include Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, Linea, Optimism and Polygon. Dan Finlay, MetaMask co-founder, spoke about the toolkit's potential. "Parts of it can very easily be made chain agnostic," he told Cointelegraph. This suggests possible future expansion beyond Ethereum. A Consensys study highlighted the need for such tools. Only 8% of 15,000 respondents felt very familiar with Web3. Many find crypto overly complex. The toolkit aims to address this issue. It eliminates repetitive user actions. It also reduces direct interactions with Web3 infrastructure. Finlay explained the toolkit's flexibility. "You can invite a person to an experience and give them an allowance," he said. "The enforcement system is totally open-ended." The toolkit offers several key features. It enables instant user onboarding without extensions or downloads. It removes the need for seed phrase management. Gas fee management is also improved. The toolkit allows for gasless transactions. It can also postpone or reassign gas costs. Consensys recently acquired Wallet Guard. This security tool protects digital assets from fraud and theft. It will be integrated into MetaMask. Patrick Berarducci, Consensys' MetaMask lead, commented on the acquisition. He said it would protect users from "malicious DApps and scams."