MetaMask Becomes Independent

It's Wednesday, September 9, 2026.

MetaMask becomes independent from Consensys. Etherscan launches a contract review skill. Devcon announces this year's community hubs. And Vitalik outlines recursive STARK mempools.

Advertise

The trusted Ethereum news briefing since 2022, reaching 10,000 combined subscribers. Want to reach the ETH Daily audience? Learn more at ethdaily.io/ads.

MetaMask Becomes Independent

Consensys, a long-running Ethereum infrastructure provider, announced a corporate reorganization that splits the organization into two independent entities. The existing corporation will rebrand as MetaMask and dedicate its operations entirely to its consumer self-custodial wallet. Founder Joseph Lubin will lead the consumer company as Chairman and CEO. Existing MetaMask user apps, accounts, private keys, and asset access remain unchanged, with no user action required.

Consensys and Linea will spin out into a newly formed company carrying the Consensys name and will be led by CEO Mike Kriak, President David Cunningham, and CPO Declan Fox, with Lubin serving as Executive Chairman. Consensys will concentrate on enterprise deployments, protocol development, and b2b distribution. It's speculated that the spin-out brings MetaMask closer to its token launch.

Etherscan Launches Contract Review Skill

Etherscan introduced a contract review AI agent skill, allowing agents to analyze verified smart contracts across EVM networks. The skill can be installed via npx from Etherscan's skills registry. Contract review generates reports covering architecture, contract identity, permissions, user flows, and code maps. It runs alongside Etherscan's Model Context Protocol server, CLI, and API suite with support for more than 60 EVM chains. Etherscan noted the generated reports serve as a source code explainer rather than a formal security audit.

Devcon 8 Community Hubs

The Ethereum Foundation Devcon team announced 14 community hubs for Devcon 8 in Mumbai, India, running November 3 to 6 as the final edition of the large-scale Ethereum developer conference. Community hubs serve as dedicated spaces within the venue where working groups host targeted sessions and workshops. Selected hubs span core focus areas including privacy, security, EIPs, P2P networking, token rights, prediction markets, and open source builders.

Vitalik On Recursive STARK Mempools

Vitalik Buterin outlined EIP-8288, a proposal for recursive STARK mempools targeted for inclusion in the I* hardfork following Hegotá. Building on EIP-8141 frame transactions, the design introduces dependency frames to separate intensive cryptographic verification from core onchain execution. Mempool nodes and block builders aggregate transaction envelopes, generating recursive STARKs that verify validity prerequisites offchain before including a consolidated proof in the block.

The architecture cuts onchain gas costs for quantum-safe signatures like SPHINCS- and privacy protocols from millions of gas to low tens of thousands, while keeping raw signature data offchain. EIP-8288 also enables private account abstraction and allows clients to adopt new signature algorithms without requiring hardforks.

Misc News

Hegota EIP tier lists are available from Lodestar, Geth, Ethrex, and Nethermind.

Trezor disclosed that its domain provider suffered a breach, resulting in phishing emails. Austin Griffith builds a wallet that requires blood to sign a transaction.

Coinbase connector is added to Grok. Bankr integrates Ethos score. Jacob Horne departs Zora. Katana hits $2 billion in volume. And Liquida launches its repo market on Arbitrum (testnet).

Disclaimer: Content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or other professional advice. No representations or warranties are made as to accuracy, completeness, or timeliness. Use of this content is at your own risk, and you should consult a qualified professional before making decisions. No fiduciary or advisory relationship is created