Cosmos is a network of sovereign blockchains that communicate via IBC, an interoperability protocol modeled after TCP/IP, for secure data and value transfer. The Cosmos Hub, also known as "Gaia," is a proof of stake chain with a native token, ATOM, that serves as a hub for IBC packet routing among blockchains within the Cosmos network. The Cosmos Hub, like the majority of blockchains in the Cosmos network, is secured by the Byzantine Fault-Tolerant (BFT) Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm, Tendermint.

Cosmos Hub

David Canellis

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">subscribe</a>.



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No more questioning it: Bitcoin has never been worth this much against the US dollar.



Bitcoin set a bunch of new price records overnight, with the latest — $89,864 — during the super-early hours of Tuesday morning.



That’s 15% above bitcoin’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/btc-further-from-all-time-high">inflation-adjusted record high</a> from November 2021 ($77,975). Bitcoin has since pulled back to under $87,600 but remains 27% up over the past week.



Bitcoin is now tracking the previous bull market cycle, which spanned from 2018, through the pandemic, to early 2022.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcFdPHqa8bgZwX-pQ2edWGUaQZcNwbBbjMi5FfyRzGI5pVcdwAYPU73QoQgdknXpoarNXjjI2Tt17Jw1b03mdcDOf7GfVq6Sly7L5xBpUiYwR4hkTDkZ-jd10Hb7I_6J-FVITpSCw?key=ouFvfiYHZb6W41mDkNH6NoaM" alt=""/></figure>



The above chart plots bitcoin’s price performance across major bull cycles as if they all started at once. Our current cycle, which began when BTC bottomed out in November 2022, is in purple.



As of earlier this morning, bitcoin was up 580% since then. At this point in the 2021 bull market, bitcoin had gained 570%, and in the one prior between 2015 and 2018, over 2,000%.



All super impressive, considering bitcoin bull market returns were <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-halving-cycle-returns">diminishing every cycle</a>. Until this one, apparently, although it’s early days.



More good news: Tuesday saw another new record for bitcoin beyond its US dollar exchange rate.&nbsp;



BTC’s market cap jumped as much as $181.55 billion throughout the day — the biggest dollar-denominated intraday spike on record.&nbsp;



Previous records were $149.32 billion earlier this year, in August, and $146.04 billion in February 2021.



Of course, the dollar figure record is destined to be broken repeatedly as bitcoin rises. Its market cap has never been higher, over $1.72 trillion, to the point that even a moderate surge in percentage terms would add over a hundred billion dollars.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeTUijgEF9Qq4JNmPRubpR2H2DcKTRydKc-QAwrUkkUUFgvlp4-1z3_k5two4BIJuOivm4nfqnYPzPw_ArvYlIo4bvQc-Ph7h0WSLIALmjkLr4JvoaCinMIJobbzdbY8h910hayew?key=ouFvfiYHZb6W41mDkNH6NoaM" alt=""/></figure>



On the above, the top heatmap shows daily growth in bitcoin’s market cap — redder strips represent more billions added in a single day. Yesterday, at the far right end of the spectrum, was the reddest on record.



The bottom otherwise reflects the percentage gains in bitcoin’s price over the same period. Not so hot, at least compared to the period between 2017 and 2021. But it’s all relative.



Speaking of, there’s one more barrier than bitcoin needs to smash before we can really say that we’re in price discovery mode: Bitcoin’s stock market ratio.



Bitcoin’s price against the S&amp;P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 — the stock market equivalents of the ETH/BTC ratio — is still below records set in late 2021.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXceX8z3eAlU-kRLghx3OgPQY9U787MtZKOr6Pp0v1fb4bNESWDajWgshCk6CDkISeKMRNHBsVZ4RSbYbYZutpQCZ_6A3Gb5tF7vrh3zFnlrYrkIgqiPpNO9b3UqZokwnZxw8GMT?key=ouFvfiYHZb6W41mDkNH6NoaM" alt=""/></figure>



Earlier today, the BTC/SPX ratio (pink line) was 14.99 compared to 15.34 in March 2021. The BTC/NDX ratio (purple) was 4.26, still 11% below the 4.7 peak, also in March 2021. Bitcoin would need to hit around $95,000 to set new highs against either index., at current prices.



It’s a minor point, but it shows just how hot parts of the stock market were in leadup to the current bitcoin euphoria.



Something tells me that crypto will take it from here.



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Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



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What needs to happen before bitcoin enters price discovery mode

Casey Wagner

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">subscribe</a>.



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You may be experiencing some déjà vu. But for the Fed, 2024 is very different from 2016.&nbsp;



While our president-elect and his ambitious economic plans (tax cuts, tariffs, stricter immigration policies) are the same today as they were eight years ago, the economy is in a vastly different place. Last week’s election results may have come too late for committee members to consider them in their <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/fed-25bps-rate-cut">interest rate decision</a>, but there is still one more meeting before the end of the year.&nbsp;



Back in December 2016 (roughly six weeks after Donald Trump was elected for his first term), the FOMC, as expected, raised interest rates for the first time in a year. What came as more of a surprise was that committee members — including current Fed Chair Jerome Powell — went on to increase the pace of rate hikes for the following year.&nbsp;



“Many participants noted that the effects on the economy of such policy changes, if implemented, would likely be partially offset by tighter financial conditions, including higher longer-term interest rates and a strengthening of the dollar,” according to minutes from the FOMC’s December 2016 meeting.



Inflation is higher than it was in 2016, and the Fed is just at the beginning of its rate-cutting cycle. The labor market is in a precarious position, one that could be disrupted by Trump’s <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ramaswamy-calls-unity-defends-trumps-immigration-plan/story?id=115699213">mass deportation</a> plans. Prices on goods and services are easing, but higher tariffs pose a threat.&nbsp;



We’ll get some Fed speak this week that could shed some light on the central bank’s plans. The next policy-setting meeting is slated for Dec. 17-18.



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Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



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Fed heads into December meeting with new president-elect, same economic concerns 

Ben Strack

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It’s Veterans Day. It’s also now known as the day bitcoin climbed above $86,000 for the first time.&nbsp;



And, oh yeah, that crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy exactly two years ago. FTX, I think it was called. Not to mention US spot bitcoin ETFs <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sec-approves-bitcoin-etf">launched</a> 10 months ago, today.



First, about bitcoin: Donald Trump’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/revisiting-trumps-crypto-promises-after-his-election-win">crypto-related promises</a> and ultimate election win (along with pro-crypto Congress members) certainly has sparked additional industry euphoria.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Bitwise’s Matt Hougan <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/matt-hougan-crypto-reputational-risk">had said</a> he expects BTC to hit $100,000 by the end of the year and continue upward in 2025. Aside from the expected general crypto regulatory clarity, he and others continue to point out the possibility of BTC becoming a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-as-a-potential-us-reserve-asset">US reserve asset</a> — an idea <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/senator-lummis-bitcoin-reserve-bill-crypto-policy">floated by</a> US Sen. Cynthia Lummis.



“I think it makes it a harder market to short because we could wake up at any moment and the US could be establishing a strategic bitcoin reserve or another country could be front-running the US establishing a strategic bitcoin reserve,” Hougan explained. “That was just a wild idea that you couldn’t consider [before].”



There were <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/11/10/huge-things-coming-bitcoin-explodes-as-secret-nation-state-adoption-mystery-rumors-fuel-a-crypto-price-boom/">rumors</a> that a nation-state snatching up BTC was driving the latest price boost. We did find out that the company best known for hoarding BTC made another big purchase (more on that later).



Blockworks co-founder Jason Yanowitz summed up the crypto market vibes with a screenshot of a Monday research note from financial firm Bernstein:&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Bernstein ($800 billion AUM) just put out their Monday morning note to clients: “Welcome to the Crypto bull market. Buy everything you can. Don’t fight this – add crypto exposure asap.” Stage 3 really is upon us. <a href="https://t.co/ZGLoLvtXJD">pic.twitter.com/ZGLoLvtXJD</a>&mdash; Yano 🟪 (@JasonYanowitz) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz/status/1855976870220550600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



“We recommend investors who have so far remained shy of any crypto exposure due to regulatory concerns invert their mental model,” the analysts wrote. “We are in a regulatory tailwind zone now.”



Some have warned of short-term “retrenchments,” or dips, as we know BTC is a volatile asset.



Copper.co research head Fadi Aboualfa also cautioned that securities laws won’t change overnight, and that BTC remains closely tied to broader economic forces.



“Inflation is still elevated, interest rates haven’t eased, and the US dollar remains strong; these forces are not sustainable in tandem,” he wrote in an email. “One will eventually weaken. The real question is: Which one, and why?”&nbsp;



Taking a step back, it’s pretty wild that BTC reaching a new peak comes exactly <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ftx-impacts-on-cryptos-future">two years</a> after FTX filed for bankruptcy. Re-reading a piece I wrote on Nov. 11, 2022 — <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/whats-next-for-ftx-and-its-customers-after-bankruptcy-filing">titled</a> “What’s next for FTX and its customers after bankruptcy filing?” — was a bit surreal.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Bitcoin’s price had dropped to as low as about $16,000 that month. That’s less than one-fifth of what it is today.&nbsp;



Sentiment seemed to shift a bit when <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/blackrock-files-bitcoin-etf">BlackRock entered the race</a> to launch a spot bitcoin ETF in June 2023. Less than seven months later, the SEC greenlit those products; BTC eclipsed <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-all-time-high">$73,000</a> a couple months after that — a high that would stand until election night last week.



Today is an even 10 months since the US spot BTC ETFs launched. Net flows into those products hit a single-day record of nearly $1.4 billion on Nov. 7. After reeling in another $293 million on Nov. 8, the category’s total inflows now amount to more than $25.8 billion.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Assets in the US spot bitcoin ETFs are now up to $84b, which is 2/3 of the way to what gold ETFs have, all the sudden there&#39;s a decent shot they surpass gold bf their first birthday (we predicted it would take 3-4yrs) <a href="https://t.co/MlPZNhdKjO">pic.twitter.com/MlPZNhdKjO</a>&mdash; Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricBalchunas/status/1856013871116320902?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



These vehicles are poised to play a big role in allowing institutions wanting exposure to bitcoin (particularly in a friendlier environment) to more easily execute that desire.



Then there are the other planned spot crypto ETFs, which <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/xrp-etf-contingent-on-election-and-sec-appeal">industry watchers noted</a> would have a better chance of gaining approval in the short term with a Trump win and new SEC leadership.



Dare I ask: What could go wrong?



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A closer look at BTC’s record-setting surge above $86K

Katherine Ross

This weekend, I went back to college…in the sense that I traveled up north to the Midwest Blockchain Conference, which was held on the University of Michigan’s campus.&nbsp;



I was the lone reporter on site, which meant I had unfettered access to eager crypto-native college students looking to learn more about the industry and tech. I also got to connect with the speakers and workshop leaders guiding them along the way.



Students from universities including the University of Kansas, Vanderbilt and the University of Illinois, among others, gathered in Ann Arbor. The vibes were pretty positive, with a lot of chatter about what’s next for crypto given <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/donald-trump-declared-president-2024-election">last week’s election results</a>.&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/permissionless-day-two-vibes">Politics and memecoins drive the conversation on day 2 of Permissionless</a>



The next generation of developers, investors and builders stood side by side in their university merch, making tacos with industry pros from places like EY, which had a strong presence at the conference.



But what’s a crypto conference without a little fun? As I arrived, I spotted an artist named Idris Busari, dressed up as a bitcoin, who shared that this was his first-ever blockchain event.



A standout event that sparked plenty of excitement and animated reactions was a session with Hype founder Ravi Bakhai, who dove into the world of <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/meme-coins">memecoins</a>, captivating both students and some industry pros alike.



According to Bakhai: Memecoins are risky, but you can get rich though.



Bakhai pointed out that memes are no longer just on Crypto Twitter; TikTok is the place to be for anyone trying to stay ahead of volatile memecoin cycles. He dubbed it the “TikTok-ification of finance,” emphasizing just how quick these trends can be. To drive the point home, he shared a story about selling out of a memecoin that skyrocketed 1,000% in just 18 minutes.



“In the US, this is how we get retail back into crypto,” Bakhai told Blockworks.



But it wasn’t all memecoin mania. There were other chats with industry professionals from a16z, prominent VC firms like Volt Capital and folks from the university&#8217;s endowment office, including Daniel Feder and Brandon Schroedle. The two spoke about the university’s interest in crypto and gave their perspectives on the industry.



The endowment holds over $20 billion, Feder told the packed room on Friday. The two then spent the next 30 minutes explaining why UMich is interested in crypto.&nbsp;



The “financial system in the US is very outdated…it’s been cobbled together,” Schroedle said. He’s not only looking at crypto as a way to diversify the investments, but he’s also excited about <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/depin">DePIN</a> use cases.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/empire-newsletter-depin-public-goods">DePIN: A recipe for public goods on public goods</a>



Feder, however, argued that crypto shouldn&#8217;t be its own asset class — though that hasn’t dampened his bullish outlook. For institutions, he emphasized, the real key will be the continued <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/matt-hougan-crypto-reputational-risk">rise of institutional interest in crypto</a>.



Other highlights included a16z’s Jane Lippencott forecasting a possible &#8220;AI winter&#8221; in the coming years, and Volt’s Soona Ahmaz sharing the do’s and dont’s of pitching to VCs.



The overall sentiment of the conference was positive, and the excitement was palpable.&nbsp;



But one thing that stood out to this writer was not only how crypto-native this next generation already is, but also the gap they’re poised to fill as they step into the crypto workforce.



Coinbase (which also had a recruiter at the event that drew a lot of student attention) published a report in June which <a href="https://assets.ctfassets.net/o10es7wu5gm1/2n9KtrCyq59uQ4uOCF18hi/21fd908639c6c87e9d36a994ccacda51/Q2_2024_State_of_Crypto_final.pdf">showed</a> that the US has lost a lot of dev market share, in part due to its uncertain regulatory environment.&nbsp;



But if the regulatory environment becomes more certain, well, the talent pool is right here and ripe for the picking.



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Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



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How memecoins could bring back the retail investor in crypto

Jack Kubinec

This is a segment from the Lightspeed newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">subscribe</a>.



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Soak it all in, SOL holders.&nbsp;



Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election ignited a crypto market rally. SOL reached a nearly three-year high Monday morning, crossing the $220 mark for the first time since early December 2021. The asset’s market capitalization also set a new record, crossing $104 billion for the first time, according to CoinGecko data.&nbsp;



Solana’s chief rival ETH has been an even bigger beneficiary of the election pump, rising some 26% since Trump declared victory in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday, compared to an 18% jump for SOL. Bitcoin is up 13% in that span.



For the last several months, sources <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/lightspeed-newsletter-solana-breakpoint-2024">cited the election outcome</a> repeatedly as a potential catalyst for SOL. The crypto industry has operated largely in a legal gray area in the US under the oversight of SEC Chair Gary Gensler, and Trump courted crypto voters and donors with the promise of a more friendly regulatory regime.&nbsp;



Solana, which has spent 2024 trying to establish itself as part of a “big three” in crypto assets next to bitcoin and ether, arguably had the most at stake in the election out of any of them. In approving spot bitcoin and ether ETFs for trading this year, the SEC acknowledged both assets as commodities, meaning they can be bought and sold without running afoul of stricter securities trading laws. SOL, on the other hand, is one of a handful of assets the SEC currently paints as securities in its <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sec-didnt-say-sol-isnt-a-security">ongoing lawsuit against Coinbase</a>.&nbsp;



Being formally declared a crypto asset security by the SEC could present an existential risk for SOL, because the agency has been loath to let US firms register as broker-dealers who could facilitate crypto securities trading. In other words, SOL (and the several other alleged securities tokens) could have been functionally cut off from trading in the US, <a href="https://www.morganstanley.com/im/publication/insights/articles/article_stockmarketconcentration.pdf">where</a> some 60% of the world’s equity markets live.



M^0 chief growth officer Jacob Laufer cited SOL’s lingering securities law status getting resolved alongside the approval of <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/canary-capital-sol-etf-filing">pending spot SOL ETFs</a> as sources of optimism surrounding Solana.



With friendlier regulators, SOL could be “poised” to capture institutional interest alongside the retail interest it has already drawn, Laufer said. Solana continues to be the top <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/lightspeed-newsletter-pumpdotfun-record-highs">venue for memecoin trading</a>, with the launchpad pump.fun topping $1 million in daily trading fees every day since Oct. 13. 



With SOL now sitting at around $220, traders will be looking toward $260, roughly the all-time high the asset set in November 2021. In <a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/325319/as-bitcoin-hits-80000-standard-chartered-calls-new-solana-peak-inevitable-by-years-end?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss">comments</a> to The Block this weekend, an analyst from Standard Chartered called a fresh SOL peak by the year’s end “inevitable.”



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SOL crosses $220, eyes fresh all-time high

Donovan Choy

This is a segment from the 0xResearch newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">subscribe</a>.



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Today marks two years since the eventful day FTX filed for bankruptcy. <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/sam-bankman-fried">Sam Bankman-Fried</a> is in jail for 25 years, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/former-ftx-exec-ryan-salame-sentenced">Ryan Salame</a> likewise for 7.5 years, Caroline Ellison just <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/caroline-ellison-sentenced-to-24-months">commenced</a> a two-year jail term and the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ftx-saga-finally-ending">FTX bankruptcy</a> estate is making progress.



Though the story was widely publicized across mainstream media as a colossal failure of crypto writ large, that was never actually true. The specific areas of failure in the FTX debacle were in fact the kinds of centralized institutions that cryptocurrency was designed to upend.&nbsp;



Recall the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/new-ftx-ceo-says-exchange-commingled-assets">commingling of funds</a> — about $14.6 billion of FTX’s native FTT token — between FTX and its trading arm, Alameda Research. When the value of FTT plummeted, Alameda’s loans that were borrowed against FTT effectively fell underwater.



At the same time, Alameda also held an outstanding loan of 20 million MIM (the stablecoin of Abracadabra protocol) against $5 million FTT.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXf1zrjkDIqyI9bXG7R_8XyMfwjROES2EyIqBnDs039vqAKHdrj1Px3brOvgdsaxN59shen73A66wzyDLH2hH6GF441zKfuMW1KwhWAoD1OvtUUaBl0lIywaHD2-NwfgPxGI8nHd?key=w91vd1OMFhzmunUM182_LcAv" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://app.abracadabra.money/#/">Abracadabra</a></figcaption></figure>



Alameda fully paid that debt as FTT cratered on Nov. 9 — two days before FTX filed bankruptcy — to avoid automatic smart contract liquidations. In sum, DeFi worked.



Today, Abracadabra seems to be <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/rounding-exploit-magic-internet-money">pretty much dead</a>. Its MIM stablecoin still has a market cap of about <a href="https://analytics.abracadabra.money/">$44 million</a>, but hasn’t seen any growth since <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ftx-meltdown-timeline">FTX’s collapse</a>.



Abracadabra’s founder, the infamous Daniele Sesta, has apparently moved on from his once popular “<a href="https://wiki.defillama.com/wiki/Frog_Nation">Frog Nation</a>” cult to…<a href="https://x.com/danielesesta/status/1843725686638555568">memecoins on the Sonic</a> (previously Fantom) chain. The Abracadabra-affiliated project Wonderland, which at one point passed more than $2 billion in TVL, was also stealth-rebranded into a lending protocol, <a href="https://x.com/thevoltaclub/">Volta</a>, in late 2023. The move occurred after the project was scandalized with news that its pseudonymous treasury manager turned out to be Michael Patryn, the previously convicted co-founder of the failed Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX.



Today, Abracadabra and Wonderland have turned out to be just another series of ghost projects in the ethereal graveyard of crypto’s history.



When FTX collapsed, there were concerns that Binance would effectively monopolize the centralized crypto exchange market. At that time, its BUSD stablecoin was the third largest, and BNB Chain was also the second biggest L1 by TVL.



Today, Binance retains its position as the largest global cryptocurrency exchange, but fears of a “monopoly” haven’t come to pass.



The BUSD stablecoin was deprecated after the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/binance-fdusd-busd">ordered its closure</a> in February 2023. Binance then switched to a little known stablecoin, FDUSD, for stablecoin liquidity on its exchange, which has seen growth from $350 million to about $2.3 billion today.&nbsp;



As for BNB Chain, it’s still fourth by TVL, overtaken only by Solana’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ai-bots-solana-memecoin-trading">meteoric rise</a> in the past year.



Under FTX Ventures, SBF was also a major <a href="https://x.com/MartiniGuyYT/status/1591158790262378496">investor</a> in dozens of crypto projects. Some of these included LayerZero, Yuga Labs, Near, as well as MoveVM chains like Aptos and Sui — whose mainnets weren&#8217;t yet launched — and of course, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sam-bankman-fried-crypto-portfolio">Solana</a>.



FTX’s large token holdings cast a looming shadow over the future of these projects. Today, most of these projects seem to be doing just fine.



Finally, a post-FTX crypto industry quickly consolidated around the standard of “proof of reserves” as a minimum security standard for centralized crypto product offerings, as seen in newer efforts like <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/en-sg/blog/coinbase-wrapped-btc-cbbtc-is-now-live">Coinbase’s cbBTC</a> or Kraken’s <a href="https://blog.kraken.com/news/2024-proof-of-reserves">annual audits</a>.



The failure of FTX undoubtedly set the industry back. But two years out, it seems like crypto has at least learned a few lessons.



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Remembering FTX: How the collapse shaped crypto’s future

Donald Trump’s election win, and the high number of <a href="https://www.standwithcrypto.org/races">pro-crypto</a> Congress members set to be on the Hill, “removes the last vestige of reputational risk from crypto,” according to Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan.&nbsp;



Bitcoin’s price rise has reflected this, at least in the short term, climbing to a new peak of nearly $85,000 early Monday.



“It has still been the case, even post ETF, that in the mind of professional investors, there’s been this lingering cloud of risk,” Hougan told Blockworks last week. “You had a hostile regulatory environment, you had a [Securities and Exchange Commission] investigation every couple of weeks, you had people not certain where it was going.”



The expected regulatory clarity will drive buying, while long-time bitcoin holders are unlikely to want to sell before the $100,000 mark, Hougan added.



Many won’t necessarily need to wait to see if the Trump/GOP crypto promises are delivered on, Hougan argued — given the explicitness of the pledges and how involved the crypto industry was from a funding and lobbying perspective.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/revisiting-trumps-crypto-promises-after-his-election-win">Revisiting Trump’s crypto promises after his election win</a>



Bitcoin is harder to short given that the US could establish a strategic bitcoin reserve, Hougan noted. Other countries could also front-run such a move by the US. The executive said he expects BTC to hit $100,000 by the end of the year and move higher in 2025.&nbsp;



“As good as it is for bitcoin, I think it’s probably better for other crypto assets, because they’ve <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/empire-newsletter-sec-action-nfts">really been stifled</a> by this lack of regulatory clarity,” Hougan added. “I have a high degree of confidence that will lift, and I do think that will lead to a golden age of crypto applications.”



Continue reading for more excerpts from Blockworks’ interview with Hougan. _______________________________________________________________________



Blockworks: What do you expect in terms of institutional adoption of crypto given <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-new-all-time-high-trump-victory">Trump’s win</a> and crypto-friendly Congress?&nbsp;



Hougan: Importantly, this was a trend that was already underway. This was a trend that was happening win, lose or draw in the November election. What the election does is dramatically accelerate it, because it does remove that lingering risk.



I was on the record as saying I think crypto will do fine in either scenario, but that a Harris win would have <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/harris-trump-crypto-stances-coinbase">weighed on the market</a>, just because it would have extended the window of uncertainty. With a Trump win…that window of uncertainty is closed.&nbsp;



There are other major institutions that are close. You’re going to see them come in in Q3 and Q4. Anecdotally, my experience in the field is that there was a dramatic pickup in institution allocation from the start of October.&nbsp;



Blockworks: But the adoption pace might differ from institution to institution?



Hougan: Institutional capital…which is the thing that’s going to go from zero to a trillion dollars, just moves slower than we want. If the head of research at an endowment saw the news and thought this is good for crypto, he can’t allocate 2% tomorrow. He has to get it on a calendar meeting, they have to have that calendar meeting, they probably need to do another one the next quarter, they bring in experts, they change the investment policy. All of that takes time. So I do think you’re going to see institutional ownership show a step-function increase in Q4 and then I think it follows an exponential curve from Q1 onwards, just because it takes a while to play out.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Blockworks: How might the election impact your projection around bitcoin and ether ETF flows?



Hougan: Bitcoin was already shooting to end the year with $30 billion of inflows; who knows where we’ll get to. The flows have just been so massive, [and] I do think they’ll accelerate.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/november-bitcoin-price-action">After ‘Uptober’ plays out, what could we see in November?</a>



And I think you’ll start to see a pick-up in ETH [adoption]. But I suspect the ETH story is really still an institutional story and it still takes a while to tell. I don’t think you’ll see a dramatic pick-up immediately, but I think 2025 will be a very good year for Ethereum ETFs. I always thought Ethereum ETFs launched too close to bitcoin ETFs and that the professional investors hadn’t yet swallowed bitcoin and were ready to deal with ETH. So the timeline was always going to be better in 2025. But now when [institutions] underwrite ETH in 2025 — when they get around to that — they’re going to be doing it within such a stronger regulatory setting.



Blockworks: And the <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ether-etfs">ether ETFs</a> gaining the ability to stake their holdings would likely increase adoption too, right? Hougan: Staking would be great. We’ll see how that goes; it’s certainly a more dynamic discussion in a new SEC than the old one. It would definitely help, but just more broadly there’s a removal risk.&nbsp;



I know Ethereum was through the window — there was already an ETF — but to assume there’s no regulatory risk there was just wrong.&nbsp;



The SEC had mixed opinions and the applications built on Ethereum all had significant regulatory risk, and that suppressed the development of new breakthrough applications, because entrepreneurs were afraid to build. That can reverse and start to create a really exciting environment in the next 12 to 24 months.&nbsp;



Blockworks: What are the outstanding concerns asset allocators still have about crypto?



Hougan: There are still concerns about volatility and whether the capital asset market assumptions that you would use to model its role in a portfolio will persist, which is a reasonable concern. Crypto is only 15 years old. Modern data is only five to 10 years old. If you’re a capital allocator, how much can you trust the historical statistics when you’re looking to see how it fits in a portfolio? There are still concerns about illicit use and headline risk, which are reasonable concerns. I think when you get beyond bitcoin and ethereum, there still are regulatory risks. Not every asset is going to be OK in any SEC administration; you look at <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/house-passes-act-fit21-with-bipartisan-support">the FIT21 bill</a>, and there are assets on both sides of that line.



But the biggest [risk], which I think was a reputation overhang…has been significantly mitigated, if not removed. And I think we’ll get to the point where it’s reversed and it becomes weird not to have an allocation to crypto.



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Bitwise CIO: Election removes crypto’s remaining ‘reputational risk’

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">subscribe</a>.



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On this day in 2022, FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.&nbsp;



With Sam Bankman-Fried and two of his executives in prison, we’ve made some headway since that awful November that almost destroyed crypto.&nbsp;



But FTX itself is still in bankruptcy proceedings, though the process is set to come to an end fairly soon… hopefully.&nbsp;



That’s not stopping the estate of the former exchange from going after other entities in the space, however, as we saw on Sunday when FTX filed a lawsuit against Binance and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao.&nbsp;



I trust that <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ftx-meltdown-timeline">we all remember</a> part of the sticky mess that Binance and FTX were in right before FTX was found to be insolvent and collapsed. When SBF and CZ seemingly struck a deal, only CZ and Binance pulled out, leaving the curtain to pull back and expose what happened at FTX. Good times.&nbsp;



Anyway, the estate in this case is arguing that a July 2021 transfer worth a whopping $1.76 billion — which would have happened well before the public had even begun sniffing around the exchange — was a “constructive fraudulent transfer.” Basically, at the time, FTX was trying to buy out CZ and Binance’s stake in the exchange.&nbsp;



We know now, post-SBF trial, that former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison allegedly tried to warn off SBF from the repurchase, warning that they didn’t have the funds. And that’s part of what the estate is arguing in its 43-page suit.&nbsp;



<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/caroline-ellison-testimony-hidden-gems">In that same testimony</a>, Ellison also alleged that Zhao sought to hurt FTX by publicly offloading his FTT — which did end up doing a lot of damage to FTX and exposed the cracks. Binance, however, ended up walking away scot-free and even claimed to gain 20% market share by the end of 2022. To be fair, Binance has had its own issues, including a multibillion-dollar lawsuit with the US government and Zhao’s brief stint in jail.&nbsp;



Anyway, I’m not just looking to rehash the past by bringing up the suit, so let’s talk about the other big event on the eve of the anniversary: bitcoin topping $82,000.



Unless some of you have crystal balls hidden away, I think it’s fair to say that none of us could have foreseen this level of recovery so quickly (though I know it feels like a long time for some). In just a few years, we went from wondering if FTX could end crypto as we know it to crypto becoming a prominent industry.&nbsp;



Take that, SBF.



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2 years on from FTX collapse, bitcoin tops $82K

This week’s election frenzy dominated headlines, pushing funding news to the sidelines. However, a few notable deals did manage to break through the noise. Here’s what made the cut.



First up, Binance Labs made headlines Friday with its first foray into DeSci (decentralized science), <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/11/08/2977731/0/en/Binance-Labs-Invests-in-BIO-Protocol-to-Accelerate-Decentralized-Science-DeSci-Funding.html">investing</a> in BIO Protocol through its $10 billion venture arm.



“BIO can be thought of as a Y Combinator for onchain Science,” Binance said in a statement.&nbsp;



Read more:<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/0xresearch-newsletter-science-funding-onchain"> BIO protocol is pushing scientific funding onchain</a>



The amount invested was not disclosed.&nbsp;



Binance Labs wasn’t the only firm busy making investments; <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/tether">Tether</a> also announced on Friday that its investment division had “financed a physical crude oil transaction between a publicly traded super-major oil company and a top-tier commodity trader,” which was completed back in October.



“&#8230;The transaction was to facilitate the loading and transporting of 670,000 barrels of Middle Eastern crude oil, valued at approximately $45 million. This transaction marks Tether Investments’ first crude oil transaction in the region and highlights the company’s expanding role in global commodities trading,” Tether said in a statement.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/china-digital-yuan-oil">Digital yuan used to settle crude oil trade for Chinese oil company: Report</a>



And finally, the Pharos layer-1 closed an $8 million seed round, with Lightspeed Faction and Hack VC leading the charge.



“The company plans to utilize the funding to accelerate the development of the Pharos protocol and drive the growth of the ecosystem and community,” Pharos said in a statement.&nbsp;



Other investors included MH Ventures, Reforge and Hash Global.



“At Pharos, we are driven by our belief to bridge existing [fintech] services with trustless Web3 innovations to onboard billions of new users and real-world assets into the Web3 ecosystem. This seed round propels us closer to realizing that vision,” Pharos CEO Alex Zhang said.



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Funding Roundup: Binance Labs invests in BIO Protocol

Bybit is ramping up its focus on institutional clients. On Friday, it announced that its head of derivatives will take on an expanded role to drive this strategy forward.



Shunyet Jan, who has led Bybit’s derivatives business since joining the company in September, now carries the head of institutional title.



He held various roles at traditional finance giants Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch and Barclays Investment Bank. He more recently spent more than seven years at Tower Research Capital.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Jan’s experience serving sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, hedge funds and market makers helps him understand the specific needs of institutional investors, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/bybit">Bybit</a> said in its Friday announcement.&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/on-the-margin-newsletter-inevitable-institutional-digital-assets-involvement">Digital assets involvement becoming “inevitable” for more institutions</a>



“I’m focused on positioning Bybit as the top choice for institutional clients by enhancing our custody solutions, expanding loan products and strengthening liquidity across the platform,” the executive said in a statement.



Zachary Fallon is returning to law firm Latham &amp; Watkins LLP after leaving the firm 15 years ago. He will work as a partner within its emerging companies and growth practice.



Fallon spent nine years at the Securities and Exchange Commission&#8217;s corporate finance division and general counsel office. Latham &amp; Watkins executive Tad Freese called Fallon an “exceptionally knowledgeable lawyer in the digital assets and crypto space” in a Monday statement.&nbsp;



In case you missed it, <a href="http://v">BitGo</a> tapped Ben Reynolds last week to spearhead efforts around the USD-backed stablecoin that it launched in September.



Reynolds was previously the president of Silvergate Bank until March 2023 — when the company revealed its intent to wind down operations.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/silvergate-bank-shutter-regulatory-pressure">Silvergate’s shuttering caused by ‘intense regulatory pressure:’ Executive</a>



“Ben’s outstanding track record of developing and scaling transformative digital asset payment infrastructure and deep understanding of stablecoins will be a significant asset to us, particularly as we expand the USD Standard network,” BitGo CEO Mike Belshe said in a statement.&nbsp;



We also saw some layoffs last week, with dYdX and Consensys among the crypto firms <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/dydx-consensys-industry-layoffs">cutting staff</a>.



Consensys CEO Joseph Lubin said his firm had trimmed 20% of staff (amounting to 160 or so people), while dYdX CEO Antonio Juliano said 35% of the core team was let go.



A day later, Kraken <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/kraken-announces-layoffs-and-new-co-ceo">alluded to reported layoffs</a> as the crypto exchange looks to shift its organizational structuring. The company, at the same time, <a href="https://blog.kraken.com/news/a-new-day-for-kraken">named</a> Arjun Sethi as its co-CEO.



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Crypto Hiring: Execs selected to lead institutional offerings, stablecoin efforts

Sui, the MoveVM-based layer-1 blockchain, announced last Thursday that the roleplaying game Samurai Shodown R will be available on its upcoming SuiPlay0X1 handheld gaming device.



Samurai Shodown was a classic 1993 Sega fighting game that was re-released as a massive multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) in 2019.&nbsp;



The new Samurai Shodown R is developed by Lumiwave, a blockchain company focused on bringing intellectual property onchain.



Anthony Palma, head of gaming partnerships and investments at Mysten Labs, said of the launch: “With Sui’s unique infrastructure, LumiWave is able to deliver a truly seamless Web3 experience, where features like evolving NFTs and in-game asset ownership are not just concepts but fully realized.”



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-gaming-fresh-growth">Crypto gaming may be on the cusp of fresh growth</a>



Making use of <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/sui">Sui</a>’s blockchain technology, Samurai Shodown R will come with Web3 features like dynamically evolving NFTs based on player progression and “zkLogins” with familiar Web2 credentials like Facebook and Google.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TapSwap launches new Web3 gaming layer to improve tap-to-earn</h2>



Tap-to-earn games like Notcoin and Hamster Kombat are bogged with problems like user retention, unclear reward structures and plummeting token values.



TapSwap is planning to solve that problem with a new Web3 gaming <a href="https://x.com/tapswapai/status/1854451937145724973">platform</a>, the team announced on Thursday. The so-called “skill-based” <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/gaming">gaming</a> platform will see gamers pay an upfront fee using the TAPS token to compete against one another for rewards.



TapSwap’s new platform aims to connect gamers with game developers, allowing users to earn rewards in the platform’s native TAPS token while letting developers better monetize their games.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/telegram-tap-to-earn-gaming-trend">Web3 Watch: Telegram tap-to-earn is the new crypto gaming trend</a>



“The classic pattern is a tap-to-earn token losing most of its value immediately after its first listing on a centralized exchange, distorting the incentive to stay with the project for the long run and contribute to healthy ecosystem development,” said Naz Ventura, the founder of TapSwap. “Such outcomes benefit neither the community nor the projects themselves. To address this, TapSwap has built a gaming platform that adds genuine utility and value to the TAPS token, ensuring players are fairly and transparently rewarded.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">One interesting stat:</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Zora has <a href="https://dune.com/jhackworth/zora-network">distributed</a> at least 10,321 worth of ETH in protocol rewards to creators, according to a Dune dashboard by J.Hackworth.</li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Also of note:</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Pudgy Penguins is teaming up with Mythical Games to launch “<a href="https://news.mythicalgames.com/introducing-pudgy-party">Pudgy Party</a>” in 2025, an upcoming AAA multiplayer battle royale mobile game.</li>



<li>Devour, a gamified commerce platform, launched DevourPlay. The platform allows users to play popular games while ordering food directly in-game from US restaurants and earning digital asset rewards. Devourplay has integrated crypto payments via Coinbase Commerce and also features a blockchain-based loyalty program.</li>



<li>WineChain, a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/lightspeed-newsletter-solana-wine-tokenization">blockchain-based wine</a> marketplace, announced on Wednesday a <a href="https://www.winebusiness.com/news/article/294797">partnership</a> with fine wine specialist Alto to bring over 1200 fine wines to its collections.</li>
</ul>



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Web3 Watch: Classic fighter Samurai Shodown comes to Sui

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">subscribe</a>.



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This week’s FOMC meeting ended as expected Thursday, with central bankers opting to lower interest rates by <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/fed-25bps-rate-cut">25 basis points</a>. President-elect Donald Trump, however, may have been caught off guard by some of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments.&nbsp;



Powell asserted yesterday that he had no intention of leaving his post before his term ends in 2026, even if Trump asks him to step aside.&nbsp;



“No,” Powell said simply when asked during the post-FOMC press conference if he would resign at the new administration’s request.&nbsp;



To be clear, Trump said in June that he would allow Powell — a Trump appointee — to serve out his term. The comments come after the former president threatened to remove Powell during his first term in the White House, an act Powell said Thursday is not legally sound.&nbsp;



Removing a chair, Powell said, is “not permitted under law.”&nbsp;



The comments got us thinking about a topic we’ve talked about before: Trump’s plans for the SEC. I was in <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-2024-nashville-recap">Nashville</a> when Trump proclaimed at the Bitcoin 2024 conference that he would “fire Gensler on day one” — a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/donald-trump-speaks-bitcoin-2024">promise</a> that riled up the crowd more than I think even Trump imagined.&nbsp;



There are a few possible outcomes now that we know Trump will be moving back to Washington in January. First, it’s worth noting that agency chairs often resign on their own once the president that nominated them leaves office.&nbsp;



Chair Mary Jo White, who served under the Obama Administration, announced she’d be leaving shortly after Trump was elected. Jay Clayton, White’s successor, did the same after Trump lost his re-election bid in 2020. Both departures gave the incoming president the power to select an interim chair before ultimately submitting a nomination for Senate approval.&nbsp;



We haven’t heard any comments from Gensler yet. But even if he doesn’t step aside before Inauguration Day, legal scholars <a href="https://www.professorbainbridge.com/professorbainbridgecom/2024/07/trump-pledges-to-fire-sec-chair-gary-gensler-does-the-president-have-the-power-to-do-so.html">generally agree</a> that Trump would be allowed to name a current commissioner as acting chair.&nbsp;



The concept of “firing” an agency chair is a bit of a legal gray area, though.&nbsp;



“Courts’ general view is that the president can only remove a commissioner, including the chairman, of the SEC ‘for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office,’” said Jon Ammons, a partner in Reed Smith’s onchain digital asset group.



Regardless, the current <a href="https://x.com/BTC_Archive/status/1854831785068081481">consensus</a> seems to be that Commissioner Mark Uyeda would take over for Gensler — at least as acting chair before Trump nominates an outsider. Rumor has it that Robinhood chief legal officer Dan Gallagher, who has had his own unproductive dealings with the securities regulator, is on Trump’s short list.&nbsp;



If I were Gensler, I’d give Powell a call. I bet he already has.



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Chair Powell says he won’t step aside if Trump asks 

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Two months ago, I reported on some of the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/lightspeed-newsletter-small-solana-validators-struggle">woes facing Solana’s smaller validators</a>, which are computer nodes that verify Solana’s ledger is accurate. Solana’s fees and tips were in decline amid apparent fatigue from memecoin traders. In response, the Solana Foundation — the non-profit charged with supporting Solana — set a cap on the commissions that validators could charge while receiving a staking delegation from the foundation, which is a necessity for some small validators.&nbsp;



Most crucially, the price of SOL was languishing, limiting upside for validators’ biggest potential source of revenue. Some estimated that validators would need to attract millions of dollars more in SOL than before to break even.&nbsp;



Today, that all appears to have shifted. SOL’s price crossed the $200 mark for just the third time since 2021, and daily validator revenue has been in excess of $30 million every day since mid-October, according to data from 21.co. In early September, revenue was around $22 million per day.&nbsp;



Anza, which is the developer shop spun out of Solana Labs, just released v2.0.14 of Solana’s software, one of its first upgrades since it <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/lightspeed-newsletter-solana-block-scheduler">implemented a central scheduler</a> over the summer.&nbsp;



So far, only around 40% of validators have <a href="https://solanabeach.io/validators">made</a> the switch from v1 to v2. The upgrade makes minor tweaks to the Solana protocol, but validators who made the switch have anecdotally reported better performance.&nbsp;



One validator said the new client version has better maximal extractible value (MEV) rewards than the old one. Another said their votes — or transactions made to validate the blockchain ledger is accurate — have been going through quicker since the upgrade.&nbsp;



Knoxtrades, the anonymous owner of the Juicy Stake validator, told me that they have noticed Solana’s central scheduler “works in conjunction” with stake-weighted quality of service (SWQoS), a feature that lets larger validators land transactions more effectively. This has caused a “noticeable change in block rewards” because Solana blocks are packing in transactions more efficiently, knoxtrades said in a text.



But what could be most important to look for is how many validators plug their computers back in. A year ago, the Solana network had around 1,970 nodes, according to Solana Compass. Today, that figure is 1,358, indicating a less distributed set.



Still, some validators have chosen to get back in the game during Solana’s recent metrics and price rally: The network has added 58 new nodes since Sept. 28.



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Solana upgrades software as validators see fortunes shift

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In early October, Synthetix passed an ambitious <a href="https://gov.synthetix.io/#/proposal/0x1d05f9a88760323d75504b04baf159d5fb58f5eb3f8a1c51d164de7891900266">governance proposal</a> to “reboot” the entire project. Major changes proposed included the likes of revamping SNX tokenomics, introducing a SNX-backed stablecoin, launching on Ethereum mainnet and Solana and redesigning the Synthetix frontend.



As part of that overhaul, SIP-411, which passed yesterday with 6/6 votes from Synthetix councilors, is reacquiring Kwenta as a frontend and bringing it back as part of Synthetix’s relaunch.



Kwenta was once a Synthetix project. Spun out in 2021 as a dedicated frontend for Synthetix to operate independently as per <a href="https://sips.synthetix.io/sips/sip-179/">SIP-179</a>, it is now <a href="https://x.com/kaiynne/status/1854772707411583267">referred</a> to by Synthetix co-founder Kain Warwick as “unequivocally a terrible idea.”



Benjamin Celermajer, Synthetix’s strategy seat, said of the acquisition: “Bringing Kwenta back into Synthetix will unify the vision, the roadmap and the strategic priorities of both protocols. This will help Synthetix provide the best possible user experience to its community of traders and a seamless integration experience to the various protocols that utilize Synthetix liquidity.”



As part of SIP-411, KWENTA token holders will be able to exchange their KWENTA to SNX at a 1:17 rate. SNX will then be subject to a three-month lock-up starting on Nov. 15, followed by a nine-month linear vesting period. The KWENTA token will be <a href="https://mirror.xyz/kwenta.eth/wVUYfVNYx_QG_LfzOAwvsK5tI-yMsJ1vacaej59Pf_U">deprecated</a> thereafter.



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Synthetix perps DEX acquires Kwenta to unify ‘strategic priorities’ of both protocols

Macauley Peterson

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It started with an understated “woo-hoo” and a laugh. The latest Ethereum All Core Developers (ACD) call marked a milestone for being the 200th such meeting.



As Galaxy’s Christine Kim <a href="https://x.com/christine_dkim/status/1854603304476533019">noted</a> on X, “[W]hat&#8217;s cool about these calls is that through the years they&#8217;ve remained open, transparent and accessible for anyone to join and listen in on. [A]lso, devs still rely on these calls to act as a critical forcing function for making key governance decisions about [E]thereum.”



As usual, developers discussed key updates around testing networks for the upcoming <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research/issue/post_a2d3d0b2-7573-4379-a2d8-db9d7c7dc488">Pectra upgrade</a>, and a host of other topics in the world of Ethereum technical planning.



Unusually, several of the participants were in the same room together in Thailand, where the largest annual Ethereum conference, <a href="https://devcon.org/en/">Devcon</a>, is set to be underway next week.



A highlight of the call was the launch of Mekong, a new short-term devnet created to support Devcon hackathons. Built on the Devnet 4 spec, Mekong is now live, giving developers a focused environment for innovation ahead of Ethereum&#8217;s upcoming changes.



“Mekong is meant to be a playground for wallet developers to experiment with UX changes and for stakers to gain confidence in the upcoming changes,” according to a <a href="https://blog.ethereum.org/2024/11/07/introducing-mekong-testnet">blog post</a> announcing the testnet.



Devnet 4 will remain accessible for further testing over the next few weeks so as to maintain flexibility for developers experimenting with the evolving protocol.



The conversation also covered recent proposed updates affecting core functionality, specifically in EIPs 7002 and 7521. Minor modifications to these contracts aim to improve user-friendliness, notably by helping users avoid accidental overpayments. While the contracts are currently under audit, developers were asked to review these updates asynchronously, a process that will likely continue after Devcon.



Devs further explored ways to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/testing-bottleneck-next-ethereum-upgrade">streamline testing</a> by isolating specific parts of the fork — specifically EOF and <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/0xresearch-newsletter-ethereum-tps">PeerDAS</a> — for independent activation. Nethermind’s “chainspec” <a href="https://docs.nethermind.io/fundamentals/configuration/">configuration</a> option already supports fine-grained control for EIP activation, allowing teams to toggle individual EIPs for testing. However, concerns arose over the complexity of this approach, as some teams prefer Geth’s simpler fork activation model.



A consensus on a universal approach remains unreached, with some developers noting that fine-grained control could lead to unpredictable interactions if not managed carefully.



Another central issue during the call was Ethereum’s growing data footprint and ways to handle historical data more efficiently. <a href="https://ethereum-magicians.org/t/eip-7801-eth-70-sharded-blocks-protocol/21507">EIP-7801</a> — aka eth/70 or Sharded Blocks Protocol — was proposed as a short-term solution to reduce nodes’ storage requirements. This measure would ease the data burden until <a href="https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/networking-layer/portal-network/">Portal</a>, a more comprehensive data solution, becomes fully integrated. While some teams favor a universal standard for history retention, others advocate for a client-specific approach to managing storage.



<a href="https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-7610">EIP-7610</a> also featured in the discussion, as it aims to resolve certain edge cases in contract deployment. While the proposal is close to finalization, some clients reported challenges in implementation. As a result, an alternative design is now being explored, with a new proposal expected soon.



Devcon provides a rare opportunity for a major cohort of core developers to get together in person and hash out unresolved issues. Ethereum developers are advancing on multiple fronts to optimize infrastructure and meet the scaling demands of dapps and users, at a time when the conventional Twitteratti narrative is that the second most valuable blockchain network is falling behind rivals.



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Ethereum devs mark milestone ahead of Devcon

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Framework’s Vance Spencer is a fan of Maker’s Sky rebrand.



I don’t know about you, but until I chatted with Spencer, I really hadn’t seen or heard anyone come out in favor of the rebrand. Most folks were either ambivalent or critical.&nbsp;



For Spencer — after speaking with various stakeholders — the “brand equity is actually relative to the value of a redenomination, which is just a lower unit bias. There&#8217;s a reason that stocks do this in the stock market,” he explained.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Fundamentals of MKR/SKY, Endgame, Brand TLDR: I support relaunching the SKY brand in lieu of MKR Three things have become apparent to me in talking with MKR/SKY ecosystem participants 1. USDS is an unqualified success and MKR/SKY fundamentals have never been stronger. MKR is…&mdash; Vance Spencer (@pythianism) <a href="https://twitter.com/pythianism/status/1853454891928420800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



As for the naysayers, it’s simply “too early” to determine if the strategy’s even worked yet, given that no major exchange has listed SKY.



“The brand has been confusing so far, but there hasn&#8217;t been enough adoption to tell you know, one from the other in terms of, do people not like the brand, or do people not like one big fund selling their MKR, and then a general market pullback, because, right now, MKR is ripping again, and I think people you know care less about the brand or about what their perspective is when that&#8217;s the case,” Spencer said.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Now that the Sky branding is upheld, Sky Ecosystem can focus on getting to work: 1) Grow adoption of USDS by expanding to Solana and Eth L2s 2) Migrate all MKR to SKY on CEXes and coingecko 3) Prepare to launch Spark, the first Star, and SPK token rewards for USDS holders&mdash; Rune (@RuneKek) <a href="https://twitter.com/RuneKek/status/1854569937190129958?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



The tradeoff of having “something that’s more retail-oriented and lower unit bias,” is more important when it comes to the rebrand. And, to add to that, the lower retail participation so far makes it hard to get a read on success down the line.&nbsp;



However, this rebrand could change the story, especially paired with the potential market rally we could see if there’s regulatory clarity (and firms aren’t at risk of sudden lawsuits).



“If we assume Wall Street institutions and retail get in and they value certain things, like fundamentals, I think they&#8217;re also going to value a brand that makes sense within the context of what the project&#8217;s trying to do, which is kind of start over for this next chapter of crypto, redenominate. Fresh chart, completely transition the token to the next one, there&#8217;s probably going to be a lot of lost tokens,” Spencer said. But it’ll end up being a “clean slate.”



Despite criticisms of the rebrand, Framework won’t be going anywhere. 



“This is something that we have a venture perspective on, and we&#8217;re going to hold for a long time. And I think what they&#8217;re doing is in the spirit of growing the fundamentals, which is really what we care about, because at a certain point, if you&#8217;re holding some of the last MKR, like, they&#8217;re gonna be buying it from you, and that&#8217;s kind of the market you want to create in the future,” Spencer added.



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