• Polygon’s Agglayer activates Pessimistic Proofs.

• EF launches Pectra Proactive Grant Round.

• Block gas limit hits 32 million gas.

• ETH drops below $3,000.

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Agglayer v0.2 is now live on mainnet, introducing Pessimistic Proofs, a new type of zero-knowledge proof that is designed to safeguard the Agglayer from potential vulnerabilities on any individual chain while supporting different security models. Pessimistic Proofs assume that all connected chains may be unreliable. The Agglayer is a network of chains connected to Ethereum through a shared bridge contract with unified liquidity. Looking ahead, Polygon is developing Agglayer v3, which will introduce multi-stack capability, allowing even chains without ZK execution proofs to integrate seamlessly into the AggLayer ecosystem.

The Ethereum Foundation launched the Pectra Proactive Grant Round, a new funding initiative with a $200K grant pool aimed at strengthening tooling, infrastructure, and overall ecosystem readiness ahead of the Pectra upgrade. By supporting proactive development, the program seeks to prevent delays in rolling out the Pectra upgrade. Grant proposals can focus on core protocol support, tooling and infrastructure development, testing and security enhancements, and adoption and impact analysis. To be eligible, projects must be open-source, operate under a free and permissive license, and align with Pectra’s goals and priorities. Proposals are due by February 23rd, with winners selected in March 2025.

According to data from crypto researcher Dataalways, Ethereum’s block gas limit has reached 32 million gas per block. Evan Van Ness noted that this marks the first increase under proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus, with the last adjustment occurring in August 2021, when the limit was doubled from 15 million to 30 million gas. The increase comes as more than 50% of validators now signal support for a gas limit above 30 million. Raising the block gas limit enables higher transaction throughput and allows developers to build more complex applications, as each block can now hold more data. The adjustment does not require a hard fork. The block gas limit is expected to continue rising toward the current 36 million gas limit target.

Over the weekend, ETH's price plunged over 20%, reaching lows of approximately $2,100 on some exchanges. The decline coincided with the introduction of new U.S. tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China. Aave alone processed over $200 million in liquidations. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou estimated total crypto liquidations to be close to $8 billion, reporting that Bybit alone accounted for $2.1 billion. Since then, the market has partially recovered, with ETH trading around $2,800 at the time of recording.

• Lido supports stETH on Soneium

• Kyber exploiter indictment

• ZKP2P releases V2

• Trump Sovereign Wealth Fund

• Sablier supports instant airdrops

• Turnkey releases white paper

• Noon supports USN on ZKsync

• Privy AI wallet generator

• Dormant wallet moves 77.7k ETH

• Eric Trump: time to add ETH

• Sacks crypto plan

• Ethereum is the best base layer

• Uma Roy: L2 interop is broken

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• Uniswap launches Uni V4.

• Ƒlaunch launches on Base.

• Lido’s CSM goes permissionless.

• UBS tests a ZKsync Validium.

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Uniswap launched Uni V4, the latest iteration of its DEX, introducing hooks for enhanced customizability. Uni V4 is now live on ten networks, including Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, OP Mainnet, Base, and World Chain. Users can now deposit liquidity into v4 pools through the Uniswap web app, while swap functionality will roll out in the coming days as liquidity migrates to v4. Hooks are smart contracts that enable custom functionality for liquidity pools, allowing for features like native dynamic fees, onchain limit orders, and time-weighted average market maker (TWAMM) orders. Uni V4 also introduces gas optimizations, making pool creation and multi-hop swaps significantly cheaper. Uniswap v4 underwent nine audits and a $2.35 million security competition.

Ƒlaunch, one of the first protocols powered by Uniswap V4, is now live on Base. Ƒlaunch enables anyone to launch, buy, and sell meme coins. The platform features automated buybacks and an internal swap pool (ISP) that pays LPs in ETH, reducing coin sell pressure. It also leverages Uniswap v4 hooks to lend liquidity on Aave. Flaunch introduces Fixed Price Fair Launches, preventing early price manipulation, and allows developers to customize revenue sharing configurations. Revenue ownership is tokenized as NFTs that can be transferred or sold. Other protocols leveraging Univ4 include onchain markets platforms Sorella Labs and Whetstone Research.

Lido’s Community Staking Module (CSM) is now permissionless, allowing any solo staker, DAO, or DVT cluster to run validators through the Lido Protocol. The module lowers the barrier for stakers by allowing participation with a collateral stake of 2.4 ETH for the first validator and 1.3 ETH for additional validators. The Node Operator cap has also been removed. Operators using CSM can earn higher rewards compared to traditional solo staking. A key component of the Lido CSM is the Staking Router, a controller contract designed to integrate modular validator pools. Over 330 independent node operators have joined the Lido CSM.

UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, tested a ZKsync Validium for its UBS Key4 Gold proof of concept, a tokenized fractional gold investment product. The bank leveraged a ZKsync Validium for its scalability, privacy, and interoperability, benefiting from ultra-low-cost transactions with offchain data storage enables by the Validium. The test involved gold token issuance, transaction processing, and reconciliation, aiming to explore whether Validium could enhance UBS' existing private blockchain, the UBS Gold Network. In December 2024, German bank Deutsche Bank revealed developments of its own Layer-2 network built on ZKsync’s ZK Stack.

• Coinbase acquires Spindl

• Vitalik turns 31

• Ethereum ecosystem recap

• Chainlink SVR analysis

• Protocol Guild contributes 619 years

• Accidental Computer: DA encodings

• Ether Strategy cancels fundraise

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• Geth v1.14.13 emergency release.

• SEC approves combined ETF.

• Apollo tokenized RWA fund.

• Bolt launches mainnet genesis.

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Geth released v1.14.13 of its execution client to fix a vulnerability introduced in v1.14.0, which can cause nodes to crash via a specially crafted message. Users running Geth v1.14 or later must update their software as soon as possible. Nodes running on v1.13.x are unaffected. The vulnerability also affects L2s, so L2 clients must also update their software. The bug was initially discovered and reported by the Polygon security team. The Geth team will release in-depth details at a later time.

The SEC approved the Bitwise Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF filed by the NYSE Arca exchange. The ETF will hold both Bitcoin and Ethereum based on their relative market capitalizations. Bitwise will hold spot Bitcoin and ETH, which will be custodied by the Coinbase Custody Trust and the Bank of New York Mellon. The SEC approved the proposal on an accelerated basis due to the proposal's similarity to previously approved spot crypto ETFs. A spot ETF offers investors exposure to crypto without having to hold assets directly.  The move signifies another step toward institutional adoption. The SEC is open to public input on the approval decision. 

Apollo, a global asset manager with over $700 billion in AUM, introduced the Apollo Diversified Credit Securitize Fund (ACRED), a tokenized Real World Asset (RWA) offering onchain access to its Diversified Credit Fund. ACRED invests capital across corporate direct lending, asset-backed lending, and structured credit. The tokenized fund is available across six blockchains, including Ethereum, Polygon, and Kraken’s Ink L2. Cross-chain token transfers will be facilitated through Wormhole. Investors can participate in ACRED exclusively via the Securitize platform.

Bolt launched its validator-based proposer commitments protocol to Mainnet Genesis, enabling node operators to register in the Bolt Registry and link their Symbiotic Vault or EigenLayer Strategy to Bolt’s Actively Validated Service (AVS). Proposer commitments allow validators to make credible guarantees on the transactions they include in their blocks, ensuring users receive near-instant, guaranteed inclusion for their L1 transactions. Validators benefit from higher priority fees while remaining PBS-compatible, with their commitments backed by restaked collateral through Symbiotic and EigenLayer. The Bolt Registry directly maps each validator to a specific Node Operator, meaning operators and validators share collateral, faults, and slashing risks. Bolt Protocol plans to launch to Mainnet Alpha by the end of Q1 2025.

• ACDE #204 recap 

• Introducing Ethereum FABRIC

• Vitalik on beam chain roadmap

• Agentic Ethereum $175k prize pool

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