Weekly Hot Project Updates: Base introduces ZK technology to replace the challenge period, Polygon launches privacy transfers for stablecoins, Kalshi raises $1 billion in funding, etc. (0503–0509)

1. Solana Foundation partners with Google Cloud to launch AI Agent payment gateway, enabling pay-per-call API access link

Solana Foundation disclosed that it has partnered with Google Cloud to launch a payment gateway for AI agents, allowing direct access and payment for APIs via Solana wallets using stablecoins based on usage, without accounts or subscriptions; the system supports integration with Google Cloud services such as Gemini, BigQuery, Vertex AI, Cloud Run, and over 50 third-party APIs, all through a unified API marketplace for pay-per-use and multi-service selection.

Additionally, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko stated that the Alpenglow upgrade planned for Solana is expected to go live as early as next quarter, aiming to improve transaction confirmation speed and certainty, reduce latency and unpredictability, and optimize timing accuracy on top of existing high throughput to support applications with high time sensitivity.

2. Base introduces Succinct ZK technology to replace challenge period, aiming for approximately 1-day finality link

Ethereum layer 2 network Base, incubated by Coinbase, announced the integration of zero-knowledge technology provider Succinct’s SP1 zkVM and TEE solutions to enhance network cryptographic security, but it is not shifting to a full ZK Rollup architecture. Previously, Base operated on an Optimistic Rollup, allowing users to dispute invalid transactions during the challenge period, with transactions defaulting to valid; after introducing ZK proofs, cryptographic finality will replace the multi-day challenge period, shortening finality to about 1 day, and supporting fund rollbacks from layer 2 to Ethereum mainnet with lower trust assumptions.

3. World Liberty Financial unlock proposal, team tokens can be released over a maximum of 5 years and optionally burn 10% link

World Liberty Financial’s “Early Supporters and Founding Team Token Unlock Proposal” has been approved with approximately 99.9% support. Under the plan, about 17.04 billion early supporter WLFI tokens will follow a “2-year cliff + 2-year linear unlock” schedule; approximately 45.24 billion tokens for founders, team, advisors, and partners can choose a “10% burn + 2-year cliff + 3-year linear unlock” plan, with a maximum 5-year release. If the new plan is not accepted, tokens will remain locked indefinitely with governance voting rights preserved.

4. Polygon wallet launches stablecoin privacy transfer feature, hiding sender, receiver, and amount link

Polygon Labs introduced a privacy stablecoin payment feature in its wallet, supporting USDC and USDT. Users can route transfers through the “Privately Send” option to the Hinkal shielding pool, verified via zero-knowledge proofs, preventing on-chain observers from seeing sender, receiver, or amount. Polygon Labs states that each privacy transaction undergoes KYT screening before execution, and the protocol is non-custodial.

5. Aptos Foundation and Aptos Labs commit over $50 million to support ecosystem development link

Aptos Foundation and Aptos Labs announced an investment of over $50 million covering first-party products, research, protocol infrastructure, and strategic funds for trading and AI partners. Aptos reported that Decibel has launched on the Aptos mainnet, with total trading volume exceeding $1 billion. The Aptos network’s stablecoin market cap reached $1.93 billion, with RWA (Real-World Asset) scale at $1.2 billion, and assets from firms like BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Apollo Global are deployed on the network. Future plans include advancing crypto memory pools, FIX and CCXT integrations, multi-leader consensus, and confidential perpetual trading.

6. Zcash advances quantum-resistant roadmap, wallet recovery integration underway link

Delphi Digital published an in-depth report on Zcash (ZEC), stating that as Bitcoin is increasingly absorbed into traditional finance and lacks native privacy, Zcash is being repositioned as a complementary asset to Bitcoin in privacy and quantum resistance. The report notes that shielded pool funds account for about 11% of circulating supply early 2025, rising to approximately 30%, indicating growing privacy demand; Zcash is also progressing on its quantum-resistant roadmap, aiming to implement post-quantum privacy at the protocol level via Tachyon upgrade by late 2026, and to enable quantum-recoverable wallet integration in 2026, with long-term focus on enhancing post-quantum reliability.

7. Ondo Perps launches 24/7 US stock perpetual contracts with strict restrictions on US and sanctioned users link

Ondo Finance’s perpetual contracts platform Ondo Perps announced support for tokenized stocks as collateral for perpetual contracts, and officially launched 24/7 US stock perpetual trading. Early users can add leverage to go long or short during non-traditional trading hours such as before earnings reports. The official statement emphasizes that the platform is not registered with the US SEC or CFTC and strictly prohibits access by US residents and sanctioned regions.

8. Solv Protocol deprecates LayerZero cross-chain bridge, migrates to Chainlink CCIP link

Solv Protocol announced that after completing security audits, it has decided to deprecate the LayerZero cross-chain bridge used for SolvBTC and xSolvBTC, migrating instead to Chainlink CCIP as the official cross-chain infrastructure, involving over $700 million in tokenized BTC assets. Solv stated that recent industry events prompted a reassessment of existing cross-chain solutions, and CCIP offers higher security in default safety architecture, risk control, and monitoring mechanisms, thus being chosen for future cross-chain transfers.

9. Uniswap DAO votes to recover approximately $42 million worth of UNI governance tokens link

Uniswap DAO approved a proposal to recover 12.5 million UNI tokens, worth about $42 million, previously lent to the Uniswap Foundation and several key representatives. Uniswap is one of the largest decentralized exchanges, and the DAO had lent these governance tokens between 2022 and 2023 to boost governance participation. The influence of the Uniswap Foundation and major token holders in governance had previously raised concerns about decentralization. The vote ended on May 8 with about 60% in favor and 40% abstaining, with very low opposition.

10. Kalshi completes $1 billion new funding round, led by Coatue Management link

Prediction market platform Kalshi announced the completion of a $1 billion new funding round led by Coatue Management, with a post-money valuation of $22 billion. This marks the third funding round in seven months, with each round roughly doubling in valuation. Despite facing multiple lawsuits from state regulators over sports betting and insider trading concerns, Kalshi plans to further attract large financial institutions.