New Week in Ethereum 2025-08-22
Week in Ethereum News
August 22, 2025
Highlight of the Week
- Fusaka Devnet-5 is set to launch soon, following the shutdown of Devnet-4 due to instability issues. The new devnet will be larger in scale and designed to test more robust scenarios with configurations as close as possible to mainnet. This marks a critical step toward the Fusaka upgrade, which is targeting mainnet release around October 2025. (Source)
Eth R&D Protocol Call(s)
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All Core Devs - Consensus (ACDC) #163, August 21, 2025:
- Fusaka upgrade:
- Devnet-3 is currently live with approximately 80% participation levels, achieving finality when all validators are online.
- Devnet-4 was launched but taken offline due to several bugs, providing valuable lessons for Devnet-5.
- Devnet-5 is planned to launch the week of August 22, with specifications as close as possible to mainnet configurations.
- A client diversity tracker was shared by Barnabas Busa, showing which client versions are being used in each devnet. Currently, 5 out of 12 clients have merged Fusaka changes to their main branches.
- Protocol parameters:
- Confirmed
MAX_BLOB_COMMITMENTS_PER_BLOCKparameter has been set to 4096 in the minimal preset, referencing consensus-specs PR #4508. - Addressed theoretical attack vector concerns regarding ForkVersion in the Blob-Parameter-Only (BPO) design, determining it not to be an issue.
- Confirmed
- Glamsterdam upgrade:
- Announced breakout calls for EIP-7928: Block-Level Access Lists scheduled for August 27, 2025, and EIP-7732: Enshrined PBS (ePBS) scheduled for August 29, 2025.
- Introduced a Meta EIP on Repricing, drafted by ansgar.eth and Maria Inês Silva, to consolidate various repricing proposals into a unified framework. The draft is available on GitHub.
- Reminded developers that all Glamsterdam EIP proposals must be submitted before the Fusaka mainnet release (expected October 2025).
- Fusaka upgrade:
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All Core Devs - Testing (ACDT) #50, August 25, 2025:
- Focused on testing progress for the Fusaka upgrade, with particular attention to the upcoming Devnet-5.
- Discussed BPO Static Tests Updates and gas limit testing updates.
- Reviewed Glamsterdam testing updates for Block-level Access Lists (BALs) and enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS).
- Covered Sunnyside labs testnet updates and client readiness for the scheduled EIPs.
Fusaka (Osaka + Fulu) upgrade
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Fusaka Devnet-5 launch announced for the week of August 22, 2025, designed to be larger in scale than previous devnets to test more robust scenarios.
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Fusaka timelines delayed as developers prioritize stability over speed. The upgrade is now targeting mainnet release around October 2025, slightly later than initially planned.
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Client teams are actively working on implementing the 12 EIPs scheduled for inclusion in Fusaka, with a focus on PeerDAS (EIP-7594) which will enable Ethereum nodes to specialize in storing different pieces of data while still verifying everything is available.
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A client diversity tracker for Fusaka devnets was shared by Barnabas Busa, providing visibility into which client versions are being used in each devnet. The tracker can be accessed on GitHub.
Glamsterdam (Amsterdam–G-Star) Upgrade
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Glamsterdam headliners finalized with two major EIPs moving to "Scheduled" status:
- EIP-7732: enshrined Proposer-Builder separation (ePBS) - Decouples consensus block from execution payload, enabling L1 scaling by changing the time required to broadcast and execute payloads from ~2 seconds to ~9 seconds.
- EIP-7928: Block-level Access Lists - Introduces access lists at the block level rather than individual transactions, dramatically reducing gas costs for applications that access similar state.
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EIP-7805: Fork-Choice Inclusion Lists (FOCIL) has moved to "Considered" status, which would empower multiple validators to mandate the inclusion of specific transactions in each block, improving censorship resistance.
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A Meta EIP on Repricing was introduced, drafted by ansgar.eth and Maria Inês Silva, to consolidate various repricing proposals for Glamsterdam into a unified framework. The draft is available on GitHub.
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Potuz suggested that short, recurring updates on Glamsterdam should be shared more frequently to ensure stakeholders remain aligned between major All Core Dev calls.
Layer 1
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Block-Level Access Lists (BALs):
- The first EIP-7928 breakout call is scheduled for August 27, 2025, to finalize spec details and testing roadmap for Block-Level Access Lists. The agenda includes discussion of read-only accesses, encoding format decisions (RLP vs SSZ), and indexing rules for pre- vs post-execution changes.
- This implementation will dramatically reduce gas costs for applications that access similar state and enable new optimization patterns for developers.
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Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS):
- The EIP-7732 breakout call #22 is scheduled for August 29, 2025, to discuss implementation details for ePBS, which will decouple consensus blocks from execution payloads.
- Key discussion topics include payload post-state availability in the EVM and handling beacon block body fields that were moved from consensus to execution (e.g.,
blob_kzg_commitments,execution_requests).
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FOCIL (Fork-Choice Inclusion Lists):
- EIP-7805: FOCIL has moved to "Considered" status for the Glamsterdam upgrade, which would empower multiple validators to mandate the inclusion of specific transactions in each block, improving censorship resistance.
Research
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Staking Economics:
- A new formal framework for analyzing the Ethereum staking market was published by the Center for Cryptoeconomics, examining how changes in Ethereum's issuance curve affect staking decisions and decentralization.
- The research found that solo stakers are more sensitive to changes in staking yields than other staking categories, and reducing issuance could disproportionately impact solo stakers, potentially reducing their market share and profitability.
- The game-theoretic model suggests that competitive market forces may explain why solo stakers are more sensitive to yield changes, as other staking categories benefit from additional revenue streams like MEV access and DeFi yields.
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Parallel Auctions:
- A new proposal for Parallel Auctions on Commit-Boost was published, exploring mechanisms to improve block building and transaction ordering.
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Confidential Transactions:
- ZEX v0.1: Confidential Peer-to-Peer DEX was introduced, presenting a new approach to privacy-preserving decentralized exchanges on Ethereum.
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Validator Key Management:
- A novel approach to Ethereum Validator Key Management via DDH-Based Exponent Verifiable Random Functions (eVRF) was proposed, addressing security concerns in validator operations.
Layer 2
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Protocol Update 002 - Scale Blobs introduces Ethereum's approach to blob scaling. Following Protocol Update 001, this initiative focuses on scaling data availability for L2 systems. Blobs are the unit of data availability in the protocol, and scaling blob count per block is key for enabling L2 adoption across use cases like real-time payments, DeFi, social media, gaming, and AI applications. The EF is implementing incremental changes to Ethereum's blob architecture to accelerate scaling.
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Arbitrum One continues to lead Layer 2 solutions with $18.95B in Total Value Secured, showing a 3.42% increase over the past day. The optimistic rollup using BoLD proof system remains in Stage 1 of development.
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Base Chain maintains its position as the second-largest L2 with $15.14B in TVS (up 4.45%) and leads in activity with 115.31 UOPS (user operations per second), representing a 3.58% increase.
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OP Mainnet holds $3.57B in TVS with a significant 6.67% increase, while processing 12.74 UOPS.
Stuff for Developers
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Join the EF Protocol Reddit AMA on August 29th, 2025. The Ethereum Foundation is continuing its tradition of "Ask Us Anything" sessions, now hosted by the EF Protocol cluster teams. This forum provides an opportunity for deep dives into the protocol's evolving landscape, direct Q&A with core contributors, and transparency into ongoing work shaping Ethereum.
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Recent EIP commits show active development across multiple proposals:
Security
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Trillion Dollar Security - Phase 2 has been launched by the Ethereum Foundation. After surveying the ecosystem to identify high-priority improvements, the EF is now focusing primarily on UX security issues, which were found to be the most urgent concerns for both individual and institutional users. This first wave combines high-leverage short-term actions with long-term projects expected to continue for years.
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Coinbase lost $550K after granting ERC-20 approvals to 0xProject's permissionless Settler contract—exactly what their own documentation warns against. An MEV bot exploited these permissions to drain hundreds of tokens, adding to ongoing security failures that investigators have highlighted.
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BTCTurk experienced a $51.7 million hack on August 19, 2025, forcing the exchange to freeze crypto deposits and withdrawals. This incident follows a similar $55 million private key breach in June 2024, with funds being funneled into ETH while the founder remains silent.
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Odin.Fun lost $7 million on August 12th through basic AMM manipulation, marking their third breach in six months. Despite the founder's PhD credentials, the project continues to suffer from inadequate treasury management and unclear compensation plans.
Ecosystem
- Protocol Update 001 – Scale L1 was published earlier this month, reorganizing the Ethereum Foundation's research & development teams to better align with current strategic goals: Scale L1, Scale Blobs, and Improve UX without compromising Ethereum's security and hardness.
Notable at app layer
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Aero Finance has shown remarkable growth with an 18.44% increase in activity over the past day, making it one of the fastest-growing DeFi applications in the ecosystem.
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Morpho has seen an 18.12% increase in activity, continuing its momentum as a leading lending protocol in the DeFi space.
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EthFi token has surged 13.15% as the liquid staking protocol gains traction among users seeking staking solutions with enhanced liquidity options.
Centralization watch: threatening the value of your ETH
- 🚨 Lido at 25.84%, still too close to the 33.3% threshold.
- Client diversity (via clientdiversity.org):
- Execution layer: Geth ~41% & Nethermind ~38%
- Consensus layer: Lighthouse ~42.71% & Prysm ~30.91%
- Any client bug over 33.3% could mean loss of finality.
- Better geographic diversity is optimal, particularly outside of North America & Europe.
Client Releases
- Execution layer:
- Geth v1.16.2: Implements Fusaka EIPs including EIP-7825 (Transaction Gas Limit Cap), EIP-7934 (RLP Execution Block Size Limit), EIP-7939 (CLZ opcode), EIP-7918 (Blob base fee bounded by execution cost), EIP-7951 (Precompile for secp256r1 Curve Support), EIP-7892 (Blob Parameter Only Hardforks), and EIP-7883 (ModExp Gas Cost Increase). Also includes core improvements like reduced memory allocation in trie hash function and improved background sync mechanism.
EIPs/Standards
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EIPs (Core, Networking, Interface):
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ERCs (Application Layer):
Onchain Stats
- Fees (via ultrasound.money):
- Gas: 0.2 to 9.5 gwei, 1.0 gwei average; zero net issuance at 20.5 gwei
- 2.7k ETH net issuance this week
- ETHUSD: $2507 – $2598, currently $2,582, all time high $4,878
- ETHBTC: currently 0.0236 (Flippening at ~0.165)
Regulation/Business/Tokens
- Spot Ether ETFs saw $287 million in inflows after a 4-day outflow streak, with BlackRock leading the charge. ETFs now hold 6.42 million ETH worth $27.66 billion, equal to 5.31% of the asset's circulating supply.
- European Union is exploring Ethereum and Solana for its digital euro launch, marking a shift toward public blockchains over private models like China's CBDC.
- SharpLink Gaming approved a $1.5 billion stock repurchase program. The company is the second-largest Ether corporate treasury with $3.14 billion in ETH.
- Standard Chartered lifted its Ether price target to $7.5K at year-end and $25K in 2028, citing surging institutional demand, favorable regulation, and network upgrades.
- BitMine Immersion aims to raise as much as $20 billion for more ETH purchases, adding to the approximately $5 billion worth it already owns.
Enterprise
- DBS Bank launched tokenized structured notes on Ethereum, expanding access to crypto-linked investment products for accredited and institutional investors.
- MetaMask announced plans to roll out its wallet-native mUSD dollar stablecoin in 2025, launching first on Ethereum and Consensys' Linea network for use across Web3 applications.
Miscellaneous
- Ethereum DEX volumes have overtaken Solana for the first time since April, buoyed by record spot ETF inflows and a surge in institutional demand.
- Figment is outpacing rivals in Ether staking growth, while Lido's decline eases centralization concerns. This shift points to a maturing staking ecosystem and may be a sign of improved blockchain health.
- Citi report indicates Ether's resurgence is gaining steam backed by spot ETF demand and on-chain growth. Spot ether ETFs have seen growing demand with cumulative net inflows now more than $13 billion, up from $2.6 billion in April.
- Polymarket bettors foresee $5K ETH by the end of August, though ETH's rally is hiding the fact that more liquidity is leaving for TRON, which could put a damper on growth.
Upcoming Dates of Note
- August 22-25, 2025 - ETHWarsaw conference and hackathon in Warsaw, Poland
- September 5-7, 2025 - ETHSingapore hackathon and conference
- September 15-17, 2025 - Ethereum Singapore developer conference
- October 28-30, 2025 - Devcon 7 in Bangkok, Thailand
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