Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wrap-up of a very powerful tales in cryptocurrency tech improvement. I am Margaux Nijkerk, CoinDesk’s Tech & Protocols reporter.
On this problem:
- Vitalik Buterin’s New Proposal Seeks 16.7M Gasoline Cap on Ethereum to Rein In Transaction Bloat
- Jack Dorsey Unveils Bitchat: Offline, Encrypted Messaging Impressed by Bitcoin
- Volkswagen ADMT Faucets Solana-Based mostly Hivemapper Bee Maps for Driverless Knowledge
- Eigen Labs Axes 25% of Employees to Concentrate on Constructing EigenCloud
Community Information
NEW ETHEREUM PROPOSAL FROM VITALIK BUTERIN: A brand new Ethereum proposal, co-authored by Vitalik Buterin and Toni Wahrstaetter, goals to impose a tough cap on the utmost gasoline a transaction can devour in a transfer builders say may strengthen community stability and make the chain extra viable for sure functions. The proposal, EIP-7983, suggests limiting particular person transactions to 16,777,216 gasoline (2²⁴) — a pointy change from the present design, which technically permits a single transaction to devour the gasoline allocation of a complete block. As a design alternative, that introduces a number of efficiency and safety challenges. When a single transaction consumes almost all of the obtainable gasoline, it disrupts the distribution of workloads throughout the community and tends to make block execution much less environment friendly. So the proposed cap is anticipated to simplify engineering challenges and aligns with Ethereum’s shift towards modularity, although it could require splitting massive transactions. — Shaurya Malwa Learn extra.
JACK DORSEY UNVEILS BITCHAT WHITEPAPER: Jack Dorsey, founding father of Twitter (now X) and fintech firm Block (SQ), printed a whitepaper for Bitchat, a decentralized messaging protocol that permits totally encrypted communication with out the web. Bitchat would function over Bluetooth Low Power (BLE), permitting close by units to type a mesh community that relays messages hop-by-hop, in keeping with the whitepaper. When a message is distributed, it will journey throughout close by units performing as non permanent nodes till it reaches its recipient, making it resilient in offline or censored environments. Whereas not making specific references to Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency or the blockchain, Dorsey describes Bitchat as a “decentralized, peer-to-peer messaging software,” evoking connections to the Bitcoin whitepaper’s intro through which it was described as a “peer-to-peer model of digital money.” — Jamie Crawley Learn extra.
SOLANA HIVEMAPPER AND VOLKSWAGEN TEAM UP: Volkswagen ADMT, the carmaker’s autonomous-vehicle testing subsidiary, tapped Hivemapper’s Bee Maps to help its self-driving operations with real-time mapping knowledge. Avenue-level imagery collected by Bee Maps contributors utilizing Hivemapper cameras can be used to assist validate Volkswagen’s self-driving know-how in an effort to spice up the curbside precision of autonomous pick-ups and drop-offs, a Bee Maps spokesperson advised CoinDesk. The deal highlights the rising adoption of crowdsourced geospatial knowledge as autonomous ride-sharing corporations search for extra exact, up-to-date mapping infrastructure. It additionally showcases the expansion of decentralized bodily infrastructure networks (DePIN), which use blockchain incentives to crowdsource real-world knowledge assortment. Hivemapper is without doubt one of the best-known DePIN initiatives within the Solana ecosystem. In accordance with the Wall Avenue Journal, Volkswagen’s autonomous driving unit has been testing its ‘Robotaxi’ fleet in latest months. In April, the corporate additionally introduced a partnership with Uber to launch the service in U.S. markets, with pilot operations set for late 2025 and a wider rollout deliberate for 2026. — Margaux Nijkerk Learn extra.
EIGENLABS LAYS OFF STAFF AMID RESTRUCTURE: Eigen Labs, the primary developer agency behind restaking protocol EigenLayer, lower its workforce by 25%, dropping 29 roles, as CEO Sreeram Kannan stated he restructured the corporate to deal with creating EigenCloud, which he known as a “verifiable” different to current, opaque cloud providers. The Seattle-based startup stated the dismissals weren’t a cash-crunch response. The information comes because the agency has handled its justifiable share of blowback, from not having sure key mechanisms in place on the launch of its important product, to having main Ethereum Basis figures obtain large payouts for advisory roles. EigenLayer was as soon as one of many buzziest initiatives in crypto, reaching $20 billion in whole worth locked in June 2024. It now has $12 billion. — Francisco Rodrigues Learn extra.
In Different Information
- Bit Digital (BTBT) is now the proprietor of greater than 100,000 ether (ETH) after swapping out its bitcoin stack together with a $172 million capital elevate for much more of the world’s second-largest crypto. From a holding of 24,434 ETH as of the top of March, Bit Digital now has some 100,603 ETH ($189.2 million) making it one of many largest company ETH holders, the corporate stated. Bit Digital revealed its plans to focus solely on ETH staking final month in a transfer that wasn’t completely surprising given the more difficult atmosphere bitcoin miners have skilled since final yr’s halving. — Jamie Crawley Learn extra.
- U.S. President Donald Trump’s Media & Know-how Group (NASDAQ: DJT) filed to listing a crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) that may observe a collection of digital property, the newest in a string of such efforts tied to the Trump model. The proposed “Fact Social Crypto Blue Chip ETF” would maintain a portfolio of 5 tokens: bitcoin , ether (ETH), solana (SOL), XRP (XRP) and cronos (CRO), in keeping with a submitting with the SEC. Eighty-five % of the fund’s holdings could be cut up between bitcoin and ether. Solana would make up 8%, cronos 5% and XRP 2%. — Helene Braun Learn extra.
Regulatory and Coverage
- The U.S. Treasury Division’s Workplace of International Asset Management’s (OFAC) sanctions towards privateness software Twister Money can’t be mentioned on the upcoming trial of developer Roman Storm, a federal decide dominated. At a standing convention in Manhattan on Tuesday, District Decide Katherine Polk Failla initially waffled on whether or not she would enable professional witnesses to testify concerning the sanctions, which have been first imposed in August 2022, eliminated this March and subsequently discovered unlawful by a Texas courtroom. After listening to arguments from each prosecution and protection, Failla determined to grant Storm’s movement in limine transferring to ban testimony concerning the sanctions completely, arguing that it will merely be too complicated for a jury to do what she described because the “psychological gymnastics” of understanding why the sanctions have been imposed and in the end eliminated. — Cheyenne Ligon Learn extra.
- The U.S. Division of Justice (DOJ) charged two people for his or her position in OmegaPro, a crypto and funding Ponzi scheme that defrauded traders of over $650 million. Michael Shannon Sims, a founder and promoter of OmegaPro, and Juan Carlos Reynoso, who led OmegaPro’s operations in Latin America and a few components of the U.S., have been charged on conspiracy to commit wire fraud and cash laundering, in keeping with paperwork printed. OmegaPro was a world funding scheme that collapsed in 2022. In 2024, Andreas Szakacs, the co-founder of the scheme, was arrested in Turkey for his involvement with OmegaPro. — Parikshit Mishra Learn extra.
