Looking at the ball of shit that Scroll gets for this decision, its still the obviously correct choice. A pre-PMF startup with few users doesn't need a stage 1/2 rollup. Complete overinvestment in security
Vitalik is right.
And honestly, we've been saying this internally for the past six months: chains, on their own, are dead.
5 years ago, we started Scroll when ZK proofs were still largely an academic curiosity, and Ethereum desperately needed more teams willing to build ZK-EVMs from scratch. We’ve put all of our efforts and resources to build the most robust ZK chain in the industry - and arguably, this is what we achieved. 3 major protocol upgrades last year brought our transaction costs to ~ $0.0008 on average, cheaper than most optimistic rollups.
But infrastructure was only ever a means to an end.
None of the stats truly matter if what we built doesn't reach people.
Scaling was never the end goal, but a prerequisite. The actual goal - the one that can only now come to fruition - is serving the 5 billion people globally who still don't have access to reliable financial infrastructure.
Which is why our focus has shifted.
Behind the scenes, we’ve been heads-down building products that own direct user relationships:
1) @ether_fi Cash which settles exclusively on Scroll - has been growing exponentially, making Scroll the top payments chain for the past 6 consecutive months.
2) We doubled down on founders who share the same vision as us. The whole of 2025 was aimed to support @_openeconomy and incubate new innovative products. One example of a highly aligned team with our vision is @chatterpay, who is onboarding people to crypto through WhatsApp, with a close focus on the LATAM and African communities.
3) We also launched Cloak - our privacy solution that aims to solve crypto’s arguably biggest UX problem - lack of usable privacy.
4) We have built @usxcapital - the first ever private stablecoin, with returns up to 15%. USX aims to be the savings alternative to web2 users by offering much higher yield than standard bank accounts.
5) We’re also building out a strong B2B arm that allows institutions to onboard their businesses to crypto in a private way (will be sharing more on this soon).
This year, we're also doing something every real business has to do: drive revenue. Not through token speculation or narrative cycles, but by providing actual value that people willingly come back to - that's the only way of building something that lasts.
Vitalik suggested that every L2 should now own a niche - “privacy, efficiency specialized around a particular application, social, identity, ultra-low-latency and other sequencing properties…” - and that’s a valid suggestion. But most of what's being built in crypto is still built for crypto. DeFi for DeFi users, infrastructure for infrastructure builders. It's all inside the same teacup.
The real game is outside.
5 billion people who don't have a bank account, or don't trust the one they have. To me, that's not a niche - but the entire point.
Everything the Scroll team is building right now is aimed at reaching them.
We're not here to win a category.
We're here for the long game.
First month ever where crypto cards had more than 100k users spending/topping up on them!
The top 3 chains for January were:
🥇@Arbitrum - 45,677
🥈@Scroll_ZKP - 21,898
🥉@Solana - 13,857
Current state of crypto:
Option A: privacy coin
no one knows your balance ✓
can't spend it anywhere ✗
merchants won't accept it ✗
Option B: normal stablecoin
(some) spendable ✓
entire wallet is public ✗
ppl can track your money ✗
Option C: USX
private tx (w/ Scroll Cloak) ✓
spendable IRL ✓
gasless ✓
earning 10-15% ✓
you shouldn't have to pick between privacy and actually using your money.
that's a fake choice.
pre-deposits are live, link in bio
integrations rolling out Q4/Q1
There are rare moments in history, where builders have the privilege of turning a niche hobby into something the whole world can use.
While crypto infrastructure has consistently improved, user experience has remained an afterthought.
Since fomo’s beta launch 6 months ago, our north star has been solving crypto's 100x UX problem, for both retail and crypto-native users. In that time, fomo has become the largest cross-chain trading application in crypto, powered by the industry's top traders.
During this beta period, fomo has processed nearly $700M in volume, onboarded 120K+ users and 35K+ traders, and facilitated $5M in onramp volume across nearly 15K net-new crypto users.
Today's version of fomo is just the beginning on our journey to become the social layer of all finance and the first accessible financial application built entirely on crypto rails.
We're thrilled to partner with Benchmark (@chetanp , @ericvishria , @peterfenton , and @EverettRandle ) as we build the world's largest financial network. Benchmark has a proven track record of backing bold, world-changing companies like eBay, Uber, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter. They're the best in the world at understanding network effects and scaling consumer brands. We're excited to have them as partners on this journey.
1/ Most on-chain privacy solutions today live on the edges — specialized networks, mixers, or ZK apps that sacrifice usability and composability.
But privacy shouldn’t be a niche feature. It should be a default property of the blockchain economy.
That’s why we built Cloak.
USX pre-deposits are live.
Private, spendable IRL, and gasless with ~10-15% return when you stake.
Designed to fix crypto's biggest pain points.
Here's exactly what that means:
$USDai trading at a ~5% premium to $USDT
And PTs are now live offering very attractive yields
I'll likely be realizing that 5% instant ROI and then looping the PTs on @GearboxProtocol
Very attractive ROIs there
Plasma, Pendle and Power of Leverage. @pendle_fi PTs are now live on Gearbox!
Borrow @USDT0_to and buy $10 worth of @maplefinance, @USDai_Official, and @ethena PTs with just $1.
Leveraged Pendle, powered by Gearbox Permissionless.
There is no perfect stablecoin.
But we think we’re the closest.
Introducing USX, the first neodollar by @Scroll_ZKP.
Spendable IRL, gasless, private, and earns est. 12% when you stake:
We have a secret to tell
but you'll have to find us IRL @kbwofficial
Some stuff that's already public tho:
> @_openeconomy for founders
> Cloak for auditable privacy on Scroll
> Native projects like @honeypop_app
Booth Location: B3F Arcade Booth Hall - Bithumb Zone
Booth Number: 80
just created this etherfi card dune dashboard.
you can see the top spenders, how much they spend each month.. and potentially find out who they are (this is left as an exercise to the reader)
https://t.co/wMSp3vgVaK
for years crypto vcs have been pushing for legal clarity on security status for tokens
now they are saying what they actually want: for tokens to be blanket-defined as not securities, even those with the structural properties of investment contracts but no legal binding
“Last mover advantage” is one of the most under appreciated concepts in business. There is enormous value in creating the final great development in an established and profitable market. Start with a very deep wedge in a product with high pmf, and then scale far and wide until you reach the end game. Too many examples to list but some very obvious ones.
BlackBerry -> Apple
Netscape -> Google
Taxis -> Uber
MySpace -> Facebook
IBM -> Microsoft
Blockbuster -> Netflix
Binance -> Hyperliquid
-Study Hyper fucking liquid