LayerZero Launches Goerli Testnet Bridge
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Quick Take
- LayerZero launches a bridge for Goerli ETH.
- Coinbase releases a testnet faucet.
- Arbitrum surpasses Ethereum in daily transactions for the first time.
- Developers plan for the Holešky testnet.
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LayerZero Launches Goerli Bridge
Cross-chain messaging protocol LayerZero Labs launched a bridge for swapping ether between Ethereum Mainnet and the Goerli Testnet. The testnet bridge introduces gETH and mETH tokens, which represent wrapped versions of Goerli ETH and Mainnet ETH. The bridge swaps, bridges, and unwraps the tokens in a single transaction.
LayerZero coins the bridge as a public good with the goal of making it easier for Ethereum developers to acquire testnet ether. The bridge creates a market for testnet ether and facilitates swaps between Goerli and Mainnet. Anyone can provide liquidity to the ETH/gETH Mainnet pool or the ETH/mETH Goerli pool on Uniswap. LayerZero seeded the pool with an initial 12,500 Goerli ETH.
Goerli To Sunset As Holešky Deploys
Some Ethereum community members are opposed to LayerZero’s testnet bridge as it could cause more hoarding and further spamming of vulnerable testnet faucets. Goerli ETH is already in short supply for Ethereum developers. Core developer Tim Bieko notes that the Goerli testnet will eventually be shut down.
The Ethereum Foundation regularly deprecates testnets as new ones are created as part of its predictable testnet lifecycle. A new testnet is deployed every two years and has a maximum lifetime of five years. Goerli is in its final year of life. Beiko hopes the testnet supply issue could be fixed in Holešky, the newest testnet to be launched in Q4 2023.
Coinbase Launches Testnet Faucet
Coinbase released a testnet faucet for Coinbase Wallet users. The faucet drips test tokens for Ethereum Goerli, Ethereum Sepolia, Polygon Mumbai, Optimism Goerli, Avalanche Fuji, Fantom, and Binance testnets. A faucet request has to be made for each network individually and can only be requested every 24 hours.
The faucet requires users to connect or install the Coinbase Wallet browser extension. Users can also request drips directly within the browser extension under developer settings. The faucet authenticates requests inside the extension, removing the need for signatures. The Goerli faucet on Coinbase is temporarily unavailable.
Arbitrum Surpasses Ethereum In Daily Txs
Arbitrum One, an optimistic rollup by Offchain Labs, surpassed Ethereum Mainnet in daily transaction volume for the first time. According to data from a Dune dashboard, the L2 network processed 1.1 million transactions on February 21st while Ethereum processed 1.08 million transactions during the same period.
It marks the first rollup to surpass Ethereum in daily transactions. The ATH in daily volume coincides with a daily increase of roughly 10,000 new wallets transacting on Arbitrum over the past month. The increase could be led by speculation of an airdrop Arbitrum remains the largest L2 network with over $1.9 billion TVL.
ConsenSys Acquires HAL
ConsenSys acquired DeFi notification dapp HAL for an undisclosed amount. HAL allows dapps to automate user notifications from on-chain triggers. The acquisition includes over 40 APIs used for turning blockchain data into filtered events. ConsenSys plans to integrate HAL into its Infura products.