Quick Take
The EF introduces an internship program.
ENS Labs introduces Namechain.
Virgil Griffith release update.
RISC Zero introduces Kailua.
EF Introduces Internship Program
The Ethereum Foundation (EF) announced its first formal internship program, set to begin in summer 2025. Aspiring Ethereum developers and researchers can apply until December 9, 2024, for a chance to work on projects ranging from protocol security, account abstraction, scaling research, and client development, over 12 weeks. Unlike the Ethereum Protocol Fellowship (EPF), the internship program is tailored for individuals with a general skill set seeking to deepen their knowledge of Ethereum, rather than requiring advanced protocol expertise. Mentoring teams include the Protocol Security Research Team, Robust Incentives Group, Portal Network Team, Geth, and the EEST Project.
ENS Introduces Namechain
At last week’s frENSday conference, ENS Labs unveiled Namechain, a zkEVM-based Layer 2 solution designed to enhance cost efficiency, performance, and the developer experience for ENS. Namechain will integrate with an existing EVM-compatible ZK Stack chain and is expected to launch on mainnet in 2025. Namechain is a key component of ENSv2, a comprehensive five-phase strategy to upgrade the protocol's architecture. The overhaul will migrate primary .eth domains to Layer 2, introduce new core ENS contracts for both Layer 1 and Layer 2, deploy ENS core infrastructure on Layer 2, and synchronize the new contracts with the legacy system. While domain registrations and renewals will move to Layer 2, name resolution will remain anchored on Ethereum’s Layer 1.
Virgil Griffith Release Update
ENS General Counsel Alexander Urbelis provided an update on Virgil Griffith’s situation and anticipated release. In addition to his role at ENS, Urbelis is part of the legal team representing Griffith, an Ethereum developer arrested in 2019 and sentenced to 63 months for delivering Ethereum-related presentations in North Korea. In July 2024, Griffith's sentence was reduced by 10 months. While this brought him closer to release, complications arose when he selected Baltimore as his halfway house. Griffith will be released by April 2025 at the latest, when his full sentence is scheduled to conclude, though his legal team continues to work toward a sooner release.
RISC Zero Introduces Kailua
RISC Zero introduced Kailua, a hybrid rollup solution that merges the cost-efficiency and high throughput of Optimistic Rollups with the fast finality of ZK Rollups. Kailua enables chains to achieve configurable settlement times of under an hour. It introduces an innovative proposer/challenger model powered by the OP Stack’s Kona suite and a dispute resolution protocol using RISC Zero proofs.
Other News
On blob markets and base fees
Hasu’s proposal to grow Lido staking
Péter Szilágyi takes a sabbatical
Espresso preconfs live on Gelato
ETHPrague announced for May 2025
Tally governance staking era
Starknet data efficient
Apply to be a Swell delegate
$1b USDT issued
