Weekly Hot Project Updates: Polygon lays off nearly 30%, Kaito launches creator collaboration model, Berachain's lead developer to depart, etc. (0111–0117)

1. Polygon layoffs nearly 30%, advancing business transformation centered on stablecoin payments link

Polygon recently conducted an internal layoff, reducing staff by approximately 30%, though the company has not officially confirmed this publicly. Reports indicate that the layoffs occurred amid Polygon’s ongoing business restructuring, as the company has recently shifted its focus to a development direction centered on stablecoin payments and completed acquisitions of Coinme and Sequence. Meanwhile, some Polygon-related employees and ecosystem members have disclosed resignations and team changes on social platforms. Polygon Labs has not yet responded to requests for comment.

2. Base co-founder Jesse Pollak: Base app will shift to “transaction-first” focus link

Co-founder Jesse Pollak stated that the Base app will reposition itself as “transaction-first,” prioritizing the development of transaction features, onboarding more high-quality assets onto the chain, and adopting a “financial-first” interaction model. He noted that user feedback mainly centers on: overemphasis on social features, lack of tradable high-quality assets, information streams needing coverage of applications, stocks, prediction markets, social tokens, and more content.

3. ZKsync releases 2026 roadmap: Prividium, ZK Stack, and Airbender link

ZKsync has released its 2026 roadmap, which includes three core areas: Prividium, ZK Stack, and Airbender. Prividium aims to evolve from a privacy engine into a “Bank Stack,” providing default privacy protection for enterprise-grade crypto applications and directly integrating into enterprise workflows; ZK Stack will shift from a single chain to an orchestration system, enabling cross-public and private ZK chains to operate and share liquidity; Airbender is committed to transforming from zkVM into a universal standard, prioritizing security and developer experience, with use cases spanning ZKsync, Ethereum, and beyond.

4. Only 3 Ethereum L2 chains had daily fee income over $5,000 on January 14 link

CryptoRank data shows that on January 14, only three Ethereum L2 chains had daily fee income exceeding $5,000, namely Base (approximately $147,000), Arbitrum (approximately $39,000), and Starknet (approximately $9,000). Base’s revenue accounted for nearly 70% of total Ethereum L2 income, showing a clear leading advantage; all other L2s combined earned just over $15,000.

5. Berachain Foundation: Dismantles most retail marketing team, Chief Developer Alberto to leave link

The Berachain Foundation released a year-end update stating that it has dismantled most retail-oriented marketing teams and shifted resources toward fundamental development. The foundation mentioned that personnel departures were amicable and confirmed that Chief Developer Alberto will leave. Moving forward, the foundation will focus on 3–5 high-confidence applications, supporting projects with revenue streams less dependent on market fluctuations and with low overlap with existing ecosystems, offering exclusive PoL token incentives and official support.

6. Kaito halts Yaps incentive mechanism, launches Kaito Studio creator collaboration model link

Kaito AI founder Yu Hu announced that Kaito will cease Yaps and its incentive leaderboard mechanism, launching Kaito Studio. The platform will transition from a permissionless, open incentive distribution model to a curated, layered creator distribution and marketing system. Kaito Studio will select creators based on standards, providing data analysis, multi-platform distribution, and cross-industry collaboration capabilities across crypto, finance, AI, and more. This adjustment will not affect Kaito Pro, Kaito API, Kaito Launchpad, or the upcoming Kaito Markets, as the team gradually completes the transition with project partners.

7. Brevis and BNB Chain collaborate to expand privacy infrastructure link

Brevis and BNB Chain will collaborate to expand privacy infrastructure and partner with 0xbow to launch the “Intelligent Privacy Pool” on BNB Chain, scheduled for Q1 2026. The privacy pool is based on 0xbow Privacy Pools and incorporates ZK qualification verification: users can prove on-chain fund source compliance via Brevis ZK Data Coprocessor or bind off-chain KYC through zkTLS, completing compliance proof without revealing sensitive data.

8. Aave lending share exceeds 51.3%, first single protocol over 50% since 2020 link

According to DefiLlama data, Aave’s share of the DeFi lending market has risen to 51.3%, marking the first time since 2020 that a single lending protocol has surpassed 50%. Aave’s lending TVL is approximately $3.583 billion; other major players include Morph (approximately $686 million / 9.8%), JustLend (approximately $401 million / 5.8%), SparkLend (approximately $381 million / 5.5%), and Maple (approximately $272 million / 3.9%).

9. OpenSea CMO: OS Mobile and Hyperliquid Perps are in internal testing, TGE to commence link

OpenSea CMO Adam Hollander announced that OpenSea is testing new products, including OS Mobile and Hyperliquid Perps, and has invited users to participate in internal testing. He also recommended that users connect and link their wallets on OpenSea to manage assets and positions on mobile seamlessly, providing a more complete on-chain history view ahead of the upcoming foundation TGE. Hollander stated that the foundation is preparing for the TGE, which will focus on historical trading volume.

10. Ethereum new wallet creation hits record high link

Driven by protocol upgrades, increased stablecoin activity, and improved market sentiment, new wallet creation on Ethereum has reached a record high. Data from Santiment shows that over the past week, an average of approximately 327,000 new ETH wallets were created daily, with a single day reaching 393,000, setting a new record. The total number of non-empty ETH wallets has risen to 172.9 million, also a historic high.