June: The Best Month for Crypto as Summer Brings a Brighter Climate

We had many good news in June, starting with the US debt ceiling deal. The debt ceiling issue was a concerning threat for the markets, but now that we've passed it, the markets are overall eager to make upward moves. However, the side effects are not gone. For example, the USDC Circle Reserve Fund held more than $30B in T-bills at the end of April, but it held zero at the end of May.

Some other good news came from China and Hong Kong. New exchange regulations went into effect in Hong Kong, and the Beijing Government published their Web3 whitepaper. Now, crypto exchanges operating in China and Hong Kong are required to be licensed, but there hasn't been any exchange officially licensed yet.

Another piece of good news regarding Bitcoin comes from Brazil. President Lula da Silva signed crypto legislation that clearly defines the Brazilian Central Bank as the authority on digital asset regulations. This move is seen as a catalyst to accelerate Bitcoin adoption in Latin America, where countries are known for their favorable positions in crypto adoption.

There are also developments in other countries, and the UK is one of them. The UK Law Commission published the final crypto report on the status of digital assets, which includes law reform recommendations to the government. The proposed report aims to provide protection for crypto asset holders and clarity on the legal status of digital assets.

Is ZK Season around the corner?

The zero-knowledge method has long been discussed for its potential application on blockchain to develop better Layer1 and Layer2 networks. Now, the time to see the results is not far off. Builders are focused on zk-based chains, and there is enormous activity with zk-backed chains. Linea Chain is one of them and has raised $725 million for their zkEVM Layer2 network. Linea is backed by the Consensys Group, which is also behind the popular web-wallet Metamask. Linea Network is currently in the testnet phase, and the activity on the testnet is promising. zkEVM is an Ethereum virtual machine that executes smart contracts compatible with the zero-knowledge-proof method.

Another zkEVM network is being built by Polygon, which already has a secure position in the industry. Polygon is building a new Layer2 network called Polygon zkEVM, which utilizes zkEVM for faster and more secure transactions. zkSync Era, a ZK-rollup Layer2 network backed by Matter Labs, is already live and running, and developers are actively building on it.

When Arbitrum went live and gave away generous airdrops, the crypto Twitter community closely followed the testnet and airdrop events. These new networks don't have their tokens yet, but when they issue their own tokens, there will be an airdrop event. Projects tend to reward early adopters and testnet users because they are an essential part of the network's growth.

Joining testnet and airdrop campaigns is completely free. Users can add the testnet network to their Metamask by visiting the chainlist.com website. Users can also receive testnet Ethereum for free from the faucets. Help new projects test themselves and earn rewards!