Polkadot News
With the execution of Referendum 458, Polkadot and system parachains have upgraded to runtime v1’001’002. https://polkadot.subsquare.io/referenda/458
BEEFY keys can and should now be set by Polkadot validators. This involves simply rotating your session keys. Set Up a Validator | Polkadot Developer Docs
Numerous representatives from the Polkadot ecosystem, including me, will be at EthDenver. Hope to see you there! https://medium.com/polkadot-network/polkadot-takes-on-ethdenver-24-20ac069d7250
Referendum 474, proposing to properly unreserve for two DOT accounts which has incorrect phragmenElection.renounce amounts, has passed and executed. Polkassembly - Referendum #474
A new parachain auction begins tomorrow at approximately 16.00 UTC. https://parachains.info/auctions
Kusama News
With the passing of Referendum 343 yesterday, BEEFY consensus was started on Kusama. Polkassembly - Referendum #343
BEEFY is a secondary protocol which allows efficient trustless bridging to external consensus systems (i.e., other blockchains). Proof of Stake Consensus | Polkadot Developer Docs
BEEFY is used by several bridging projects such as Snowbridge (https://docs.snowbridge.network/) and Hyperbridge ( Hyperbridge Overview - Polkadot Wiki) .
Quartz has won the most recent parachain lease auction. https://parachains.info/auctions/kusama
A new parachain lease auction has begun, with Basilisk in the lead with a few hours to go before the Ending Period begins. https://parachains.info/auctions/kusama