Ethereum Observer #19
The Post-Post-Pectra edition
A brief weekly roundup of Ethereum and industry news and headlines.
Ethereum Core Dev (ACD) & L1
1/ @barnabemonnot shares the agenda for Protocol Research Call #002 — happening today and covering core roadmap items.
Our second Protocol research call is happening today at 14 UTC, hosted by @adietrichs.
This call's topic is "Scaling L1", featuring @dankrad, @marcin_d_s from @NethermindEth, Csaba Kiraly, @DavideCrapis, Jacek Gleń from @imapp_pl, @fradamt, @potuz_eth from @prylabs, @nero_eth
This call's topic is "Scaling L1", featuring @dankrad, @marcin_d_s from @NethermindEth, Csaba Kiraly, @DavideCrapis, Jacek Gleń from @imapp_pl, @fradamt, @potuz_eth from @prylabs, @nero_eth
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2/ @casparschwa unveils a fresh site and structure for the Robust Incentives Group, improving coordination on Ethereum incentive design.
The Robust Incentives Group is an Ethereum Foundation research team dedicated to the study of the Ethereum protocol through the lens of mechanism design.
Same research, new look.
Same research, new look.
3/ @ladislaus0x posts the EF Research roundup — covering recent thinking on L1 design, latency, and cryptoeconomics.
Your weekly EF Research update covers:* Scaling the L1 with Delayed Execution
* Simplifying the L1 on all fronts
* Optimising the networking stack in peerDAS (for more blobs)
* Patching cryptography vulnerabilities in execution clients
* FOCIL & beam chain progress
All posts
4/ @TimBeiko recaps proposals for overhauling the All Core Devs process — including working groups and spec handoff structure.
Over the past few months, I've been thinking about how AllCoreDevs evolve to support Ethereum's maturing ecosystem and ambitious roadmap.
Last month, I laid out a high-level framework for it (quoted here), and yesterday I published a more in the weeds follow up
TL;DR
Last month, I laid out a high-level framework for it (quoted here), and yesterday I published a more in the weeds follow up
TL;DR
Reconfiguring AllCoreDevs
To deliver on Ethereum's ambitious L1 roadmap, we should decouple planning and execution. To that end, I'm proposing we reorient ACD to focus on scoping future forks, and elevate our existing testing calls as the main venue for the current ones.
To deliver on Ethereum's ambitious L1 roadmap, we should decouple planning and execution. To that end, I'm proposing we reorient ACD to focus on scoping future forks, and elevate our existing testing calls as the main venue for the current ones.
5/ @ether_world summarizes highlights from ACDE #211, including updates on Fusaka and EOF removal.
Highlights of Ethereum's All Core Devs Meeting (ACDE) #211
Pectra Updates, Fusaka Fork, Proposal to Increase Gas Limit, Alternative Approaches to Gas Limit, ModExp EIPs, Long-Term Governance Planning & Pectra Pages
etherworld.co/2025/05/08/hig…
Pectra Updates, Fusaka Fork, Proposal to Increase Gas Limit, Alternative Approaches to Gas Limit, ModExp EIPs, Long-Term Governance Planning & Pectra Pages
etherworld.co/2025/05/08/hig…
6/ @ProtocolGuild drops the latest 24H in ACD — a curated pulse check from inside protocol development.
24H in Ethereum Core Dev | May 13 - Tracking organic prover-killer blocks
- Contract developer polls
- Fulu devnet
Feat. PG Members: @soispoke @timbeiko @manunalepa
Ecosystem
7/ @epicenterbtc interviews Ethereum Foundation Co-EDs @hwwonx and @tkstanczak on long-term strategy and neutrality.
NEW EPISODE The Infinite Garden: Humanity’s Shared World Computer
@tw_tter chats with @hwwonx & @tkstanczak, co-executive directors of @ethereumfndn, about @ethereum's enduring commitment to its foundational principles and the pressures it faces in a rapidly evolving
8/ @EF_ESP announces over $32 million in new grant funding for Ethereum public goods.
The Q1 2025 Allocation Update just dropped!
Discover the standout projects that earned support at the beginning of the year
blog.ethereum.org/2025/05/08/all…
Discover the standout projects that earned support at the beginning of the year
blog.ethereum.org/2025/05/08/all…
9/ @AndreaCanidio shares upcoming improvements to CowSwap’s batch auction system.
It’s official: @CoWSwap is upgrading its core mechanism — moving from the current Batch Auction to the Fair Combinatorial Auction! 
Exciting to see research make its way into the real world, and a big moment for on-chain trading infrastructure. 1/3
10/ @family announces their new keyless wallet system — one step further from seedphrases.
Family accounts eliminate seed phrases while preserving full self-custody.
Read more:
Read more:
family.co
The Crypto Wallet Problem – Why We Created Family Accounts
Traditional wallets rely on seed phrases and private keys, but this approach has fundamental flaws. Losing access to your bank account because you misplaced a single piece of information would be...
11/ @Uniswap rolls out one-click swaps, abstracting routing complexity behind a simple interface.
Introducing one-click swaps 
Now live on the Uniswap Web App for smart wallets with EIP-5792 support
Fewer clicks, less gas, faster swaps
Now live on the Uniswap Web App for smart wallets with EIP-5792 support
Fewer clicks, less gas, faster swaps
12/ @Uniswap also celebrates crossing 3 trillion USD in total swap volume.
The Uniswap Protocol just crossed $3T in all-time swap volume
DeFi is here to stay
DeFi is here to stay
13/ @LC is hosting a spring hackathon, featuring sessions and bounties for developers across Ethereum.
14/ @jessepollak notes that Coinbase (via Base) is now part of the S&P 500 — a milestone for crypto’s mainstream presence.
15/ @sassal0x posts the latest Daily Gwei Refuel — full of metrics, political signals, and funding updates.
The latest @thedailygwei Refuel is ready for your consumption! 
Today's topics:
- Pectra live on mainnet
- Ethereum Foundation update
- Infinex Connect
- and much more
Watch
youtu.be/X8TrVp1JWjU
Today's topics:
- Pectra live on mainnet
- Ethereum Foundation update
- Infinex Connect
- and much more
Watch
youtu.be/X8TrVp1JWjU
16/ @sassal0x also introduces SER, a new dashboard to track Ethereum reserves across bridges and treasuries.
The Strategic Ethereum Reserve (SER) is going to snowball so incredibly fast from here.
Today, it's under 1 million ETH in the reserve.
In a years time, I bet it's firmly over 10 million ETH in the reserve.
The gold rush for ETH is going to be absolutely insane.
Today, it's under 1 million ETH in the reserve.
In a years time, I bet it's firmly over 10 million ETH in the reserve.
The gold rush for ETH is going to be absolutely insane.
17/ @StaniKulechov announces a collaboration between Aave and @AntChain to expand RWA integrations.
I‘m pleased to announce Horizon’s strategic collaboration with @AntChain, one of the largest blockchain technology services providers in the world.
We will work with them on a custom RWA market on Ethereum.
We will work with them on a custom RWA market on Ethereum.
L2s
18/ @WonderFi announces joining Robinhood!
We're joining @RobinhoodApp to continue our mission of building accessible, transparent, and secure financial tools for the next generation of investors.
Together with Robinhood, we'll keep building innovative products that make crypto accessible, so we can bring more people
Together with Robinhood, we'll keep building innovative products that make crypto accessible, so we can bring more people
19/ @zkSyncDevs reveals a new Solidity compiler that improves dev ergonomics for zkEVM deployments.
solx is here.
A modern Solidity compiler built on LLVM, enabling advanced optimizations like caching storage variables, loop unrolling, and constant folding.
Built for Ethereum.
Watch the video for how to use solx via Foundry and compare the gas consumption against solc:
A modern Solidity compiler built on LLVM, enabling advanced optimizations like caching storage variables, loop unrolling, and constant folding.
Built for Ethereum.
Watch the video for how to use solx via Foundry and compare the gas consumption against solc:
20/ @alignedlayer delivers the latest Zk Newsflash — this week focused on performance metrics, recursion, and hardware acceleration.
ZK-Newsflash! Here are the highlights of what happened in the ZK space from May 1st to 7th — presented by @BJ_Dyakov.
Pectra upgrade is live on @ethereum! @VitalikButerin published an article explaining plans to simplify the L1. @Google adopted zero-knowledge
21/ @Starknet launches @RealmsEternum on mainnet — a key moment for onchain gaming and ZK tooling.
22/ @Optimism opens a new RPGF round focused on dev tooling — with applications already live.
Dev Tools make the onchain world possible.
Optimism Retro Funding rewards them across Ethereum and the Superchain based on how much usage they receive.
Get to know the latest recipients of Retro Funding… and maybe discover your new favorite dev tool. ↓
Optimism Retro Funding rewards them across Ethereum and the Superchain based on how much usage they receive.
Get to know the latest recipients of Retro Funding… and maybe discover your new favorite dev tool. ↓
23/ @arbitrum introduces the DEFAI Agent Arena, a new initiative for experimenting with AI onchain agents.
Today we are announcing a first of its kind activation with some of the top teams in the DeFAI space!
This competition does not pit human against human, it pits machine against machine
Arbitrum's Agent Arena: Where trading agents duke it out in the orderbooks for a $50K prize
This competition does not pit human against human, it pits machine against machine
Arbitrum's Agent Arena: Where trading agents duke it out in the orderbooks for a $50K prize
24/ @StarkWareLtd hits a huge milestone — over 1 billion transactions processed through its ZK stack.
5 years ago, we launched StarkEx to massively scale Ethereum.
Today, we’ve surpassed 1 billion processed transactions on it.
Industry leaders like Sorare are building on StarkEx, and now, this stack is available to everyone through the SN stack.
Today, we’ve surpassed 1 billion processed transactions on it.
Industry leaders like Sorare are building on StarkEx, and now, this stack is available to everyone through the SN stack.
25/ @Scroll_ZKP showcases AI-generated builds from the @DutchBlockWeek Hackathon.
Amsterdam: calling all builders! 
Join us for the @DutchBlockWeek Hackathon (May 21-22) to bring your AI+compliance ideas to life.
Two days.
Real problems.
Direct feedback from industry leaders, including our team.
Join us for the @DutchBlockWeek Hackathon (May 21-22) to bring your AI+compliance ideas to life.
Two days.
Real problems.
Direct feedback from industry leaders, including our team.
26/ @EthCC is almost here — and registration is now open.
Cannes is where it's at this summer!
And while EthCC[8] is shaping up to be the best edition yet, it just wouldn't be the same without you!
Get ready to soak in the views and grab your ticket today: ethcc.io/tickets
And while EthCC[8] is shaping up to be the best edition yet, it just wouldn't be the same without you!
Get ready to soak in the views and grab your ticket today: ethcc.io/tickets
27/ @NathanSexer shares a comprehensive calendar of 2025 Ethereum events — mirrored on @Fileverse.
These events are also synced on: ethereum.org/en/community/e…
And hosted on @fileverse:
And hosted on @fileverse:
docs.fileverse.io
dDocs | Privacy-enhancing Alternative to Google Docs
Decentralized Docs: peer-to-peer document editor that keeps your data secure with end-to-end encryption. Real-time collaboration, onchain. Start collaborating privately now!
📚 Last Week’s Edition: https://paragraph.com/@observer/18
Want to get involved? Comment or DM to help with curation, summaries, or tooling.
Thanks everyone — see you next week.