MakerDAO Rebrands To Sky
The rebrand introduces an optional migration from DAI to a new stablecoin, USDS, and from MKR to a new governance token, SKY
MakerDAO rebrands to Sky.
Ethereum Foundation spend breakdown.
Node Operator Risk Standard (NORS).
Balancer expands to the Superchain.
MakerDAO, the largest CDP-based stablecoin protocol, has rebranded to Sky, focusing on user accessibility. The rebrand introduces an optional migration from DAI to a new stablecoin, USDS, and from MKR to a new governance token, SKY. Sky.money will serve as the user interface for token migrations, staking, and CDP creation. The rebrand also introduces native token rewards in SKY tokens for users who stake USDS. The upgrade is set to go live on September 18th. MakerDAO's SubDAOs, like Spark Protocol, were also rebranded to Stars. Each Star will also have its own governance token. Certain protocol features are restricted in regions such as the US.
Ethereum Foundation member Josh Stark provided an overview of the foundation's internal and external spending. Internal spending includes various EF teams like Geth, Privacy & Scaling Explorations (PSE), and Solidity, while external spending primarily covers grants, such as those issued by the Ecosystem Support Program. Stark noted that internal spending represents about 38% of the budget, with external spending accounting for 62%. L1 R&D remains a key focus of the financial spend. The largest-growing spending category is "New Institutions," which are organizations designed to support the Ethereum ecosystem over the long term. Vitalik highlighted that new institutions include organizations like L2Beat and the Decentralization Research Center. The Ethereum Foundation expects to publish a full spending report before Devcon SEA.
The Liquid Collective introduced the Node Operator Risk Standard (NORS), a formal certification focused on attesting to risk management for Ethereum staking infrastructure providers. The certification covers critical areas such as slashing prevention, validator diversity, and secure key management. NORS follows the AICPA audit standards and meets the requirements of traditional institutional certifications, simplifying the process of evaluation of staking infrastructure. NORS aims to offer a clear and measurable framework for Ethereum node operators. The Liquid Collective is an enterprise consortium aimed at driving staking adoption among institutions.
Balancer is expanding its DEX to the Superchain, starting with deployments on Mode and Fraxtal. The launch includes Balancer’s 80/20 liquidity pools and interest-bearing stableswap pools, which optimize liquidity, reduce impermanent loss, and enhance incentives. Aura Finance, a protocol built on Balancer, is also now live on Base. Balancer is now part of Optimism’s Superfest incentives campaign.
Ethereum Client Diversity Improves
Geth no longer holds over 2/3 market share as the supermajority client, improving client diversity on Ethereum.
Ethereum EL client diversity improves.
OP Stack supports Circle’s bridged USDC standard.
Superchain generates 14,000 ETH in revenue.
Basenames surpass 200k registrations.
Vitalik Buterin highlighted that no execution client holds more than two-thirds of the market share, marking a significant improvement in client diversity for the network. Geth had previously dominated as the supermajority execution layer client with over 70% market share earlier this year. Its market share has dropped to less than 60%. The improvement follows a series of client transitions by major staking providers, including Coinbase Cloud and Allnodes. A critical bug in a client with over two-thirds market share could potentially lead to a network split. Ethereum's multi-client architecture serves to mitigate the risks associated with relying on a single client.
The OP Stack now supports Circle's Bridged USDC Standard, enabling OP Stack chains to implement an upgradeable version of bridged USDC using the canonical OP Stack bridge. The standard allows for a seamless transition to native USDC in the future, without requiring any code changes, if Circle chooses to deploy it. The Bridged USDC Standard tackles the issue of fragmented USDC versions across different chains. Typically, new chains establish stablecoin liquidity before a native version is introduced. The integration reduces liquidity fragmentation by eliminating the need for users to migrate their bridged USDC to native USDC once it goes live.
The Optimism Collective has generated over 14,000 ETH in revenue from OP Stack chains of the Superchain as part of its sequencer revenue-sharing model. Each chain in the Superchain is required to contribute the greater of either 15% of gross profits or 2.5% of total sequencer revenue to the Optimism Collective. In exchange, members of the Superchain gain access to shared upgrades, collective governance, and retractive funding grants for their ecosystems. Superchain members will also benefit from Optimism's upcoming native interoperability architecture. There are currently 17 OP Stack chains that are part of the Superchain.
Sony Introduces Soneium L2
A general-purpose L2 built on the OP Stack aiming to onboard mainstream users and applications to web3.
Sony introduces the Soneium L2.
Quadratic Accelerator releases its whitepaper.
Applications open for Optimism Retro Funding 5.
The next upgrade after Pectra is named Fusaka.
Sony Block Solutions Labs introduced Soneium, a new Layer 2 chain built on the OP Stack. Soneium is designed as a general-purpose chain for applications across entertainment, gaming, and finance. The project aims to bring mainstream users into Web3 by integrating with Sony’s existing products and services. Soneium is preparing to launch its initial testnet, providing developers with the opportunity to build on the network. The project is also onboarding infrastructure providers like Chainlink, Alchemy, Circle, and The Graph. The Astar Network, developed by Startale Labs, will also integrate its assets with Soneium. As part of the Superchain, Soneium will contribute to the Superchain Collective, implement shared upgrades, and allocate a portion of its sequencer revenue to retroactive funding.
Tokenization platform Quadratic Accelerator released its whitepaper for the Quadratic Acceleration (q/acc) Protocol, a tokenization mechanism that merges Augmented Bonding Curves (ABC) with Quadratic Funding (QF) to create a fair token distribution for new projects. The protocol uses quadratic funding to enable communities to become stakeholders by supporting projects and receiving protocol tokens in return. The Augmented Bonding Curve (ABC) directs revenue from token issuance to a reserve pool and collects a small fee from every transaction to provide a continuous revenue stream for projects. The Quadratic Accelerator is now accepting applications for its first cohort of projects, offering $50,000 in grants on Polygon.
Applications are now open for Optimism’s fifth retroactive funding round. The round features 8 million OP tokens in retroactive grants for contributors of the OP Stack. Eligible projects include Ethereum core contributions, such as clients, OP Stack research and development, and OP Stack tooling. Applications will close on September 5th.
Fusaka upgrade after Pecta
Court rules in favor of Kraken
Basenames surpass 100k registrations
DAO.eth subnames
Ddocs v0.1 updates