Welcome to the weekly crypto tech development update. Solana has become the most popular blockchain among new developers, according to a recent report by Electric Capital, with 7,625 new developers joining the ecosystem in 2024. The Solana ecosystem has seen significant activity, with the Pudgy Penguins NFT project debuting its native token, PENGU, on the blockchain. Meanwhile, Kraken's layer-2 rollup network, Ink, has gone live, built on top of the Ethereum blockchain.
Avalanche has activated its highly anticipated Avalanche9000 upgrade, which aims to cut costs for sending transactions, operating validators, and building applications on the network. ENS Labs has chosen Linea's technology to build its upcoming layer-2 network, Namechain. A new automated-market maker for the Runes protocol has been launched on Stacks, aiming to make trading faster, cheaper, and safer. Patchwork, a startup founded by former Coinbase employees, has released a new version of its low-to-no-code tools for building decentralized applications.