A table for 20, please. I'd like to make a reservation.
Unichain is a Big Deal.
Why didn't my try/catch work?
High 🌎
A table for 20, please. I'd like to make a reservation.
​
Twenty US states are exploring the creation of Bitcoin reserves.
Some states are direct about it, introducing bills that name Bitcoin as the strategic reserve of choice. Others play it coy, using the term “digital asset” to keep their options open. But let’s be real, every proposal includes restrictions that make Bitcoin the only viable option.
Take North Carolina’s bill: it only allows cryptocurrencies with a market cap over $750 billion. Bitcoin sits at a beefy $1.9 trillion, while Ethereum comes in at $330 billion. Not quite making the cut, in any state. Maryland, on the other hand, isn’t messing around. Its bill is BTC or bust and plans to fill the reserve using fines from gambling violations. Which is… a little poetic? House always wins, but this time, the house is stacking sats.
So, will states actually start hoarding Bitcoin? Or will this all get stuck in legislative limbo while lawmakers try to remember their Coinbase passwords? Either way, the headlines are bullish USA & crypto.
"Another L2? No big deal." That’s the sentiment floating around X. But this totally downplayswhat Uniswap just delivered. This launch is more than just another L2. It introduces cutting-edge tech and takes a step toward defragmenting Ethereum’s scaling landscape while reinforcing Optimism’s Superchain vision.
​
I am particularly excited about their approach to enforcing priority ordering in blocks. MEV is no longer a free-for-all that benefits actors who have no interest in the applications from which they are extracting. MEV can now be internalized by apps. This is a game-changer. I have written more about MEV internalization here. The TLDR; it gives protocols a way to capture and redistribute value that would otherwise go to the block builders and searchers.
​
Then there’s speed. Unichain is built for 250ms block times. Right now, it runs at 1-second blocks which is already twice as fast as OP Mainnet and Base (Solana is at ~400 ms). But this isn’t just about raw speed. Faster blocks mean fewer failed transactions, less slippage, and a smoother experience. DeFi starts to feel instant, unlocking entirely new possibilities.
​
Unichain’s location matters just as much as its tech. Joining the Superchain is like opening a store in SoHo instead of some quiet town upstate. You don’t have to convince people to show up, the traffic is already there. Liquidity and users flow across the ecosystem, creating instant network effects.
​
Uniswap just made a big bet on the Superchain, and I think it’s going to pay off. This isn’t just another L2, it’s a signal of where Ethereum is headed.
Unichain, at a glance
Low 🔎
Why didn't my try/catch work?
​
Have a look at the code below, do you know why this reverts instead of returning address(1)? You'd think we should hit the catch block right?
​
Solidity's try/catch feature is notorious for having its quirks. A StackExchange user ran into the same issue. The key detail here is that try/catch only catches exceptions that occur inside the external function call itself. In our case, because the address was address(0), there was no contract code at that address. This means the call failed at the EVM level before it could even reach an external function. Since the failure happened inside foo() and not in an external contract, Solidity’s try/catch mechanism couldn't catch it, causing an immediate revert instead.
Sometimes dropping the try/catch logic is simpler
​
Weekly Foundry command
Marshal a struct into a meaningful data type via command line using cast call. Imagine you have this struct and a function that returns it:
Because Solidity returns structs as tuples of primitive values, cast cannot directly interpret them. Instead, you must deconstruct the struct into its individual types when calling it.
​
Breaking the struct into its primitive components allows cast to correctly parse and display the data.
​
See you next Thursday!
Got thoughts on this week’s newsletter? Reply to this email or DM me. I’d love to hear from you!
​
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are my own and do not reflect those of my employer or any affiliated organizations. Nothing in this publication constitutes financial, legal, or investment advice.
Blaine Malone
Join '3 Thoughts Thursday', the weekly crypto newsletter.
High to Low Whats up down with $ETH? 💰 @ParaSwap Pay Up! 💸 Weekly Foundry Commands High 🌎 Whats up down with $ETH? 💰 I don’t usually focus on prices, but there’s been a lot of chatter lately about Ethereum’s recent dip. The total crypto market cap is still hovering around $2.7 trillion, roughly the same as 123 days ago. Yet, in that same window, $ETH has fallen by about 40%. So what’s behind the discrepancy? A lot of people act like they know exactly why prices move the way they do. I’m not...
High to Low Dusting Off the Classic 2017 Altcoin Portfolio Bullish on Pectra Weekly Foundry commands High 🌎 Dusting Off the Classic 2017 Altcoin Portfolio Donald Trump’s announcement of a U.S. "Crypto Strategic Reserve" has been making waves this week. The former president, who I remember dismissed Bitcoin as a scam, is now positioning the United States as the “Crypto Capital of the World.” If 2017 me had heard this news, I would have been over the moon. Back then, the idea of the U.S....
High to Low SEC Cases Dropped Largest Theft In History Weekly Foundry commands High 🌎 SEC Cases Dropped The SEC has dropped its cases against Uniswap, Coinbase, and Robinhood’s crypto unit, marking a shift in its approach to crypto regulation. For years, the SEC has claimed that many crypto tokens are unregistered securities and that platforms offering them operate as illegal exchanges. These legal battles have drained companies of millions in legal fees and stifled innovation in the...