Loopring Quarterly Update (Q1/2023)

Byron @ Loopring
Loopring Protocol
Published in
15 min readApr 11, 2023

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This is our first edition of four for our 2023 Loopring Quarterly Updates. You can catch up on the previous quarter here; you can also receive these updates in your inbox every quarter by subscribing here.

The end of Q1 saw an exciting close to a period of heavy product development at Loopring with the launch of some long-awaited feature roll outs.

These rollouts were highlighted by significant improvements to the Loopring Smart Wallet as well as the much-anticipated release of LRC Staking on Layer 2 as a standout feature. We also introduced Multi-wallet + Multi-network support to the wallet, which means that users can now enjoy a broader range of features on one device, bringing us closer to our goal of making Loopring the ultimate super app for all things crypto.

It didn’t stop there though — read on for many more highlights as well as a look into the upcoming roadmap for the Loopring ecosystem.

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Milestones in Q1/2023 🔥

  • Over $5.8billion in total trading volume has been achieved
  • Almost 200K total L2 accounts now created
  • Averaging over $1M a day in volume on our new Dual Investment
Total Loopring L2 accounts activated to-date

Summary of Q1

1. LRC Staking is now LIVE

The moment everyone has been waiting for is here — LRC staking directly on L2!

With LRC staking, Loopring offers users an innovative way to engage with and profit from the growth of the ecosystem. Incentives are aligned as users who use and help generate greater usage of Loopring can now also benefit from its growth.

Stake your LRC → Earn protocol fees generated by Loopring L2 usage

LRC staking offers a unique, non-dilutive type of staking, where no new coins are created to pay out to stakers — like in many other staking models. All of the LRC paid out comes from actual fees paid on Loopring L2!

Stake your LRC today in your Loopring Smart Wallet app or on our web app (loopring.io). Read the full blog here for more details.

Happy Staking!

2. Loopring x Taiko

Our collaboration with Taiko zkEVM took its first steps this quarter!

We are very excited to be rolling out Multi-network support within Loopring Smart Wallet this past quarter — starting with Taiko’s brand new alpha 2 testnet!

Following the recent announcement from Taiko about their new testnet, Askja, we wanted to make it as simple as possible for any user around the world to interact with this testnet, complete tasks, and earn NFT rewards.

Want to start using the Taiko testnet today? — All you have to do is:

  • download the Loopring Smart Wallet from your mobile App Store
  • create a Taiko testnet wallet
  • complete the tasks in the checklist
  • earn a participation NFT!

Want to learn more about this collaboration or what tasks there are to complete? Read the full blog here.

3. Protocol: Gemini is building the future of Gaming on Loopring

This quarter we kicked things off with the announcement of our official partnership with Protocol: Gemini — a cutting-edge development studio that blends blockchain, augmented reality, and metaverses to create engaging experiences.

Protocol: Gemini is creating a collection of in-house developed games, some of which utilize their Metagate technology. Threaded into the fabric of each game is the desire to create experiences that promote critical thinking and elicit wonder. All of these upcoming projects will be built on Loopring, and we can’t wait to show you more when the time comes!

In the meantime, we’ve started releasing some peaks into the future of this collaboration, with the launch of our new L2 wearables👇

Launching Loopring Wearables

Layer 2 NFT Wearables have arrived!

In Q1 we were finally able to bring our long awaited Loopring Wearables to life!

You can read the full blog here to find out if you qualify for an existing airdrop or want to learn how to get your hands on one in the future.

Thanks to our partnership with Protocol:Gemini, all wearable and hoverboard recipients will be able to go to the CYBER CREW NFT website to download the items’ files.

These files will allow for easy import into Unreal Engine + Metaverses, so stay tuned for more announcements on this in the coming months.

4. Multi-wallet support now available

The days of restricting yourself to a single (smart contract) wallet within your Loopring app are over. Thanks to the new multi-wallet support, you can now create and manage multiple wallet addresses right from within our mobile smart wallet app!

One of the key advantages of having multi-wallet support is the ability to separate account activities. With this feature, users can keep their gaming, DeFi, and business activities completely separate, making it easier to track transactions and manage finances.

Follow this guide for a tutorial on multi-wallet creation — or read the full blog here.

5. Loopring’s first Off-ramp — Direct from L2

Now in beta on loopring.io!

One of our most requested features on Loopring L2 has been a direct fiat off-ramp that allows you to sell your crypto to fiat right to your bank account — we have now rolled this out on our Loopring web app!

Don’t worry if you don’t see your region or fiat currency supported just yet. As this moves through beta, Banxa will be rolling out more regions and currencies, so keep an eye on Loopring.io or our socials for more news.

6. Loopring L2 + Wallet Upgrades

We added a number of new upgrades + features throughout the Loopring L2 ecosystem this quarter. Check out some of the main highlights below👇

NFT Upgrades:

  • New format support — allowing users to mint and display more multimedia formats (3D, video, glb) content on Loopring L2. Currently only available on our web app (loopring.io)
  • Apple Pay integration — allowing users to use Apple Pay to send NFTs even if there are no tokens in their L2 account

Earn upgrades:

  • LRC staking added to Loopring Earn

Other improvements:

  • Multi-wallet support added — ability to add multiple smart contract addresses within the mobile app
  • Multi-network support added — ability to add addresses for different networks, starting with Taiko A2 testnet
  • BANXA Layer-2 offramp added currently in beta on web app
  • RAMP Layer-1 offramp added — currently only on Android
  • NFT/token auto activation — allowing users to activate a recipient’s L2 account on their behalf by transferring NFTs or tokens to their address
  • Contact/Address Type cloud syncing support — allowing users to auto backup the recipient’s address type to the cloud for easy usage in the future. Currently only available on Android
  • Web app performance optimizations — optimized by caching content in session storage and only fetching real-time data when it’s necessary to boost the performance
  • Explorer upgrades — added Loopring API access method support, allowing users to switch between subgraph and Loopring API to boost the access speed

As always, we will continue to gather feedback from the community as well as work with our partners to add new features, tools, and improve the usability of Loopring L2 so that users can truly move closer to becoming their own bank.

7. Community Ambassador + Builder Initiative

In December 2022 we announced this new initiative, with the intention of recognizing and rewarding those who contribute to the growth of the Loopring L2 ecosystem!

In Q1/2023 we decided to expand upon this by making this new initiative an entry point and path to potentially earning a part time or full time role on the Loopring team or within the broader Loopring ecosystem!

Here’s the path:

Check out the full blog here to learn all the details + read on to see the rollout of this initiative in the ⭐️Community section below👇

We’ve already started rewarding many standouts in the community with these roles and have seen some impressive growth in the overall ecosystem!

8. Bringing NFTs to life with Physical Utility

Exciting news for NFT collectors! In Q1 we announced our partnership with Physical Utility — breathing life into the physical realm, through L2 NFTs.

You can now grab a physical Loophead metal poster to match your digital NFT and take your walls to the next level!

Check out more details on the partnership or how to get a poster of your own here.

9. Another successful Loophead contest

This past quarter we launched our new Earn + Win Loophead contest, promoting our new Dual Investment feature on L2 — and it was a big success!

Daily volumes for Dual Investment rocketed up around 4X during this competition and have stayed higher ever since. This shows the power of introducing some of the new features available on Loopring through these incentivized mechanisms — expect more competitions like this throughout the year in 2023!

You can read more about the contest in our blog here. Stay tuned to our socials for the announcements of upcoming contests.

10. Protocol Fees for Q1

Protocol fee rewards are an essential component of the Loopring ecosystem. These fees represent a percentage of the trading volume flowing through the Loopring protocol and are applied proportionally to any token in a trade, swap, or transfer. Loopring distributed 126,144.44 LRC in protocol fees this quarter.

Here are the AMM pools voted by the community that will be rewarded for Q2 2023:

⭐️LRC/ETH
⭐️ LRC/USDC
⭐️ LRC/USDT
⭐️ LQTY/ETH
⭐️ ETH/USDC
⭐️ RETH/ETH
⭐️ LRC/WBTC

There have been significant changes to the distribution of protocol fees moving forward, following the approval of the DAO staking proposal.

Before

  • 80% to liquidity providers (LPs), with 64% going to AMM LPs and 16% being reserved for order book liquidity mining campaigns.
  • 10% to the Loopring insurance fund
  • 10% to the Loopring DAO.

After

  • 45% to LPs in qualifying AMM pools
  • 45% to LRC stakers.
  • 10% to the Loopring DAO.

These changes represent a significant shift in the allocation of fees, and their impact on the Loopring ecosystem will continue to be voted on by the DAO going forward. Read here to learn more.

Loopring in the Media ☆

Catch some of Loopring’s media and blog coverage highlighting Ethereum Layer 2’s growing significance.

Bankless coverage of Loopring:

“Whats new with ZKs”

https://www.bankless.com/whats-new-with-zks

Blog coverage of Loopring:

“Say Goodbye To Centralized Finance And Become Your Own Bank With Loopring Earn”

https://www.publish0x.com/cryptonators-decentralization/say-goodbye-to-centralized-finance-and-become-your-own-bank-xgjoxxv

Blog coverage of Loopring:

“Why The New Ethereum Account Abstraction ERC 4337 Is An Old Hat For Loopring Users”

https://www.publish0x.com/cryptonators-decentralization/why-the-new-ethereum-account-abstraction-erc-4337-is-an-old-xzgjxzw

Path Forward 💙

1. NFT Red Packets

NFT Red Packets are coming and will truly bring NFTs to life on L2!

Our popular Red Packets that have already been the framework for many popular scavenger hunts and games on Loopring, will now be expanding to NFTs. Users will be able to fill special packets with NFTs and send them out randomly to other L2 users using special parameters set by the sender.

This feature will also be rolling out to Loopring.io users, so that all L2 users (not just smart wallet users) will be able to experience the fun of Red Packets.

This functionality opens the door to all sorts of new experimentation and games on Loopring L2, making Pokemon-Go-like games possible using the power of fast and cheap NFTs on Ethereum’s second layer.

2. CEX liquidity Direct on L2

Have you ever wished you could get Binance-level liquidity and low slippage on a variety of trading pairs, including non-Ethereum based tokens, without having to entrust your funds to a third-party custodian? Loopring L2 has got you covered with this coming new feature.

With CEX liquidity directly on Loopring L2, users will be able to access centralized exchange liquidity directly from a self-custodial wallet, meaning you won’t have to sacrifice custody of your assets. This feature offers numerous benefits, including faster trading, better fills, and greater liquidity on a wider range of assets than currently offered on Loopring DEX.

This means that you can take advantage of CEX-level liquidity and more token selection without risking the possibility of exchange hacks or insolvencies. Put another way, you can enjoy the convenience of a CEX, without having to trust a centralized entity with your funds. A new era of self custody is here!

Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting development.

3. Loopring Gaming

Loopring offers a range of benefits that make it an ideal choice for gaming. Notably, our counterfactual NFTs enable gas-free NFT minting and trading, while our app-specific scaling machine ensures the cheapest transfers of any rollup, 54 times cheaper than mainnet. This allows game developers to build more cost-effective and scalable gaming experiences while still preserving Ethereum-level security.

With a solid foundation already in place, developers can easily access our user-friendly APIs, marking a significant and exciting new chapter for Loopring as we continue to advance in this space.

4. Multi-network Loopring Smart Wallet

In Q1/2023, we announced the addition of Taiko testnet support directly in Loopring Smart Wallet. This kicked off the first of potentially many new multi-network integrations for our smart wallet users!

We believe Loopring Smart Wallet, with its many account abstraction advantages and numerous top-notch security features (like social recovery, 2FA, etc.) has the potential to be the wallet of choice for all crypto users of the future.

In order to showcase our advantages to other users, we need to be where these users are, so we will be deploying the Loopring Smart Wallet across multiple networks and chains to attract a wider base of users to the ecosystem.

We will announce more updates on this as progress is made!

5. DEX trading upgrades + Trading Bots

It’s time to up our DEX trading experience for users!

Stop-loss orders are coming to Loopring DEX. Many traders have been asking for more CEX-like functionality so that they can trade like they do on a CEX, without having to risk their funds to a third party.

These stop loss orders will be incorporated into our first trading bot functionality as well, allowing users to set and forget and begin automatically trading on Loopring DEX.

We want to give all types of users every option available so that we can truly be a one-stop-shop for all your crypto needs. Whether you want to dollar cost average, stake + chill, diversify and earn with all the latest earning options, or you want to throw your hat into the ring and trade to try to get an edge.

We are also working on introducing more automatic trading bot functionality into the Loopring L2 experience. These auto trading bots will give users who want to trade, but may not have coding or trading experience, a chance to passively put their assets to work with different automated trading strategies.

On top of this, we’ll also introduce more order types, including potentially OCO (one cancels the other) orders, helping to take our DEX experience to another level and giving users a true Centralized Exchange experience on Ethereum’s second layer.

If you have more feedback on how we can improve your trading experience, please send us your feedback in our Discord!

6. Upcoming Loopheads Challenges

Our last “Earn+Win” Dual Investment Challenge was a big success, and we want to keep that momentum going on Loopring L2!

We will continue to promote new features, using this incentivized approach, to help introduce Loopring L2 users to key features and products that help expand the ecosystem and also bring on new users.

Keep an eye on Twitter, Discord, Reddit, Instagram for more news on upcoming challenges to get your hands (and wallets) on a brand new Loophead NFT💫

⭐️ Community Section ⭐️

Loopring Legends + L2 Loopers

We have recently announced a new initiative to nominate and appoint stand out community members who are going above and beyond to help grow the adoption of Loopring L2.

Loopring Legends — are talented builders in the community who are developing games, features, or tools directly on Loopring L2.

L2 Loopers — are stand-out community members who are helping encourage L2 adoption by regularly promoting Loopring amongst various social networks with high quality blogs, articles, threads or other educational content.

Q1/ Loopring Legends🧡:

  • Cobmin
  • Geel.eth
  • Loopmon

Q1/ L2 Loopers💙:

  • Alex_ADEdge
  • Cryptonator
  • Lukas Hahn
  • NielsPTTA
  • Olistic42
  • ShiddyZoo
  • T A N A S H I
  • thedholes
  • TyronΞ

️⭐ ️Other Community News 👇

We have such an amazing and rapidly growing community with so much happening that we want to dedicate a section of our updates to sharing some more of the cool things going on in the community!

Note: Loopring does not directly endorse the use of any third-party applications that we have not been able to independently verify the code, so please exercise caution and use at your own risk.

LoopExchange x LExplorer

The longest running NFT Marketplace built on Loopring L2 is expanding!

With LoopExchange, you can buy, sell and collect NFTs directly on Loopring L2 — meaning up to 100x faster and cheaper than on similar marketplaces on Ethereum L1 — but without having to compromise on security with Ethereum’s second layer.

This quarter, LoopExchange announced the acquisition of LExplorer, another big community favourite tool. We’re extremely grateful for our community picking up such an asset and continuing to help scale this ecosystem!

Check out the marketplace for yourself here, or LExplorer here, or follow along on their twitter for constant updates — big shout-out to the creator of LoopExchange, leppaludi.eth, who has been a long-time supporter and builder on Loopring L2. You can also follow him on his twitter here.

#PowerToTheCommunity💙

LoopGate

Thanks to this innovative new community tool, now anyone can Token-gate content directly on Loopring L2!

Token-gating is a cool new way to use NFTs to hide certain content, features, prizes, or more behind a virtual “gate” — requiring users to collect a certain NFT before passing the gate. The use cases for this technology are endless and we’re excited for tools like this that help anyone in the community take advantage of this technology directly on Loopring L2.

Check out the new community built tool for yourself here, or follow the creator of Loopgate, geel.eth, on his twitter for ongoing updates.

Want to get into the next Community section?

Check out our new community initiative blog + get involved.

— or —

Get into our Discord server and post your community events into the #community-initiatives channel or make some noise on Twitter and we will follow along and pick out some of the coolest things happening on Loopring L2 and post them in each new addition of our quarterly reports.

Questions & Feedback

If you’d like to talk to us about any partnerships, have questions, and/or feedback, please join our Discord, or drop us a line at: foundation@loopring.org. We also have an active Reddit community for anyone to join.

About Loopring

Loopring is an Ethereum Layer 2 zkRollup protocol for scalable, secure DeFi and NFT applications. Loopring builds non-custodial, high-performance products atop our L2, including the Loopring Wallet — a mobile Ethereum smart wallet, and the Loopring L2 web app — an L2 orderbook and AMM DEX. To learn more, follow us on Medium or see Loopring.org.

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