Pectra Upgrade Scheduled For Testnets
Holešky and Sepolia are scheduled to undergo the upgrade on February 24th and March 5th, respectively.
Pectra upgrade scheduled for testnets.
XMTP goes live on testnet.
Alexey Pertsev granted conditional release.
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Ethereum core developers have scheduled slots for the Pectra upgrade on the Sepolia and Holešky testnets. The activation will first occur on Holešky at slot 3,710,976, expected on Monday, February 24, 2025, at 21:55 UTC. Sepolia’s activation will follow a week later on March 5, 2025. The Ethereum mainnet activation date for Pectra will be decided after the ACDC call on March 6, 2025. The upgrade, which consists of the Prague upgrade on the execution layer and the Electra upgrade on the consensus layer, marks Ethereum’s largest upgrade by the number of EIPs. Among the 11 scheduled EIPs, Pectra will introduce a 2x increase in the target and max blob count per block, along with account abstraction EIP-7702.
XMTP, an open protocol for secure end-to-end encrypted messaging, is now live on testnet. It enables millisecond message delivery via an offchain broadcast network, with consensus maintained by an Arbitrum Orbit chain that settles on Base. XMTP also uses USDC as the native gas token for all transactions on the network. Designed for secure, private, and censorship-resistant communication, XMTP supports a decentralized messaging ecosystem. Leading providers such as Coinbase Wallet, Circle, ENS, a16z Crypto, Alchemy, Faction, and Mask are leveraging XMTP. Node operators can contribute to the network by running an XMTP node.
Alexey Pertsev, a developer who helped write open-source code for Tornado Cash, announced his release from pretrial detention as he prepares to appeal his money laundering conviction. His release is subject to electronic monitoring by Dutch authorities. Pertsev has already spent over a year in custody. In May 2024, Dutch judges sentenced Pertsev to 64 months in prison and initially denied his request for bail.
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Arbitrum Universal Intent Engine
An interoperability framework designed to enable seamless cross-chain swaps and transfers across Arbitrum and Ethereum L2s.
Arbitrum Universal Intent Engine.
SOCKET integrates Agglayer infrastructure.
Ethereum Protocol Studies Program.
FDIC eases crypto banking rules.
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Offchain Labs introduced the Universal Intent Engine, an interoperability framework designed to enable seamless cross-chain swaps and transfers across Arbitrum and EVM-compatible chains. The engine allows users to specify their desired intent while a network of solvers compete for optimal execution based on cost and speed. The Universal Intent Engine is built on four core components: the Message Standard, the Broadcast Standard, Fast Settlement, and the Intent Dissemination Feed, a universal feed where users, solvers, and applications can interact and execute cross-chain intents. The Universal Intent Engine is set to launch by Q1 2025, with native crosschain operations rolling out in Q3 2025.
SOCKET is leveraging Polygon’s Agglayer to enable developers to build applications across chains without cross-chain messaging or bridging. The integration allows developers to compose Solidity contracts and deploy them on their own app gateway, which interacts with SOCKET to facilitate seamless cross-chain functions. Users interact with apps via the app gateway by simply sending signed messages that are processed in the gateway and then executed onchain, leveraging pessimistic proofs via the Agglayer. SOCKET is a chain abstraction protocol that enables a single unified balance and instant transactions, with no bridging required.
The Ethereum Foundation announced the return of Ethereum Protocol Studies (EPS), a structured learning program designed to make Ethereum’s core protocol more accessible. This year’s program will focus on Ethereum’s Execution and Consensus Layers, client architecture, and key research areas, providing participants with a deeper understanding of the network’s inner workings. Over the past year, EPS has expanded epf.wiki, a collaborative knowledge base on the Ethereum protocol. The 2025 program includes two onboarding weeks, six weeks of deep dives into Execution and Consensus Layers, live seminars with engineers and researchers, and a dedicated Discord server. A town hall Q&A will be held on February 12, 2025, at 15:00 UTC.
According to Barron, the FDIC is revising guidelines to allow banks to participate in crypto activities without requiring prior regulatory approval, including custody services and tokenized deposits. Under acting FDIC Chair Travis Hill, the agency is exploring ways to make it easier for banks to safely offer custody services for crypto assets. According to a person familiar with the matter, some banks have already met with FDIC officials to discuss offerings.
MetaMask supports ENS on L2s
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Reservoir raises $14m Series A
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60 gas limit post-Pectra
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SEC Crypto Task Force Priorities
Priorities include clarifying the security status of crypto assets, defining the SEC’s jurisdiction, and exploring temporary relief for token issuers.
SEC crypto task force priorities.
SEC scales back crypto enforcements.
Coinbase Wallet to integrate Farcaster.
EigenLayer Level 1 Agents.
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SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce announced the launch of the SEC Crypto Task Force’s initial webpage and key priorities for the program. The newly formed task force seeks to establish a clear and structured regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency industry, addressing shortcomings in the SEC’s prior lack of regulatory clarity. The task force already rescinded SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin 121. Its key priorities include clarifying the security status of crypto assets, defining the SEC’s jurisdiction, exploring temporary relief for token issuers, improving registration pathways, addressing crypto-lending and staking, and fostering international cooperation. Commissioner Peirce emphasized that regulation should not be seen as an endorsement of any crypto product.
Coinbase Wallet announced plans to integrate the Farcaster social graph into an upcoming release of its mobile wallet app. The overhaul is designed to enhance app discovery, making it easier for users to find new apps while helping builders go viral. The new version, set to launch in the coming months, will be 10x faster, more user-friendly, and enable frictionless crypto payments. By leveraging Farcaster Frames v2, Coinbase Wallet will support mini-apps to merge social and crypto, allowing users to follow, trade, and share directly within the wallet. Frames are full-screen applications with dynamic features and seamless in-feed interactions. Creators will also have access to tools for building communities and monetizing.
EigenLayer introduced the Level 1 Agent, a standardized framework for integrating AI agents with verifiable tools. The framework enables AI agents to operate in a decentralized manner using EigenLayer’s Autonomous Verifiable Services (AVSs), backed by Ethereum’s cryptoeconomic security. The framework bridges the gap between onchain and offchain AI processing. Inference AVSs allow AI agents to perform offchain inference while maintaining verifiability. EigenDA provides decentralized, cost-effective data availability for AI agents to store memory. Policy AVSs enforce input/output constraints to prevent AI manipulation and ensure responsible decision-making. And Event-Driven Activation (EDA) AVSs enable AI agents to respond dynamically to onchain and offchain events.
Lumia builds on Polygon CDK
SEC scales back crypto enforcement
G7 Network live on mainnet
Tokenized RWAs on Gnosis
Symbiosis deploys on Gnosis
Wallet Connect community round
Harpie introduces Harpie points