Consensys Raises Block Gas Limit
Consensys joins over 42% of validators signaling a block gas limit above 30 million gas.
Consensys raises the gas limit on its validators.
Symbiotic goes live on Ethereum mainnet.
Andre Cronje reveals SEC investigations in 2021.
Geth is looking to hire a software engineer.
Listen on: Apple | Spotify | Castbox | YouTube
Consensys announced that it increased the gas limit for its ConsenSys and MetaMask validators, aligning with more than 40% of Ethereum validators now signaling support for a higher gas limit to improve network capacity. Coinbase adopted this increase in December 2024. Data from gaslimit.pics reveals that over 42% of validators now signal a gas limit exceeding 30 million. Raising the block gas limit allows each block to contain more data, which improves transaction throughput and allows developers to build more complex applications. The adjustment does not require a hard fork; validators can implement the change simply by modifying their node configurations. When more than 50% signal for an increase, the block gas limit will automatically increase.
Symbiotic, a restaking-based shared security protocol, is now live on Ethereum mainnet. The launch includes its immutable core contracts, configurable slashing mechanisms, and Vaults—specialized smart contracts that enable flexible stake delegation while maintaining security through slashing. Vaults facilitate seamless collaboration between stakers, operators, and networks, allowing stake to be shared across multiple ecosystems. With a modular framework, Symbiotic empowers networks to configure their security parameters, including collateral assets, asset ratios, node operator selection, rewards, and slashing mechanisms. Since opening for deposits in June 2024, Symbiotic has attracted over $1.8 billion in TVL, with 50 networks, 78 operators, and 55 Vaults integrated.
Andre Cronje, co-founder of Sonic Labs and creator of Yearn Finance, revealed that the SEC began investigating Yearn Finance in 2021. Despite having no token sales, no fundraising, and no personal financial benefit, the inquiries lasted multiple years focusing on potential securities violations. Cronje explained that the investigations drained his time, energy, and financial resources, ultimately forcing him to step away from public development in the DeFi space. Having previously been advised by investigators to remain silent about the investigation, Cronje says that changes in the SEC’s new direction have now allowed him to share his experience.
Geth, the most widely used Ethereum execution client, is hiring a software engineer to join its team. The role involves developing Ethereum execution layer protocol features, contributing to the Ethereum protocol roadmap, and enhancing Geth's reliability and efficiency. The position is fully remote, though there is a preference for candidates located near the Ethereum Foundation offices in Boulder or Berlin. Paradigm is also offering a $20K bounty for successfully referring a candidate for the role.
Paradigm donates $1.25m to Roman Storm
ai16z rebrands to ElizaOS
ConnectKit hits 1m downloads
Aerodrome VVV investigation
Venice AI Launches VVV On Base
Users can stake the native token to gain ongoing, private, and uncensored access to the Venice API.
Venice AI launches VVV on Base.
Abstract goes live on mainnet.
ethPandaOps releases Contributoor.
Solady releases v0.1.
Listen on: Apple | Spotify | Castbox | YouTube
Venice AI, an AI platform founded by Erik Voorhees, introduced VVV, its native token on Base, alongside the public release of the Venice API. By staking VVV, users gain ongoing, private, and uncensored access to the Venice API for generative text, images, and code. Stakers also earn yield through token emissions. The platform supports advanced AI models, including Llama 3.3, Qwen 2.5 Coder, and Deepseek AI. As part of its launch, 50% of the 100 million VVV token supply was airdropped to Venice users and crypto AI community projects. Since its launch in May 2024, Venice has attracted over 400,000 registered users.
Abstract, a consumer-focused rollup built on ZKsync’s ZK stack and EigenDA for data availability, is now live on mainnet. With the launch, users can earn XP and badges by completing tasks on the network. It also includes the Abstract Global Wallet, a cross-application smart contract wallet powered by the embedded wallet provider Privy, enabling seamless interactions across apps and services. Users can manage their Abstract Global Wallet, track and earn XP and badges, and discover leading apps and creators in the ecosystem via the Abstract Portal. Among the applications currently live on the network are Relay, Jumper, and Zero Lend. Abstract aims to onboard the next era of consumer crypto with a user-friendly experience.
The Ethereum DevOps team, ethPandaOps, launched Contributoor, a streamlined companion tool for beacon nodes designed to monitor and gather Ethereum network data. Tailored for home stakers, Contributoor enables stakers to contribute valuable data to support Ethereum research and network improvements. Operating as a sidecar process alongside a beacon node, Contributoor collects and securely forwards essential metrics such as block events, sidecar events, chain reorganizations, and finalized checkpoints. The data is leveraged by researchers to identify issues early and improve client implementations.
Vectorized.eth unveiled Solady v0.1, a gas-optimized Solidity library designed to boost smart contract performance. Solady provides a collection of efficient, reusable building blocks to help developers create secure and high-performing smart contracts. Developed by Vectorized with funding support from Coinbase, Solady aims to reinforce ecosystem-wide reliability while showcasing a strong commitment to advancing open-source public goods.
Paradigm on Etheruem acceleration
ERC-7802 token deployments
Introducing Ethproofs
EIP: hardware and bandwidth specs
Safe announces Agentathon
WLF buys more ETH
OpenSea 2 beta release
FABRIC Unifying Rollup Standards
FABRIC is a collaborative initiative aimed at developing a neutral and minimal set of standards for rollup infrastructure.
Rollup teams coordinate on standards.
Vitalik reflects on Ethereum scaling.
Uniswap experiments with futarchy.
Listen on: Apple | Spotify | Castbox | YouTube
During the 17th Ethereum Sequencing and Preconfirmations Call, rollup teams such as Optimism, Namechain, Arbitrum, and Scroll expressed their support for based rollups, native rollups, and FABRIC, a collaborative initiative aimed at developing a neutral and minimal set of standards for rollup infrastructure. FABRIC aims to help stakeholders agree on unified standards. Based rollups leverage Ethereum L1 for transaction sequencing, while native rollups leverage Ethereum L1 for execution and settlement. FABRIC aims to enhance interoperability and accelerate the scalability of Ethereum.
In a new blog post, Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin reflected Ethereum’s L1 and L2 roadmap, focusing on scalability and interoperability, while maintaining decentralization. He emphasized Ethereum’s technical and social innovation, noting its reliance on community-driven development, and described ETH as a "triple-point asset" for payments, staking, and as a store of value. Buterin doubled down on scaling primarily through L2 solutions while scaling L1 by increasing blob space and the gas limit. He noted that with increased blobs, PeerDAS, 2D sampling, and data compression, Ethereum could reach 100,000 TPS onchain. He also calls for stronger L2 security, faster L2 deposit and withdrawal times, and standardization to enables a unified user experience and reduce fragmentation. Buterin also called for incentivizing ETH usage across L1 and L2. Lastly, he called on teams, developers, and community members to collaborate and innovate to sustain Ethereum’s role as a leading blockchain platform.
The Uniswap Foundation and Optimism Foundation are collaborating to experiment with futarchy as a governance mechanism. Futarchy is a form of governance that uses prediction markets to guide decision-making. It promotes data-driven governance and aligns incentives by rewarding participants for accurate predictions. The experimental tests will leverage a platform called Butter to allow the community predict the impact of grants in both ecosystems. Optimism will run a futarchy contest to predict grant outcomes, where accurate forecasts will win OP token rewards. Uniswap will run Conditional Funding Markets (CFMs) where forecasters deposit USDC to predict grant outcomes for projects on Unichain.
Besu 25.1.0 release
Public mempool is dead
41% validators increased Gas Limit
Banks can hold crypto
ethPandaOps releases The Lab
Aave on Gnosis hits $108m TVL