• Research on increasing Ethereum's blob count.

• Arbitrim introduces Trailblazer AI grants.

• Applications open for the Next Billion Fellowship.

• Starknet v0.13.3 goes live on mainnet.

Sam Calder-Mason from the ethPandaOps team released a research article examining the feasibility of increasing Ethereum's blob count using community-contributed data on block and blob arrival times. The analysis indicates that Ethereum could support an increase in the target/max blob count from 3/6 to 4/8 or 6/9, demonstrating strong performance even within current bandwidth limitations. The research also underscored that MEV Relay nodes handle higher blob counts more effectively than locally built blocks, thanks to their superior bandwidth and parallel distribution capabilities. However, it noted that bandwidth remains a key constraint for solo stakers. The study also suggests that higher blob counts may be achievable with improvements like EIP-7623.

Arbitrum introduced Trailblazer, a new grant program allocating $1,000,000 to support builders developing specialized AI agents and onchain AI products on the Arbitrum network. Eligible projects can receive up to $10,000 in funding, provided they have AI products in production with onchain integrations on Arbitrum. In addition to financial support, participants will gain access to mentorship, Arbitrum’s developer community, and promotional opportunities to help amplify their projects. Developers with active AI projects are encouraged to apply via the application form.

The Ethereum Foundation is now accepting applications for the fifth Cohort of the Next Billion Fellowship. The fellowship is a 6-month non-technical apprenticeship that supports individuals working on a personal project that uses Ethereum to empower a better future. The key requirement for applicants is being able to publicly represent and share their work with the community. Next Billion Fellowship provides access to relevant experts, resources from the EF, and financial support. Applications are open between now and January 12, 2025. The program will run from April 2025 to October 2025 with the sixth cohort starting in September 2025.

Starknet deployed v0.13.3 to mainnet, an upgrade introducing significant improvements that lower transaction fees and data costs by optimizing the compression and submission of state updates to Ethereum L1. The upgrade reduces blob gas costs across the network by a factor of 5x. Earlier this week, Starknet launched the first phase of STRK token staking on mainnet, enabling users to earn rewards by either becoming validators or delegating their STRK tokens to validators.

• Aave hits $33b in deposits

• Challenge with Tornado Cash ruling

• Coinbase will not support Celo hard fork

• Revisiting the world computer

• BlackRock (ETHA) Daily ETH Flows: +55.6m

• Court overturns Tornado Cash sanctions.

• Flashbots launches BuilderNet.

• EigenLayer introduces EigenGov.

• WalletConnect launches its WCT token.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of Tornado Cash, concluding that OFAC exceeded its authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) when it sanctioned Tornado Cash smart contracts. The court determined that Tornado Cash’s immutable smart contracts do not qualify as "property" under IEEPA because they cannot be owned, controlled, or altered by any party, including their creators. The decision overturns a prior ruling from August 2023, when a U.S. district court judge sided with OFAC in a Coinbase-backed lawsuit challenging the sanctions. The lawsuit was initially filed in September 2022 by six individuals affected by the sanctions. Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase, says that the sanctioned smart contracts should now be removed from the sanctions list, allowing U.S. persons to resume using the privacy protocol.

Flashbots launched BuilderNet, a new decentralized block-building network for Ethereum aimed at addressing centralization, improving censorship resistance, and distributing power more equitably within the ecosystem. Initially operated by Flashbots, Beaverbuild, and Nethermind, BuilderNet uses Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) to process encrypted order flows securely and distribute MEV rewards among participants. Block builders, the entities responsible for assembling transaction bundles into blocks and submitting them to validators, currently face centralization challenges. Flashbots reports that over 90% of Ethereum blocks are built by just two parties: Beaverbuild and rsync. BuilderNet enables multiple operators to collaborate on block building, ensuring secure sharing and processing of orderflow. Contributors are then compensated with refunds based on the value they add to the blocks.

EigenLayer introduced EigenGov, a governance framework designed to facilitate decision-making among EIGEN holders, developers, operators, and stakers. EigenGov derives legitimacy from EIGEN holders while delegating decision-making authority to councils. EIGEN holders retain the power to veto council decisions. Instead of traditional delegation systems, tokenholders endorse council candidates based on expertise. EigenGov also employs a dual-track model: a Core Track for stable, production-ready governance focused on security and robustness, and a Vision Track for experimenting with governance solutions in a controlled environment.

WalletConnect launched its WCT governance token. Over 160,000 wallets are eligible to claim a share of 50 million WCT tokens, split between 30 million for users and 20 million for contributors. The allocations were based on network usage, onchain activity, and past airdrop behavior. While tokens are initially non-transferable, users can decide to stake them for 1 week to 2 years with staking rewards beginning December 19th.

• Uniswap launches $15.5m bug bounty

• Onchainkit introduces Wallet Modal

• Optimism announces Retro Funding changes

• Future of Superchain native interop

• CFTC to regulate Digital Assets

• Ithaca introduces EXP-0002

• Ethereum Protocol Attackathon goes live.

• Voting opens for ZIP-001.

• Farcaster Frames V2 specification.

• Phantom supports Base.

The Ethereum Foundation introduced the first-ever Ethereum Protocol Attackathon, a large-scale crowdsourced security audit contest hosted on Immunefi. With a $1.5 million prize pool, the competition invites both auditing firms and individual security researchers to identify critical vulnerabilities in the Ethereum protocol. The event runs from November 25, 2024, to January 20, 2025. The Attackathon Academy offers technical walkthroughs and educational content to prepare participants. During the competition, researchers can hunt for bugs while having direct access to project teams. After the event, Immunefi will showcase the results through a leaderboard, detailed reports, and NFT awards.

Voting is now open for the first ZKsync Improvement Proposal (ZIP), titled "Protocol Defense." The proposal focuses on improving code readability, maintainability, gas efficiency, and compatibility with Ethereum standards. Key updates include adopting custom errors, implementing stricter linting rules, introducing floating compiler versions, and applying minor gas optimizations. The proposal also enables chains to charge for the overhead of Layer 1 interactions. The enhancements are fully backward-compatible with no disruption to existing contracts or applications. The changes were audited by OpenZeppelin with no critical or high-severity issues found. Voting will remain open until December 2nd.

Farcaster introduced the Frames V2 specification, a revamped standard designed to tackle developer challenges, such as slow image rendering and limited functionality for interactive apps. The update enables developers to build interactive apps that support onchain transactions, user notifications, and enhanced interactivity. Frames are applications that are seamlessly integrated into Farcaster apps. Developers can leverage Frames to create dynamic features and responsive in-cast commands. With the Frames SDK, developers gain access to tools for saving frames, initiating onchain transactions, and enabling wallet interactions. Key updates include context access, action APIs, and Ethereum wallet provider integration. Currently, in a draft stage, Frames v2 is set to launch in the coming week.

Mobile and browser-based wallet Phantom rolled out support for transactions on Base for all users. Phantom users can now seamlessly swap tokens between Base and Solana, as well as interact with Base's DeFi and NFT applications. The addition makes Base the first Layer 2 network supported on Phantom.

• Get Involved with Ethereum

• MetaMask suffers RPC outage

• Same Slot vs. Next Slot Inclusion List

• Hashdex S-1 ETH/BTC Index ETF

• Perena launches Numeraire stable pool