• MEV spam limits scalability.

• Next Billion Fellowship Cohort 6 applications.

• Early bird ticket sales for Devconnect ARG.

Flashbots published an article arguing that MEV has become the primary economic limit to blockchain scalability. Despite technical improvements in throughput, MEV-related spam continues to consume a large share of added capacity, effectively neutralizing scaling gains. Flashbots estimates that MEV bots consume 40–50% of blockspace, driving up base fees for users. Bots often send hundreds of transactions for a single low-margin arbitrage. While profitable for the bots, it’s wasteful for the network, burdening nodes and users. To use blockspace more efficiently, Flashbots proposes replacing the current spam auction system with programmable privacy and auction-based MEV markets.

The Ethereum Foundation announced the four fellows selected for the fifth cohort of the Next Billion Fellowship. The fellows are working on projects in areas spanning digital identity, climate finance, and emergency response. Each fellow will share their work with the broader community by the end of the program. Applications are now open for the sixth cohort, beginning in October 2025. The Next Billion Fellowship is a non-technical program designed to support individuals building human-centered projects that use Ethereum for social impact. Fellows receive financial support, mentorship, and access to Ethereum Foundation resources.

The Ethereum Foundation Devcon Team opened early bird ticket sales for Devconnect ARG, taking place November 17–22, 2025, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Early bird tickets are priced at $99 USD and are available until July 1 or until sold out. Discounted tickets are offered for Argentina locals, academics, LATAM residents, and youth. Core developers can also claim complimentary tickets. Devconnect is an Ethereum conference featuring the inaugural Ethereum World’s Fair, a six-day experience with app showcases, coworking spaces, and community hubs. LATAM-based organizers can apply for Destino Devconnect grants of up to $1,000, and anyone is welcome to propose Devconnect Improvement Proposals (DIPs) to enhance the attendee experience.

• Pplpleasr launches Shibuya

• OP Futarchy Contest Results

• Marble introduces offchain infra

• 180k validators signal 60m gas limit

• Blob usage continues to increase

• Allo Capital Network Coherence

• Robinhood presents: To Catch A Token

• PrismaX raises $11m

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

• Shopify adds USDC payments on Base.

• SharpLink Gaming acquires 176k ETH.

• EF donates $500k to Roman Storm’s defense.

• Etherealize outlines the bull case for ETH.

Shopify, a leading e-commerce platform, added support for USDC on Base as a payment option through Shopify Payments. Merchants on Shopify can now accept USDC on Base in their online stores, enabling fast, low-cost, onchain transactions. The integration uses a new open-source, escrow-style smart contract protocol on Base developed jointly by Shopify and Coinbase. Users can pay with USDC using any connected crypto wallet. Coinbase also plans to launch a 1% cash back reward for USDC payments in the U.S. later this year. The implementation includes new Payment APIs and supports standard commerce functions like order capture, tax calculation, and refunds. Developers can integrate Coinbase Payments on any platform.

SharpLink Gaming acquired 176,271 ETH for approximately $463 million at an average price of $2,626 per ETH, making it the largest publicly traded holder of ETH. Over 95% of the acquired ETH is now staked on Ethereum, generating yield for the company. SharpLink continues to operate its iGaming network. The company previously filed a Form S-3 with the SEC to register the right to sell up to $1 billion worth of securities under an at-the-market (ATM) equity program, with proceeds used primarily to purchase ETH as its primary treasury reserve asset, making SharpLink the first Nasdaq-listed firm to adopt the strategy.

The Ethereum Foundation donated $500,000 to support the legal defense of Roman Storm, a developer who contributed to the open-source code for Tornado Cash. The foundation is also matching up to $750,000 in community donations. Storm is currently preparing for trial, scheduled to begin on July 14, 2025. Storm was indicted in August 2023 on charges of money laundering, sanctions violations, and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business in connection with Tornado Cash. Prosecutors are continuing with the case despite the Texas Court of Appeals overturning sanctions on Tornado Cash smart contracts. OFAC also removed the contract addresses from its SDN list.

Etherealize released a new report outlining its bull case for ETH, framing it as “digital oil”: a yield-bearing, productive commodity that powers the Ethereum economy, including stablecoins, DeFi, Layer-2 infrastructure, and asset tokenization. The report argues that ETH is significantly undervalued due to the complexity of Ethereum’s broader functionality, regulatory overhangs now fading, and outdated valuation models. The report sets a short-term price target of $8,000 and a mid-term potential of $80,000, positioning ETH as a new institutional-grade reserve asset. With Ethereum securing over 80% of tokenized assets and more than $767B in total value, the report makes the case that ETH is not just a tech token but the foundational money of the next-generation financial system.

• Ethereum Job Board

• Fusaka EIPs overview

• Aave launches sGHO

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

• Morpho Labs introduces Morpho V2.

• Gelato introduces the Smart Wallet SDK.

• Spark announces its Ignition Airdrop.

• Optimism Season 8 governance updates.

Morpho Labs unveiled Morpho V2, the latest iteration of its lending platform, featuring an intent-based design enabling scalable fixed-rate, fixed-term loans. The upgrade introduces two core components: Morpho Markets V2, a peer-to-peer system for customizable loans, and Morpho Vaults V2, yield-generating vaults offering instant liquidity and allocation across any protocol. Morpho V2 aims to address current limitations in DeFi, such as the lack of custom loan terms, predictable rates, and unified liquidity. It’s also complementary to Morpho V1, which currently holds over $6 billion in TVL. The platform also aims to attract institutional capital to onchain lending. Morpho Labs will first launch Vaults V2, followed by Markets V2 once audits are complete. 

Smart contract automation platform Gelato Network introduced the Smart Wallet SDK, a modular toolkit designed for building wallet applications. The toolkit includes support for EIP-7702, gasless UX, and embedded wallet integrations. EIP-7702 enables externally owned accounts to be upgraded into programmable smart accounts. Gelato’s Multichain Gas Abstraction supports gas sponsorship and ERC-20 payments across 50 supported chains. The toolkit leverages Wallet-as-a-Service provider Dynamic to enable embedded wallets with social, email, or passkey login. Each module in the toolkit is vendor-agnostic and can be used independently.

Spark Protocol launched an Ignition airdrop, distributing 300 million SPK tokens to DeFi users involved with USDS-centric activities. Users will have six weeks to claim once the airdrop goes live, with unclaimed tokens moved to the Overdrive allocation phase. Eligible tokens include USDS, sUSDS, sUSDC, sDAI, xDAI, or SAI. Eligibility criteria include lending activities on SparkLend and other DeFi platforms, each earning "Ignition units" to determine the airdrop share. Snapshots were taken on April 15 of 2023, 2024, and 2025 across Ethereum Mainnet, Base, Arbitrum, and Gnosis. Spark Protocol currently holds over $6 billion in TVL. The SPK token is the governance token of the Spark Protocol ecosystem

Optimism announced updates to its Season 8 governance, which will prioritize stakeholder accountability, not just tokenholder power. Season 8 governance introduces a formal, onchain-verifiable model of Citizenship. The Citizens’ House, which uses a 1-member, 1-vote system, is now subdivided into end-users, apps, and chains. Optimism will implement governance-minimized decision-making by applying Optimistic Approvals to certain decisions. Optimism Season 8 governance will go live on July 24, 2025.

• Etherealize’s bull case for ETH

• Ethereum internship applications

• Stripe Connect stablecoin payments

• Coinbase introduces One Card

• Shopify to support USDC payments

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