# #roundup 03: Nov 18, 2022

*What happened in building crypto this week?*

By [michaelcjoseph's musings](https://writing.michaelcjoseph.com) · 2022-11-18

web3, product

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Building crypto social
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There’s a lot of exciting things happening at the moment in crypto social (e.g. Lens and Farcaster), and people are weighing in. [Winnie](https://twitter.com/winnielaux_) from BlockTower makes the case for [product-led protocols](https://twitter.com/winnielaux_/status/1587092467949633538?s=46&t=C0IId3_lxXVtPDXJsOdeTA) in social. McKenna shares a [thesis](https://twitter.com/crypto_mckenna/status/1587850082845691911?s=46&t=uvQPPRDQPNK6STuKwYuwuA) on crypto social and Lens in particular. And [w1nt3r](https://twitter.com/w1nt3r_eth) shares a more [contrarian perspective](https://twitter.com/w1nt3r_eth/status/1593272768367194113) on the space.

[Understanding zero knowledge proofs](https://arxiv.org/pdf/1906.07221.pdf)
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ZK is all the rage at the moment, but it can also be a little daunting. [Maksym Petkus](https://twitter.com/maksympetkus) wrote a great paper to walk you through the math of zk in a very approachable way.

[Smart contract security](https://consensys.net/diligence/resources/security-tooling-guide/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=organicsocial&utm_campaign=2022_Nov_diligence-security-tooling-guide-announcement-tweet-1_content_content)
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ConsenSys wrote a security tooling guide to:

> help builders navigate the emergent blockchain security space by outlining the top tools available at every stage of development.

It’s a free guide that’s definitely worth checking out.

New protocols and improvements
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PartyDAO came out with a [new protocol for on-chain group consensus](https://party.mirror.xyz/dee_r_PxRflk6CYAMNI98PGILQ5RL95E9WN4Iw9kDKc). It aims to provide on-chain functionality to groups to help them form, coordinate, and distribute resources. They have big ambitions for the future of on-chain group activity, and this seems to be just the start.

Uniswap also launched [Permit2 & Universal Router](https://uniswap.org/blog/permit2-and-universal-router). Both smart contracts were originally developed to improve Uniswap but the team believes the contracts have a bigger role to play in improving crypto infrastructure. Permit2 is a safer, more cost-efficient way to manage token approvals across applications. Universal Router is Uniswap’s next-generation router that unifies token and NFT trades into a highly flexible, gas-optimized, secure, and extensible swap router.

[Post-merge electricity consumption](https://dataalways.substack.com/p/the-merge-and-cryptos-electricity?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email)
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One benefit frequently touted about the Ethereum merge was how it would improve electricity usage by the blockchain to be more environmentally friendly. [Data Always](https://open.substack.com/pub/dataalways) does a thorough analysis of how those statements have held up post-merge.

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*Originally published on [michaelcjoseph's musings](https://writing.michaelcjoseph.com/roundup-3-20221118)*