• EtherFi and Renzo introduce restaked EIGEN.

• Applications open for OP retro funding 6.

• Automata joins the Superchain.

• PoolTogether goes live on Gnosis Chain

EtherFi and Renzo have introduced restaked EIGEN, a liquid version of staked EIGEN that offers access to additional rewards. Users will continue earning staking rewards and programmatic incentives from EigenLayer, as well as extra rewards from the LRT provider. The LRT also streamlines the reward claim process. EtherFi is distributing eEIGEN staking rewards through a new token called LRT², a standardized vault token that consolidates rewards from multiple AVSs into a single token, simplifying claims. Renzo’s ezEIGEN LRT auto-compounds and restakes rewards to maximize efficiency and reduce gas fees. Currently, over 95 million EIGEN are staked on EigenLayer.

Automata Network, a machine attestation layer, announced its plan to deploy as an OP Stack chain with EigenDA for data availability. As part of the Superchain, Automata introduces a comprehensive framework for Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs). Automata’s ATA token will serve as the default gas token on its chain. Automata launched its TEE Prover on Scroll and Linea, with its Multi-Prover AVS already live on EigenLayer Mainnet. To incentivize onchain attestations, Automata is introducing a Gasdrop initiative that offers free gas to verified machines. The project aims to standardize the TEE stack and simplify interactions with onchain machine attestations.

Optimism opened applications for the sixth round of retroactive funding, which will allocate up to 3.5 million OP tokens to projects that have contributed to Superchain Governance. Eligible contributions include governance infrastructure and tooling, governance analytics and performance reports, as well as leadership roles within councils, commissions, and boards. Contributions need to have demonstrated impact between October 2023 and September 2024. Projects unrelated to Optimism governance and individual delegate participation are not eligible for this round. Badgeholders will vote in October, with grants set to be distributed in November. Applications close on October 14th.

Prize savings protocol PoolTogether is now live on Gnosis Chain. Users can deposit WXDAI and POOL tokens into a savings account for a chance to win a share of daily WXDAI prizes. The protocol generates yield on deposits and raffles the interest earned to depositors with winning chances proportional to their average deposit size. Gnosis Chain, previously known as xDAI, is an EVM-compatible chain that uses DAI as its native gas token.

• Powdr labs spins out of EF

• Devcon announces keynote speakers

• DEGEN is coming to Coinbase

• Gitcoin GG22 community rounds

• EIGEN becomes transferable.

• Vitalik proposes metrics for Ethereum alignment.

• Ethereal proposes a DEX on Ethena.

• Arbitrum One reaches a billion transactions.

EIGEN, the native token of the EigenLayer protocol, is now transferable, with a total supply of 1.67 billion and an initial circulating supply of about 200 million EIGEN. EIGEN is a Universal Intersubjective Work Token that provides social consensus as a service and plays a role in protocol governance. It can also be staked to provide economic security for Actively Validated Services (AVSs). Following the unlock, EIGEN traded at an initial price of about $4 and a fully diluted valuation of around $7 billion, according to Coingecko data. EIGEN was initially launched as a non-transferable token on May 10, 2024. The unlock comes after the completion of key milestones, including the activation of AVS rewards on mainnet. Disclosure: ETH Daily received a retroactive airdrop as part of the podcasts category.

Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin published a new post discussing how to make Ethereum alignment more transparent and measurable. He notes that client teams, researchers, and developers are all working toward their own visions of Ethereum, which can lead to fragmentation. Buterin outlined the concept of Ethereum alignment and proposed metrics to help unify the ecosystem. The alignment metrics encompass values, technology, and economic incentives. The measurable criteria include the use of open-source licenses, adhering to ERC standards, ensuring decentralization and security, and contributing positively to both Ethereum and the broader world.

Ethereal introduced a new Ethena governance proposal for the launch of an integrated decentralized exchange (DEX) for spot and perpetual futures on the upcoming Ethena Network, using USDe as the native asset. The proposal includes a commitment to allocate 15% of future Ethereal governance tokens to circulating ENA holders. The proposal requests that Ethereal be integrated into Ethena’s reserve management system from the start to facilitate spot and futures trading backed by USDe collateral. Ethereal will function as an L3 appchain settling on the Ethena Network. A testnet launch is anticipated in Q4 2024.

Arbitrum One surpassed 1 billion transactions on its Layer 2 network. The achievement comes just three years after the rollup launched to mainnet on August 31, 2021. Arbitrum One remains the leading rollup by total value locked, with over $14 billion in assets. Arbitrum One is currently a Stage One rollup with active fraud proofs but is not yet fully permissionless.

• Base block outage post-mortem

• GG22 OSS applications

• Shape goes live on mainnet

• Jerry Brito steps down from CoinCenter

• Jesse joins Coinbase exec team

• US vs Storm amicus brief 

• A judge denies Tornado Cash case dismissal.

• Impact of increasing the blob target.

• Hyperdrive goes live on Base.

• Aerodrome surpasses $1 billion in TVL.

U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Polk Failla denied a motion to dismiss the indictment against Roman Storm, an open-source software developer. His trial is scheduled for December. In August 2023, Storm was indicted on charges of money laundering, sanctions violations, and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business related to the Tornado Cash privacy tool. Essentially, he faces charges for actions carried out by third parties who used the decentralized privacy tool. Storm's legal defense team is still accepting donations through Juicebox, needing approximately $2.5 million to support extensive legal research for the case.

Ethereum core developer Potuz highlighted a division of opinions between client developers and researchers regarding a proposal to increase the blob target. Potuz, who supports the increase, pointed out that some folks remain silent despite having opinions, particularly after Vitalik Buterin voiced his support for the change. Researcher Ben Edgington raised concerns about how the increase might affect bandwidth requirements, particularly for home stakers with slow internet connections. He emphasized the lack of adequate compensation for including blobs in blocks, as blob fees are burned, and suggested giving home stakers the flexibility to set a minimum tip per blob. A blob target increase allows more data to be included in each block, reducing costs and improving scalability. Ethereum community member Ryan Berckmans proposed an initiative to research validator bandwidth requirements to better understand the risks associated with changes like increasing the blob target.

Hyperdrive, an AMM for trading fixed and variable interest rates, is now live on Base. Users can access fixed-term pools, provide liquidity to earn trading fees, benefit from variable rates on idle funds, and trade against others on the protocol. Hyperdrive features like on-demand terms, single-sided liquidity, and continuous liquidity provision. To earn a fixed interest rate, users can purchase interest tokens at a discount, which mature to their full value or can be sold at a discount before maturity. For a variable rate, users pay the fixed rate to the pool and receive capital equal to the discount on their interest tokens.

Aerodrome, an AMM and liquidity layer developed by Velodrome, reached $1 billion in total value locked (TVL), representing over 50% of the total TVL within the DeFi ecosystem on Base. Aerodrome's governance and reward mechanics are inspired by Curve Finance. Users can lock AERO tokens to receive veAERO, which grants voting power for pool incentives. veAERO holders are rewarded with a share of protocol trading fees proportional to their votes.

• Geth v1.14.10 release

• Charon v1.1.1 release

• Coinbase asset recovery supports Base

• Fileverse introduces Offline Mode

• Celestia Blobstream upgrades to SP1

• CZ is released from prison

• SEC charges Mango Markets

• Introducing Truth oracle

• uniBTC post mortem