• Celestia launches the mamo-1 testnet.

• Tomasz finalizes his EF leadership role.

• Clouted introduces the ETH Strategy protocol.

• WalletConnect enables WCT transferability.

Celestia launched mamo-1, a high-throughput testnet producing 128MB blocks every 6 seconds with 21.33MB/s data throughput—a 16x increase over Celestia mainnet. The testnet features 21 validators across Europe, simulating real-world network conditions and supporting light node sampling and data availability sampling (DAS). mamo-1 also introduces Vacuum!, Celestia’s new data propagation protocol. Vacuum! uses lazy gossiping and Validator Availability Certificates (VACs) to minimize redundant traffic and improve efficiency.  It implements the Pull-Based Broadcast Tree (PBBT), enabling fast blob dissemination. The performance leap advances Celestia toward its long-term goal of supporting 1GB block sizes.

Ethereum Foundation Co-Executive Director Tomasz Stańczak announced the formal start of his role following the signing of his contract. Since his appointment in early March, he engaged extensively with Ethereum builders and stakeholders, gathering feedback to create a broad strategy document for the EF. Tomasz is now focused on holding 1:1 meetings with EF staff to align internally before transitioning to the execution phase. He says he will define clear, actionable goals to advance the Foundation’s strategic direction. Alongside Co-Executive Director Hsiao-Wei Wang, Tomasz has already begun implementing internal operational improvements in coordination with team leads.

CloutedMind introduced ETH Strategy, a crypto-native protocol inspired by TradFi’s structured products, specifically following the MicroStrategy playbook, but for ETH. ETH Strategy introduces STRAT, a new asset that offers long-term, leveraged ETH exposure without liquidations or volatility decay. STRAT is created through the issuance of long-dated convertible bonds. The protocol sells convertible debt to USD lenders known as Bonders, who earn yield and can convert to STRAT if ETH appreciates. The structure reinforces ETH’s monetary premium as a foundational asset for collateral. The protocol is still in development.

WCT, the native governance and staking token of the WalletConnect Network, is now transferable. WCT was initially distributed as non-transferable tokens via an airdrop in November 2024. The token now trades at around $0.30 with a market cap of $56 million. WalletConnect, a protocol that enables wallet-to-app connections, has facilitated over 150 million connections since its launch in 2018.

Other News

• Kraken adds stock trading

• Onchain treasury growth

• Ethereum university tour

• Toni: Execution dependencies in blocks

• Simplified Ethereum roadmap

• OBOL unlocks on May 15

• Optimism announces S7 grants

See disclosures

• Vitalik on Ethereum Privacy Roadmap.

• Four EIPs are CFI'd for Fusaka.

• RISC Zero introduces R0VM 2.0.

• EF concludes 5th Protocol Fellowship.

Vitalik Buterin outlined a privacy roadmap that focuses on improving user privacy with minimal changes to Ethereum’s base layer. The roadmap proposes integrating privacy tools such as Railgun and Privacy Pools directly into wallets, enabling shielded balances and making private transactions the default user experience. To prevent linking user activity across applications, the ecosystem should adopt a “one address per application” model. The roadmap also recommends adding TEE-based RPC privacy to wallets as a short-term solution. To further reduce metadata leakage, wallets should connect to multiple RPC nodes. Privacy transactions should also be combined into a single onchain proof to lower gas costs. 

Ethereum core developers have moved four EIPs to the Considered for Inclusion (CFI) list for the upcoming Fusaka upgrade. The proposals include EIP-7823, which sets upper bounds for the MODEXP operation; EIP-7825, which introduces a cap on transaction gas limits; and EIP-7907, which meters contract code size. Developers also agreed to consider either EIP-7762 or EIP-7918—two competing proposals to modify the blob base fee mechanism. All other proposed EIPs were declined for inclusion. Currently, only PeerDAS and EOF are scheduled for inclusion in the Fusaka upgrade, which is expected to activate toward the end of the year.

RISC Zero launched R0VM 2.0, the latest version of its general-purpose zero-knowledge virtual machine (zkVM). The upgrade delivers faster performance, with block proving times reduced to just 44 seconds, and transaction costs as low as $0.0012 for large batches. It also introduces expanded capacity with 3GB of user memory. R0VM 2.0 adds support for BN254 and BLS12-381 precompiles for full Ethereum compatibility and incorporates formal verification to ensure circuit-level security. The system also leverages Boundless, RISC Zero’s decentralized proving protocol, to enable trustless and verifiable computation at scale.

The Ethereum Foundation released a recap of the fifth cohort of the Ethereum Protocol Fellowship (EPF), which involved 30 participants guided by core developers. The cohort contributed to 30 projects, including a proof-of-concept for ePBS in Prysm, a Verkle tree implementation in Reth, enhanced DHT prototyping, SSZ benchmarking and optimization, and PeerDAS integrations across clients such and Nimbus. The EPF is an annual mentorship initiative aimed at helping developers dive into core protocol development. Applications for the sixth cohort are set to open later this month. The EPF Study Group, a ten-week program designed to prepare participants for the main fellowship, also concluded this month.

• Uniswap incentives program

• RISE launches L2 on testnet

• SEC guidance on crypto securities

• Coinbase lists 150 perps

• OP Sepolia testing 

• Morpho App frontend issue

• Lens developer program

• Aerodrome integrates chainlink

See disclosures

• Virgil Griffith is released from prison.

• Across integrates ZKsync’s ZK Stack.

• Biconomy Network goes live on mainnet.

• Rath introduces its DeFi yield protocol.

Virgil Griffith, an Ethereum researcher who was sentenced for violating U.S. sanctions after giving a presentation in North Korea, has been released from prison after serving 56 months. He is currently residing in a halfway house as he completes the final stages of his parole. A photo shared by Brantly Millegan shows Griffith standing with his parents just outside the prison. Griffith traveled to North Korea in April 2019 to attend and speak at the Pyongyang Blockchain Conference. Despite his presentation being based on publicly available information, he was arrested by the U.S. Department of Justice in November 2019 for providing technical knowledge to the regime. In April 2022, he was fined $100,000 and sentenced to 63 months in prison.

Across Protocol, a cross-chain bridge built on an intents-based architecture, integrated support for ZKsync’s ZK Stack, enabling easy deployments and integrations for ZK Stack-based chains. The first to go live is Lens Chain, a SocialFi-focused Validium chain built on ZKsync. The ZK Stack is a modular framework designed for launching custom ZK-powered Layer 2 networks. It offers native account abstraction, data compression, EVM compatibility, and hyperscalability through shared provers and fractal scaling. The infrastructure allows ZK Stack chains to share liquidity and user bases seamlessly. Across now supports all major L2 tech stacks, including OP Stack and Arbitrum Orbit.

Biconomy Network, a permissionless cross-chain execution protocol, is now live on mainnet. The network enables developers to build fully composable, multi-chain applications without needing to write or deploy smart contracts. Using a single API, SDK, and user signature, developers can trigger complex, cross-chain transactions through a unified interface. At the core of the protocol is the Modular Execution Environment (MEE), which abstracts execution away from individual blockchains. The Biconomy Network introduces Supertransactions, a bundled set of instructions across multiple chains, signed once by the user and executed by a decentralized network of nodes.

Rath Finance introduced its DeFi-as-a-service protocol that enables apps, wallets, and fintech platforms to access DeFi yields through a unified backend infrastructure. Rath allows frontends to tap into yield sources across multiple protocols and chains. Rath uses an auctioned liquidity model, where DeFi protocols bid for user capital. Rath will support yield from staking, lending, and structured DeFi products from protocols like Aave, Fluid, Ethena, Resolv, Morpho, Lido, Rocket Pool, and Curve.

• Arbitrum DAO turns 2

• Ethdotorg is accepting stories

• Etherscan transaction highlights

• Pectra upgrade guide

• The Road to Self-Sovereignty

• Beefy introduces Escrowed Sonic

• Magic Eden acquires Slingshot

• Eigen S2 stake drop deadline

• Trump announces 90-day tariff pause

• Lighthouse outlines Holesky incident

• AMA on EIP-7251 MaxEB 

• Synthetix sUSD depeg

See disclosures