The Solidity team released version 0.8.35 of the Solidity compiler, delivering new language features, an experimental codegen pipeline, and early warnings ahead of the upcoming 0.9.0 release. The headline feature is ERC-7201, Solidity's first compile-time builtin. It automatically computes the base storage slot for ERC-7201 namespaced storage layouts, eliminating the need for developers to hardcode values.

The release also issues deprecation warnings for identifiers that will become reserved keywords in the 0.9.0 release. Developers are encouraged to audit their codebases now to avoid breaking changes in the next release. Solidity is the most widely used language for developing smart contracts on the EVM, introduced in 2015 and continuously developed alongside the protocol's roadmap toward the Hegotá hardfork.

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The Ethereum Foundation's Ecosystem Support Program (ESP) published its Q1 2026 funding allocation, distributing $9.8 million across 57 projects spanning protocol research, cryptography, zero-knowledge proofs, security, privacy, and developer tooling. The quarter reflected a continued emphasis on strengthening Ethereum's core infrastructure.

A significant portion of funding went toward zero-knowledge proof research and development, including formal verification of zkVM systems and optimizations to ZK trace construction. Security and cryptography also received sustained investment, with multiple grants targeting cryptanalysis of the Poseidon hash function used widely across ZK applications.

The Q1 allocation continues a pattern of EF infrastructure investment that includes the $1M Ethereum audit subsidy, the $1M Ethereum Security QF round, the ETH Rangers security program, and the Road To Devcon 8 Academic Program, all aligned with the EF's stated mandate to protect self-sovereign computation and enable coordination at scale.

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Visa expanded its stablecoin settlement pilot to five new chains, including Base and Polygon. The additions bring Visa's total supported blockchains to nine, joining existing support for Ethereum. The pilot aims to push Visa's stablecoin infrastructure into mainstream finance. The pilot has reached a $7 billion annualized run rate.

The pilot builds on regional rollouts across Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and CEMEA, as well as the recent expansion of USDC settlement to U.S. banks and over 130 stablecoin-linked card programs. Visa's multi-chain approach aims to give its partners more flexibility in how they access liquidity, while the network handles the underlying complexity of cross-chain settlement.

The expansion fits a broader trend of legacy financial infrastructure piloting Ethereum-aligned stablecoin rails. SWIFT is testing a stablecoin and onchain messaging system on Linea, and Polymarket recently announced its own native USD stablecoin to replace bridged USDC.e.

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