Week in Ethereum News

January 16, 2026

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Highlight of the Week

Eth R&D Protocol Call(s)

  • All Core Devs - Execution (ACDE) #228, January 15, 2026

    • Glamsterdam upgrade:

      • Devnet-2 scope: discussed and flagged for revisit (incl. coordination concerns with CL-side changes) and to be finalized at the next testing-focused discussion.
      • Concerns raised about the large number of EIPs potentially being included in Glamsterdam
      • If targeting a June 2026 mainnet release, testnet releases would be needed by mid-April

    • EIP clarifications:

      • EIP-7778 (Block Gas Accounting without Refunds): Clarifications needed on CumulativeGasUsed in receipts and definitions of gasUsedForPaying and gasUsedForBlockLimit
      • EIP-8024 (Backward compatible SWAPN, DUPN, EXCHANGE): Discussion on behavior when code ends before immediate operand and proposal for a simpler version
      • EIP-7708 (ETH transfers emit a log): Pending PR with open questions about log address, topic values, and whether to include fee payment logs

Research

  • Blob Analysis after Fusaka and BPO Updates: empirical post-Fusaka / BPO study (MigaLabs) looking at blob utilization vs. targets and missed-slot correlations at higher blob counts, with a recommendation to pause further blob-parameter-only increases until miss rates normalize.
  • Recursive-STARK-based bandwidth-efficient mempool: proposes periodically emitting a single recursive STARK attesting to validity of all still-valid objects a node has seen (rather than attaching large proofs per object).
  • Trust minimized transaction simulation using state proofs: outlines a production-oriented approach for wallets to verify simulation prestate cryptographically (MPT proofs + multi-RPC stateRoot consensus) and then execute locally (e.g., with revm) to reduce blind trust in simulation APIs/RPCs.

Layer 2

Security

  • Yo Protocol suffered a $3.71 million loss on January 14, 2026, when a vault operator fat-fingered a $3.84 million swap with broken slippage parameters. Only $112K came out the other side. The team quietly backstopped the loss and waited two days to mention it publicly.
  • Truebit was drained for $26.2 million on January 12, 2026, through an unchecked integer overflow in unverified bytecode. This marks the first major hack of 2026, with the same attacker having hit Sparkle weeks prior.

Ecosystem

Centralization watch: threatening the value of your ETH

  • 🚨 Lido at 23.89%, still too close to the 33.3% threshold.

  • Client diversity (via clientdiversity.org):

    • Execution layer: Geth ~41% & Nethermind ~38%
    • Consensus layer: Lighthouse ~37.6% & Erigon ~26%

  • Any client bug over 33.3% could mean loss of finality.

  • Better geographic diversity is optimal, particularly outside of North America & Europe.

EIPs/Standards

Onchain Stats

  • Fees (via ultrasound.money):

    • Gas: 0.0 to 1.9 gwei, 0.1 gwei average; zero net issuance at 12.3 gwei
    • 121.3k ETH net issuance this week

  • ETHUSD: $3,076 – $3,379, currently $3,291, all time high $4,946

  • ETHBTC: currently 0.034 (Flippening at ~0.165)

Enterprise

Regulation/Business/Tokens

  • Bank of Italy economist warns that Ethereum's role in financial systems makes its token economics a concern for regulators, who may need to consider safeguards for its use in regulated finance.
  • BitMine Chair Tom Lee told investors the company could generate over $400 million income on its $13 billion worth of ether holdings, primarily via staking.

Job Postings

  • Ethereum Foundation: Enterprise Relationship Lead (Remote - APAC, US-East Coast)
  • Aztec: Marketing Assistant (New York City)
  • OP Labs: Senior Product Manager, Fintechs & Exchanges (New York, San Francisco)
  • Consensys: Senior Creative Copywriter (Remote - Canada, US)

Upcoming Dates of Note