• EIP-7935 to increase the gas limit.

• Arbitrum supports custom gas tokens.

• Flashbots releases MEV-Boost v1.9.

• ZKsync exploiter returns funds.

Ethereum developers—Sophia Gold, Toni Wahrstätter, Carl Beek, Alex Stokes, and Dankrad Feist, among others—introduced EIP-7935, a proposal to test a raise in Ethereum's gas limit to 150 million by the Fusaka hard fork. The move aims to enhance Layer 1 execution scalability without introducing new protocol features. Currently, the Ethereum gas limit is 36 million, up from 30 million earlier this year. Increasing the limit allows each block to include more data, thereby improving network throughput. However, the significant increase will require rigorous testing by execution layer (EL) client teams, as higher gas limits may expose performance issues.

Arbitrum now supports custom gas tokens on rollup chains that use Ethereum for data availability. The update allows developers to designate any ERC-20 token to serve as the native gas token for transaction fees on their Arbitrum rollup. The custom tokens can now serve for gas mechanics and governance models. While the functionality has been available on Arbitrum AnyTrust chains, today's release expands that flexibility to Arbitrum rollups, enabling more secure and customizable deployments. Validators may still need ETH to cover operational costs on Ethereum mainnet, such as data posting or contract interactions.

Flashbots released MEV-Boost v1.9, a Pectra-compatible upgrade of its open-source software for Ethereum beacon chain validators. This update is required for all validators using MEV-Boost ahead of the upcoming Pectra hard fork, scheduled for May 7th. MEV-Boost enables validators to earn higher staking rewards by selling blockspace to an open marketplace, offering greater returns than base ETH rewards alone. Flashbots is a research and development organization focused on enabling fair and transparent MEV extraction. It also provides an MEV-protected RPC endpoint that Ethereum users can use for secure transactions.

• ZKsync hacker returns funds

• Pectra hard fork recap

• ZORA token goes live 1

• Symbiotic raises $29m Series A

• Ethereum ecosystem in Argentina

• FOSS token deployer

Disclosure: Content is for informational purposes only, not endorsement or investment advice. The accuracy of information is not guaranteed.

• White paper for Boundless Protocol.

• Chaos Labs releases SVR dashboard.

• Tally raises an $8 million Series A.

RISC Zero published a white paper introducing Boundless, a new protocol designed to scale zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) compute across chains. Boundless establishes an open marketplace where provers compete to fulfill ZK proof requests, with payments settled automatically upon proof verification. The protocol aims to make ZK-powered compute accessible, scalable, and trustless. Boundless enables computations to be performed by a single node and efficiently verified by all others without re-execution. Boundless streamlines ZK integration for developers through support for mainstream programming languages, simplified proof aggregation, and built-in cross-chain capabilities. The protocol also inherits security properties of the underlying chains.

Blockchain security firm Chaos Labs launched a new Smart Value Recapture (SVR) Monitoring Platform that provides real-time analytics on Chainlink-powered SVR activity. SVR is a mechanism that allows DeFi protocols like Aave to capture surplus oracle extractable value (OEV) generated during liquidations. The dashboard breaks down Aave’s SVR profits, Chainlink’s involvement in the process, and participation from block builders. It also details the SVR recapture rate by liquidation size and collateral asset. Since integrating SVR, Aave has processed 63 SVR liquidations, generating over $10,000 in revenue for the Aave DAO.

Onchain governance platform Tally has raised $8 million in a Series A funding round to expand the Tally Protocol and accelerate value accrual for protocol tokens. Widely adopted across the Ethereum ecosystem, Tally supports major projects including Arbitrum, ENS, Uniswap, zkSync, EigenLayer, and Obol. To address low voter participation, Tally launched Liquid Staked Tokens (tLSTs) last year, which enables users to earn passive rewards while retaining full governance rights.

• History of Aztec

• AIP-20: Aztec Token Standard

Disclosure: Content is for informational purposes only, not endorsement or investment advice. The accuracy of information is not guaranteed.

• Vitalik proposes replacing EVM with RISC-V.

• Circle introduces the Circle Payments Network.

• ZKsync sends an onchain message to its exploiter.

• Zerion launches Zerion Copilot.

Vitalik Buterin proposed replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with RISC-V, a widely adopted open-source instruction set architecture, with the goal of future-proofing Ethereum Layer 1 scalability. The EVM is the runtime environment in Ethereum’s execution layer that executes smart contracts and maintains state. According to Vitalik, adopting RISC-V could improve prover efficiency by up to 100x, significantly reducing zero-knowledge (ZK) proving costs and simplifying the execution layer. Vitalik notes that smart contracts could still be written in Solidity or Vyper, and existing EVM contracts would remain fully compatible with RISC-V.

Circle introduced the Circle Payments Network (CPN), a global settlement infrastructure platform for financial institutions to enable near-instant, cross-border payments using Circle’s USDC and EURC stablecoins. The network offers a compliant, programmable, and efficient alternative to traditional cross-border payment systems. CPN supports invoice payments, payroll and contractor payouts, remittances, treasury operations, and liquidity management. The platform is designed for banks, fintechs, and payment service providers, all of whom must meet compliance standards. The network will launch in a limited release starting May 2025.

ZKsync sent an onchain message to the attacker who exploited over 100 million ZK tokens from its airdrop contract. ZKsync is offering a 10% bounty if 90% of the stolen funds are returned within 72 hours. The exploit, which occurred last week, was caused by a compromised admin key used to mint unclaimed tokens. ZKsync noted that approximately 70% of the stolen assets remain on ZKsync Era. In response, Matter Labs—ZKsync Era’s sole sequencer—has implemented transaction filtering to block the exploiter’s addresses from transferring out funds. The attacker has not returned the funds at the time of writing.

Zerion launched Zerion Copilot, an AI-powered wallet assistant that helps users analyze wallets, discover yield opportunities, rebalance their portfolios, suggest actions, and identify trending tokens. Built on the Loomlay no-code AI platform, the feature is now live in beta.

• ZORA launching on 23rd April

• Unichain 5th largest rollup by TVL

• Coinbase vs SEC update

• Prysm v6.0.0 release

• Tomasz comments on EF priorities

Disclosure: Content is for informational purposes only, not endorsement or investment advice. The accuracy of information is not guaranteed.