• SSV validator slashing event.

• Polygon PoS finality delay,

• Kiln exits Ethereum validators.

• Ethena expands sUSDe.

A number of Ethereum validators running on the SSV Network experienced a slashing event. SSV Network pinned the cause to operator-side errors, not any issue with the SSV protocol. The first incident involved a single validator, which was penalized by approximately 0.3 ETH for a double-signing violation. About 90 minutes later, a second incident affected a cluster of 39 validators. The second incident was traced to validator keys being active simultaneously in two different infrastructures, which Ankr acknowledged as an internal key management error during maintenance. The SSV protocol and infrastructure were not compromised, and no action is required from SSV operators or stakers. The slashed validators will automatically exit from the active validator set.

Polygon PoS experienced a delay in finality that caused some RPC nodes to stall and extended transaction finalization times by 10–15 minutes. While the chain itself continued producing blocks, disruptions caused RPC endpoints to go down for providers, including Polygonscan, which stopped showing new blocks. The root cause of the delay was a bug in the Bor/Erigon client. Polygon deployed a fix with Bor v2.2.11-beta2 and executed a Heimdall hard fork at block 28,525,000. The hard fork was completed successfully, milestones and state sync resumed, and consensus finalization has been fully restored.

Kiln Finance, a multichain staking infrastructure provider, is exiting all of its Ethereum validators as a precautionary measure after identifying a potential infrastructure compromise. The process will take between 10 and 42 days, depending on the validator exit queue, followed by up to 9 days for withdrawals. The ETH will likely be restaked once Kiln completes its infrastructure hardening. No action is required from end users. The move follows an incident where hackers exploited a vulnerability in Kiln’s API used by SwissBorg for Solana staking, leading to the theft of about $41 million in SOL. Kiln has paused certain services amid the exploit.

Ethena Labs expanded sUSDe to 18 chains through an integration with LayerZero’s OVault. With the integration, users can stake USDe from any supported chain and seamlessly receive sUSDe on any other chain in a single click. The OVault supports most Optimism ecosystem chains, including OP Mainnet, Base, Mode Network, and Frax, alongside numerous LayerZero-connected chains. Unstaking requires bridging back to Ethereum. USDe is the third-largest stablecoin by market capitalization.

• MegaMafia 2.0 projects

• Giveth launches Causes QF Round

• Blob count hits 5 blobs/block

• LINEA token goes live

• BuidlGuild batch 20 cohort

• Expected EIPs in Glamsterdam

• Trent comments on core dev funding

• Ethereum decoupling argument

• ENS adopts SEAL safe harbor

• DABEAT liveness page

• Celo activates Ice Cream hardfork

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

• Protocol Guild reduces core dev pay gap.

• Upbit unveils its L2 on the OP Stack.

• Ronin selects to build on the OP Stack.

• Nasdaq seeks SEC approval for tokenization.

The Protocol Guild, a collective supporting ~190 Ethereum protocol contributors, released a report on the compensation gap facing developers who maintain critical infrastructure. The survey found that contributors earn 50–60% less than market offers, with ~40% receiving outside job offers in the past year. Protocol Guild funding accounted for about one-third of median developer compensation, filling the gap left by employers who don’t offer equity or tokens. By funding individuals rather than teams, PG helps preserve credible neutrality and support the long-term sustainability of Ethereum’s core development. 

Upbit, South Korea’s largest centralized crypto exchange, announced its own Layer 2 network built on the OP Stack, coined Global Infrastructure for Web3 Access (Giwa). Giwa is already live on the Sepolia testnet, though a mainnet launch date has not yet been announced. The OP Stack, an open-source framework developed by OP Labs, allows anyone to deploy a customized L2. By leveraging this stack, Giwa aims to deliver one-second block times and low transaction fees to attract users.

Ronin Network announced that it will build its gaming-focused L2 on the OP Stack, following approval by Ronin Governing Validators. The migration from an L1 to an OP Stack L2 will bring reduced block times of 100–200 ms and scale capacity up to 1 million TPS throughput. Ronin will join the Superchain alongside Base, Ink, and Unichain, gaining shared upgrades, future native interoperability, and contributing sequencer fees. As a Superchain member, Ronin builders will also be eligible for future retro funding rounds. Ronin has also secured milestone-based grants from the Optimism Foundation, Eigen Labs, and Boundless Foundation. No action is required for users during the migration, and $RON will continue to be supported for gas fees.

Nasdaq, the world’s second-largest stock exchange, has filed with the SEC seeking approval to list tokenized securities. The proposal would integrate tokenization into Nasdaq’s regulated markets while maintaining existing investor protections.

• Forkcast adds ACD calls

• ACDT #52 minutes

• Danny Ryan on privacy

• Arbitrum H1 2025 update

• Across v4 migrates to Succinct

• Remix v0.71.0 release

• Coinbase introduces x402 Bazaar

• Base App updates

• Katana introduces vKAT armory

• L2Beat launches partner fund

• NPM exploit only drains $30

• Flowstate Defipunk vault

• SharpLink activates stock buybacks

• BitMine buys 10,300 ETH

• Gveth activates Gitcoin GraphQL

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

• Fidelity tokenized fund on Ethereum.

• BitMine’s $9b ETH treasury.

• NPM supply chain attack.

• MegaETH USDm stablecoin.

Fidelity Investments quietly launched the Fidelity Digital Interest Token (FDIT), an ERC-20 token on Ethereum representing shares in its Fidelity Treasury Digital Fund (FYOXX). The tokenized fund, backed by short-term U.S. Treasury securities and cash equivalents, has over $200 million in AUM with a 0.2% management fee. FDIT competes with BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, which has over $2.2 billion in AUM, targeting institutional investors in the $7.4 billion tokenized treasury market. Custodied by BNY Mellon, FDIT offers 24/7 onchain settlement and can be used in DeFi. Fidelity has not yet made a public announcement on its tokenized fund.

BitMine Immersion Technologies Inc. purchased an additional 202,469 ETH in the past week, bringing its ETH treasury to 2,069,443 ETH, worth about $9 billion. BitMine remains the world’s largest corporate holder of ETH. The company aims to acquire 5% of the total ETH supply. BitMine also announced a $20 million strategic investment into Eightco Holdings (NASDAQ: OCTO), which is adopting Worldcoin (WLD) as its primary treasury asset. It marks BitMine’s “Moonshot” investment strategy, aligning with the Ethereum ecosystem. Following the announcement, WLD surged ~45% from $1 to $1.5. 

A major supply chain attack struck the Node Package Manager (NPM) registry after a maintainer’s account was compromised through a phishing email. Attackers were able to inject malware into 18 popular JavaScript packages. The malicious code intercepts crypto transactions by swapping wallet addresses, tricking users into signing transfers to attacker-controlled accounts. The attack is coined as one of the largest software supply chain attacks in history. The attack impacts projects that pulled fresh versions of the software libraries during the ~2.5-hour breach window on 8th September. Users are advised to verify transactions on hardware wallets before signing. Software wallet users are also urged to avoid onchain activity until the ecosystem stabilizes.

MegaETH introduced USDm, its native stablecoin developed in collaboration with Ethena. MegaETH plans to run its sequencer at cost and redirect yield from USDm reserves to cover operations and deliver low fees for users. USDm v1 is issued via Ethena’s USDtb token, which holds reserves in BlackRock’s tokenized U.S. Treasuries (BUIDL) and liquid stablecoins, ensuring institutional-grade backing and a predictable yield. MegaETH is the first real-time Ethereum-secured blockchain, combining full EVM composability with a hyper-optimized execution environment. The project aims to deliver 10ms latency and up to 100,000 TPS throughput, enabling real-time transactions.

Other News

• ACDT #52 recap

• EF recaps Ethereum Tour

• Reth v1.7.0 release

• Tim Beiko planned leave

• Octant v2 audit contest

• Codex stablecoin chain

• Etherscan points redemptions

• CL spec is the backbone

• Vitalik highlights Lean Ethereum

• EF focus on UX

• Nethermind v1.33.1 dashboard

• Fast finality coming to Ethereum

• Uniswap has burned $2.5b of ETH

• Defillama prompt to dashboard

• Boundless airdrop checker

• Most searched assets on Coinbase

• SEC rulemaking agenda

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