Cryptocurrency
Security Matters: How’s Zircuit Planning to Mitigate Hacks in Web3 (Interview)
In the rapidly evolving landscape of Layer 2 networks, Zircuit aims to create a new approach to security and scalability. Co-founded by Martin Derka, a seasoned professional with a PhD in algorithms and complexity, sat with us for an interview during EthCC. Derka shared insights into his journey, the founding of Zircuit including the meaning of the whooping $3 billion staked ETH to the project, and above all – the expected launch date for Zircuit’s mainnet.
Multiple well-known investors have taken part in the protocol’s mainnet funding round, including Binance Labs, Nomad Capital, AMBER, and much more.
From Soccer to Crypto
Martin Derka’s journey into the world of crypto began after an unexpected turn in his career. “I have a PhD in algorithms and complexity,” Derka explained, detailing his academic background. “For many years, I was developing software for various companies while still a student.” His transition from academia to entrepreneurship was marked by a stint as CTO of a startup focused on car advertisement photography, which he co-founded in 2013. However, after internal disputes led to his departure in 2017, Derka sought new opportunities, eventually finding his way to the crypto sphere.
“After leaving the startup, I went to clear my head in Argentina and Chile,” Derka recounted. “Upon returning to Canada, I connected with Leo (Leonardo Passos, Ph.D), a former soccer buddy and one of the veteran employees of the crypto auditing giant Quantstamp.” This serendipitous meeting led to Derka joining Quantstamp as one of its earliest hires in 2018, where he delved deep into crypto security.
The Birth of Zircuit
Derka’s tenure at Quantstamp laid the groundwork for Zircuit. “At Quantstamp, we knew rollups would be key to scaling Ethereum,” Derka noted. This realization sparked intensive research into rollups, eventually leading to the inception of Zircuit. “We saw an amazing opportunity to enhance blockchain security proactively,” Derka said. “This is how the feature that now distinguishes Zircuit—sequencer level security—began.”
‘Many Uses of AI Seem Fabricated’
Zircuit’s most striking feature is its AI-driven security mechanism, sequencer-level security, a concept Derka elaborated on extensively.
“Our sequencer evaluates each transaction for malicious intent before inclusion in the block,” Derka explained. “We use AI to simulate transactions and assess their impact, determining if they’re hacks.” This proactive approach allows Zircuit to quarantine potentially harmful transactions, enhancing the overall security of the blockchain.
The sequencer is a privileged node designed to collect user transactions and order them based on predefined rules. In essence, once the transaction arrives at the sequencer, it is then routed to the “Malice Detection” module – something that the team refers to as the “oracle.” It’s designed to determine whether a transaction is benign or it can potentially be malicious. Those that are benign are queued for block inclusion, while those that are flagged are diverted to another module called “Quarantine-Release Criterion” module. It acts as a holding area for the time during which these transactions undergo a rigorous verification process.
The following can be seen in the overview presented by Zircuit:
When asked about the prevalent AI hype, Derka acknowledged the phenomenon but remained pragmatic. “There is a huge level of hype,” he admitted. “Many uses of AI seem fabricated, and AI can be highly inaccurate. But failure is part of innovation. If we don’t try applying AI in all possible areas, we might miss its true potential.”
L2’s: Do We Really Need That Many
Zircuit positions itself as a Layer 2 (L2) solution with a strong emphasis on security, amidst a crowded field of competitors. Derka was clear about the inevitability of multiple L2 solutions. “If we didn’t build another L2, someone else would,” he said. “The better question is why users should choose Zircuit over others, and that comes down to our unique security proposition.”
Despite the competitive market, Derka does not foresee a winner-takes-all scenario.
“Technologists love to build and compete,” he asserted. “There will always be new players challenging the status quo.”
Zircuit: When Mainnet Launch
Zircuit’s immediate focus is on launching its Mainnet, with significant milestones already achieved. “We launched our Testnet last year, which has been very stable,” Derka shared. “We are now in the process of deploying Mainnet, integrating partners, and ensuring security measures are in place.”
The Mainnet Phase 1 launch is scheduled for Augustmid-July in a gated mode, with a broader public launch expected soon afterin mid-August. “We are also working on optimizing zero-knowledge proof generation to reduce operating costs and improve efficiency,” Derka added. This technical enhancement is crucial for the blockchain’s functionality and user experience.
Over $3 Billion in Staked ETH
Derka is mindful of the challenges in sustaining Zircuit’s initial success: With over $3 billion in restaked Ether (at its peak) signaling strong interest, the true test will be retaining these funds post-launch. “It’s the best signal we currently have, but it’s not a guarantee of success,” Derka cautioned. “Our task is to support projects deploying on Zircuit, ensuring they attract and retain capital.”
Zircuit aims to create a robust ecosystem encompassing all essential blockchain functions. “We want a fully functional ecosystem comparable to other chains, with lending protocols, oracles, DEXs, and stablecoins,” Derka explained. The security aspect remains a key differentiator, offering users and developers a more secure environment for their projects.
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Bitcoin’s price took another turn for the worse in the past 24 hours after the US attacked multiple Iranian nuclear sites, and the asset plunged to a multi-week low.
The altcoins have posted even more notable price declines, which is evident from the growing BTC dominance.
Bitcoin Tries to Recover
The business week began on a different note as the primary cryptocurrency shot from under $105,000 to $109,000 by Tuesday. However, it faced an immediate and violent rejection that pushed it south hard as the tension in the Middle East continued to rage on.
In a matter of hours, BTC dumped to $103,500 before the bulls initiated an impressive leg up that drove the asset higher by around $3,000. Nevertheless, the overall negative market sentiment continued, and bitcoin started to lose value once again in the following days.
The culmination came earlier today as the US launched “successful” attacks against multiple nuclear sites in Iran, as described by the POTUS. Moreover, Trump warned that there will be more violent strikes if Iran decides to retaliate in any form.
Bitcoin’s price tumbled below $101,000 for the first time in almost three weeks. However, it remained within a six-digit price territory and has recovered to $102,500 as of now.
Its market cap is down to $2.040 trillion on CG, but its dominance over the alts has skyrocketed to almost 63% as most bleed out.
Alts Deep in Red
The rising BTC dominance in times when the cryptocurrency’s price is dropping means only one thing – the alts have it even worse. Interestingly, it’s not just the lower caps that are suffering badly. Ethereum, the largest of the bunch, has dumped by over 7% in the past 24 hours and is close to breaking below $2,200. Recall that ETH stood tall close to $2,800 just until a week ago.
Solana, Dogecoin, Cardano, SUI, LINK, HBAR, and LINK are also deep in the red from the bigger alts. Even more painful declines come from VIRTUAL, APT, INJ, TIA, TAO, SEI, JUP, FET, and PEPE, as all of them are down by double-digits on a daily scale.
These developments are only supporting a recent report, which claimed that those hoping for an altseason are relying mostly on “wishful thinking” rather than any hard data.
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Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin Volatility Liquidates $700M, the US Strikes Iran as Conflict Escalates (Weekend Watch)
Crypto markets are going through considerable volatility throughout the past 24 hours as international events are certainly playing their part.
Bitcoin dropped to an intraday low of around $101,000, causing a considerable uptick in liquidated positions.
Bitcoin Price Dips to $101,000
As CryptoPotato reported earlier today, Bitcoin’s price dipped to an intraday low of $101,000. It has since recovered a little bit and trades at $102,500 at the time of this writing.
That said, the volatiltity remains enhanced, which has resulted in a whopping $700 million worth of liquidated positions across derivatives markets.
Data from CoinGlass shows that this represents an increase of more than 55% compared to yesterday’s levels, attesting to the uncertainty of the ongoing situation.
The turmoil is largely caused by the US decision to strike Iran earlier today, despite Donald Trump saying that he will take two weeks to decide on future moves, just a few days ago.
Bahrain and Kuwait, home to US bases, also started making preparations for the possibility the conflict might spread to their territory in a clear sign of escalation. The same is true for Saudi Arabia.
Altcoins Deep in the Red
The declines spread across altcoin markets as well, which took even bigger of a beating. ETH plunged by more than 7%, SOL is down by over 6%, DOGE, ADA, LINK, SUI, and many more chart similar drops as traders derisk.
The obvious exception is LEO, which remains more or less break even on the day, at least from the top 50 cryptocurrencies by means of total market capitalization.
Today’s worst performer is Aptos (APT), followed by Virtuals Protocol, and Injective (INJ), all of which are down in the range between 10% and 13%.
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Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.
[PRESS RELEASE – Dubai, UAE, June 20th, 2025]
The DeXRP team has introduced a decentralized exchange (DEX) on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), aiming to establish a transparent trading environment for XRP holders and enthusiasts.
This development coincides with notable growth in the XRPL ecosystem, as Total Value Locked (TVL) has increased from $16 million to $80.63 million in recent months.
Like Jupiter or 1Inch, DeXRP combines a dual trading model with AMM and full Order Book to support both individual users and institutional participants.
DeXRP IDO Details
DeXRP Initial DEX Offering (IDO) is currently live. For the Presale is allocated 25% of the total supply – 500,000,000 DXP.
The DeXRP team has already announced the listing price at $0.35, while the current presale round price is $0.00525.
To join the DeXRP IDO, an investor should connect their wallet on the DeXRP Presale page and choose the suitable currency for purchasing.
Early participants can buy DeXRP tokens (DXP) with ETH, BNB, SOL, XRP, BTC, and USDT, as well as bank card transactions.
To learn more about the IDO of DeXRP: https://dexrp.org/uEBXmVh0JwW
DeXRP Protocol
For institutional investors and traders, DeXRP combines both an integrated AMM system and a full Order Book with a Hybrid Trading Model.
The backbone for every DEX is the liquidity providers, and DeXRP is designed to fairly reward all LPs participants;
- Optimised Liquidity Aggregation
With LP tokens, holders will participate in a fee auction for discounted trading slots, premium features, DEX voting mechanism and access to new trading pairs and pools.
- Yield Multipliers and Advanced Trading Features
DeXRP introduces customizable yield multipliers to grant liquidity providers enhanced LP rewards with individual adjustment instruments. With full commitment control, users can maximise their earnings.
Tokenomics
$DXP is the utility token for DeXRP, and it grants holders: trading fee discounts, access to premium tools, participation in fee auctions, and much more.
Liquidity providers are eligible for LP token-based rewards and may participate in DeXRP’s upcoming fee auction model to access discounted trading slots and exclusive features.
The DeXRP team also plans to introduce airdrop and bounty initiatives to increase community engagement and platform awareness.
For additional updates and participation details, users may refer to DeXRP’s official channels:
About
DeXRP is a next-generation Decentralised Exchange powered by XRPL that combines deep liquidity, ultra-low fees, and a dual-trading model to deliver an institutional-grade trading experience for everyone, from crypto newcomers to pro traders.
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