Polygon announced a partnership with two other Web3 players on Monday to form an accelerator program that supports blockchain projects and initiatives.
The three-way partnership with Alpha Venture DAO and blockchain incubator Icetea Labs will cultivate promising Web3 projects by offering mentorship, education assistance and other resources. The accelerator program launched with six selected startups, including free-to-play-to-earn games Victory Point, Evermoon and Trouble Punk.
Robinhood’s web3 wallet beta goes live on Polygon
Yesterday, Polygon became the first blockchain to support the beta version of Robinhood’s non-custodial wallet optimized for Web3. Robinhood joins other brands including Reddit, Stripes and most recently Starbucks that have leveraged the carbon-neutral network to explore the Web3 space. The beta offering launched to select iOS users that signed up on the waitlist in May. The final release, which will extend beyond the US, is intended to facilitate crypto transactions by allowing users to swap or trade cryptocurrency tokens at no charge.
The web3 wallet, which will be available as a ‘simple and intuitive standalone’ app, also promises better security for assets and faster speeds. Polygon’s scalability, low fees merits, and “robust developer ecosystem” influenced the exclusive choice of the blockchain for the beta launch. Notably, the latest development comes four weeks since the Ethereum network scaler announced Robinhood’s support for MATIC deposits and withdrawals on the chain.
The development follows another Monday announcement of Polygon Bootcamp Africa whose applications opened on the same day. The bootcamp will start on Oct 10 with the learning stage followed by the hackathon event between Nov 21 and Dec 2, then end on Dec 19.
Polygon to continue with hiring plans despite the persistent bear market
Notwithstanding the persistent bear market, Polygon is actively seeking to expand its workforce. A report published earlier by Bloomberg revealed that the network intends to add about 200 people to its team, which represents a bump of around 40%. Head of Human Resources on the network Bhumika Srivastava noted in an interview that the talents hired would be added to teams that do their operations remotely.
The global spree targets different niches, including engineers and staff capable of overseeing partnerships. Some new hires will supplement Polygon’s existing employee headcount while others will be listed under contract terms. Polygon is flush with funds, given that it was only in February this year that it completed a $450 million worth of MATIC sale in one of the biggest investor bets on an Ethereum scaling solution.
Sequoia Capital India led what was Polygon’s first major funding round, and Polygon took the bear market as an opportunity to hire. Despite the funding, Srivastava says that the demand for and cost of developers for projects billed as Web3 remain high. He added that the situation is unique for Web3 developers, especially because the tech itself is getting built right now, which makes it challenging to find the exact talent you want.
For perspective, a recent report by OKX highlighted that the demand for talent exceeds the supply, which is why the salaries for blockchain specialists are through the roof. Srivastava himself is a reflection of Polygon’s business model of hiring from other top brands, given that he joined from Airbnb. The company now has hired from Amazon, YouTube, Electronic Arts, and Coinbase.
The HR executive added that the network is trying to bring in up to 60 projects from Terra after recruiting 30 developers of formerly Terra-based NFT launchpad One Planet, a project that migrated to the network. Polygon’s hiring route is arguably the most optimistic there is in the industry right now, considering there’s generally been a trend of layoffs amidst a persistent bear market.
Polygon CSO blames Web3 attacks on Web2 security deficits
In a separate recent event, Mudit Gupta, the chief security officer (CSO) at Polygon, faulted the security gaps existing in Web2 for the series of attacks that are being witnessed against Web3 technologies. Gupta argued that in most Web3 attack instances, the vulnerability is often due to the fact that users’ tunnel’ through Web2 to access the former. He observed that Web2 security vulnerabilities such as phishing attacks and poor private key management are the reason for the attacks, not weak blockchain tech.
A rallying call
He further pointed out that flawless code and cryptography are not enough if this trend is to be stopped. The Polygon CSO advises that Web3 companies hire traditional cybersecurity professionals to iron out any easily preventable hacks and establish security measures around Web2 factors such as web hosting and Domain Name System (DNS).
Gupta is particularly concerned about key management and the need to follow the best practices when handling them. He cited the cases of the Ronin bridge hack (drained for $600 million) and the Horizon bridge exploit (drained for $100 million) as classic examples of the impact of improper key management on blockchain protocols.
In the face of the apparent necessity, active entities in the cryptocurrency sector have not done much towards adopting standard Web2 cybersecurity practices. Gupta advised the first step has to be rooting out the “you fall for a phishing attack, it’s your problem” attitude. He further encouraged companies to do more than the bare minimum to build tech that is actually safe for users.
To learn more, check out our Investing in Polygon guide.
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