• Fusaka scope freeze timeline.

• Optimism schedules Upgrade 13.

• Circle expands USDC in Japan.

• Paradigm releases a report on DeFi.

Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko shared an updated Fusaka upgrade timeline, targeting a scope freeze by April 10, 2025. Fusaka is the next upgrade after Pectra. Client teams are currently advised to provide feedback on which EIPs to include or remove. The Fusaka Meta EIP-7607 currently lists PeerDAS EIP-7594 and EOF Meta EIP-7692 scheduled for inclusion. EOF, a collection of approximately 11 EIPs designed to enhance code validation, has sparked debate, with some client teams advocating for its removal due to concerns over complexity. A Meta EIP acts as a central proposal, coordinating changes across both the execution and consensus layers for synchronized upgrades.

Optimism scheduled Upgrade 13 for OP Mainnet on April 1, 2025. The upgrade improves the Superchain’s fault proofs incident response, contract upgrade processes, and security mechanisms. The upgrade introduces a new system for upgrading L1 contracts across the Superchain, making contract upgrades more scalable and reliable. Improvements to the Fault Proofs Incident Response mechanism will enhance withdrawals and dispute handling. The upgrade also introduces the DeputyPauseModule, a Safe Module designed to enable quick, coordinated security responses via the Superchain-wide pause mechanism. Users are advised to complete any pending withdrawals to L1 before April 1 to avoid needing to submit a second proof. Alongside OP Mainnet, Ink Mainnet and Soneium Mainnet will also undergo the upgrade on April 1, 2025. OP Labs is also hosting a $250,000 audit competition on the latest Superchain interop upgrades to the OP Stack.

Circle, in partnership with Japanese fintech firm SBI Group, will launch USDC in Japan on March 26, 2025, through SBI’s cryptocurrency exchange, SBI VC Trade. Local exchanges, including Binance Japan, bitbank, and bitFlyer, also plan to list USDC. The launch is part of Circle’s expansion into Japan through Circle Japan. Circle and SBI Group aim to integrate USDC into Japan's digital finance landscape. The expansion will boost USDC’s market liquidity and foster institutional adoption. USDC is the second-largest stablecoin by market cap, with a total supply of $59 billion.

Crypto investment firm Paradigm published a report outlining the growth of DeFi in traditional finance. Based on a survey of 300 traditional finance professionals, the report highlights a growing trend toward blockchain adoption for tokenization aimed at improving efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing financial services. The report reveals that over two-thirds of traditional finance firms are actively exploring DeFi, with a strong preference for public, permissionless blockchains over private, permissioned ones. Firms see DeFi as a future cornerstone of their core businesses, but a lack of clear regulations remains the biggest barrier to DeFi adoption.

• Euler hits $1b in TVL

• Aave hits $10b TVL on Linea

• Hyperlane deploys on Soneium

• Ethresearch: Max-Blobs Flag

• Ethresearch: New blob pricing EIP

• Nillion goes live on mainnet

• OpenZeppelin Safe Utils interface

• OpenZeppelin Cairo v2.0.0-alpha.0

• OP Labs dev researcher role

• Flaunch integrates Privy

• Scroll Open winners

• Superform introduces v2

See disclosures

• OFAC deletes Tornado Cash from the SDN list.

• Rainbow wallet releases a token launcher.

• MegaETH releases its public testnet.

• Aragon introduces modular governance tools.

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has officially removed Tornado Cash smart contract addresses from its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, lifting sanctions on the privacy tool. OFAC has also taken Tornado Cash developer Roman Semenov and the protocol’s TORN token off the SDN list. The action follows a recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which overturned the Treasury’s sanctions on Tornado Cash smart contracts. OFAC initially sanctioned Tornado Cash on August 8, 2022, citing its use by North Korea’s Lazarus Group to launder stolen funds from the Ronin Hack. Despite the victory, prosecutors have not dismissed their case against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm.

Rainbow, a browser and mobile-based Ethereum wallet, introduced a token launcher, allowing users to create and deploy their own tokens across 12 EVM-compatible chains supported by Rainbow. Users can upload a logo, choose a ticker, and name their token to launch instantly. The tool also includes an airdrop feature, enabling users to distribute tokens to their Farcaster followers. The Rainbow token launcher is built on Optimism’s SuperchainERC20 token standard, which ensures tokens remain portable across multiple chains within the Superchain, eliminating the need for multiple bridged asset versions. Rainbow also unveiled its Phase 2 launch, following the introduction of Phase 1 in December 2023.

MegaETH, an EVM-compatible Layer 2, launched its public testnet for all users. The testnet features 20,000 TPS throughput, 1.7 gigagas/s performance, 1-second block times, and 10ms mini-blocks, which are lightweight, high-frequency blocks that enhance transaction processing while maintaining the same security. Unlike Base’s Flashblocks, MegaETH’s mini-blocks do not rely on TEEs. The network also introduces elastic block production, where blocks are only created when transactions exist, optimizing efficiency. As part of its testnet launch, MegaETH airdropped testnet ETH to over 190,000 wallets, allowing users to explore the network.

Aragon, a leading DAO infrastructure provider, launched its modular governance tooling platform, empowering organizations to create and distribute value. With the Aragon app, organizations can now deploy custom governance models tailored to their specific needs, balancing autonomy, accountability, and streamlined decision-making while minimizing bureaucracy. Built on the Aragon OSx framework, the platform features a no-code design, optimistic governance proposals, security councils, emergency upgrade mechanisms, and legal integrations. In a future release, Aragon plans to introduce universal token voting, crosschain governance, gasless transactions, and council elections.

Bitwise is seeking approval to enable staking in its Bitwise Ethereum (ETHW) ETF. On Thursday, the New York Stock Exchange Arca (NYSE) submitted filings to the SEC, requesting staking permission for the Spot Ethereum ETF.  It marks the fourth ETF seeking ETH staking approval, following 21Shares, Grayscale, and Fidelity, which all filed similar requests in recent months. Bitwise Ethereum ETF currently holds nearly $200 million in AUM.

• ACDC #153 Recap

• Pectra potential mainnet dates

• 2025 Ethstaker survey

• Tally supports EFP profiles

• Lighthouse v7.0.0-beta.4 release

• Teku v25.3.0 release

• Lodestar v1.28.0 release

• Conduit chains process 2 billion txs

• Chainsafe’s Holesky retrospective

• Status v2.33 release

• L2 interop updates

• SEC on PoW mining

• Aztec $150k grant applications

• Uniswap approves unleashed

See disclosures

• Coinbase Ethereum validator report.

• Hoodi Ethereum testnet goes live.

• Mantle Network integrates EigenDA.

• Ethereum PoS CO² savings.

Coinbase published its first Ethereum validator performance report, detailing its staking operations, including uptime, participation rate, client diversity, and validator distribution. The report highlights that Coinbase stakes 3.84 million ETH across 120,000 validators, representing 11.42% of total staked ETH. With a 99.75% uptime and participation rate, Coinbase has maintained a track record of zero-slashing events. Its validators are distributed across five countries—Japan, Singapore, Ireland, Germany, and Hong Kong—and operate on Lighthouse, Prysm, Geth, and Nethermind clients. Coinbase says it plans to release Ethereum validator performance metrics more regularly.

Hoodi, a new long-term Ethereum testnet, is now live, providing staking operators and infrastructure providers with a reliable environment for validator testing. The Pectra hard fork will activate on Hoodi on March 26, 2025. Hoodi replaces the Holesky testnet, which encountered extensive inactivity leaks and a prolonged exit queue due to a deposit contract configuration issue. Hoodi is now the primary testnet for infrastructure and staking provider testing. Holesky will be phased out by September 2025. Hoodi features a similar configuration and validator count to Ethereum. Meanwhile, Sepolia will continue to serve as the primary testnet for applications, with a planned replacement expected in 2026. Hoodi is named after the Hoodi metro station in India.

Mantle Network, an EVM-compatible rollup, has fully integrated EigenDA for data availability, making it the largest network by TVL to adopt EigenDA. The upgrade provides Mantle a 20x improvement in censorship resistance, expanding from 10 to over 200 operators securing data, significantly reducing downtime risks. EigenDA now safeguards $1.3 billion in TVL and enables 15MB/s throughput capacity for Mantle. EigenDA’s economic security is backed by 4.3 million restaked ETH and 391.6 million restaked EIGEN on EigenLayer. Mantle functions similarly to a Validium by processing both computation and data storage offchain.

• Ethereum PoS CO² savings

• Celo L2 hard fork party

• Liquity V2 audit competition

• Flaunch introduces revenue manager

• Base gas target is 29 Mgas/s

• Privy raises $40m in total funding

See disclosures