Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wrap-up of an important tales in cryptocurrency tech improvement. I am Margaux Nijkerk, CoinDesk’s Tech & Protocols reporter.
On this situation:
- Vitalik Buterin’s New Proposal Seeks 16.7M Fuel Cap on Ethereum to Rein In Transaction Bloat
- Jack Dorsey Unveils Bitchat: Offline, Encrypted Messaging Impressed by Bitcoin
- Volkswagen ADMT Faucets Solana-Primarily based Hivemapper Bee Maps for Driverless Information
- Eigen Labs Axes 25% of Employees to Deal with Constructing EigenCloud
Community Information
NEW ETHEREUM PROPOSAL FROM VITALIK BUTERIN: A new Ethereum proposal, co-authored by Vitalik Buterin and Toni Wahrstaetter, goals to impose a tough cap on the utmost fuel a transaction can eat in a transfer builders say might 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 fuel (2²⁴) — a pointy change from the present design, which technically permits a single transaction to eat the fuel allocation of a complete block. As a design alternative, that introduces a number of efficiency and safety challenges. When a single transaction consumes practically all of the obtainable fuel, 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 giant transactions. — Shaurya Malwa Learn extra.
JACK DORSEY UNVEILS BITCHAT WHITEPAPER: Jack Dorsey, founding father of Twitter (now X) and fintech firm Block (SQ), revealed a whitepaper for Bitchat, a decentralized messaging protocol that allows absolutely encrypted communication with out the web. Bitchat would function over Bluetooth Low Vitality (BLE), permitting close by gadgets to kind a mesh community that relays messages hop-by-hop, in line with the whitepaper. When a message is shipped, it could journey throughout close by gadgets performing as momentary nodes till it reaches its recipient, making it resilient in offline or censored environments. Whereas not making express 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 during 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 assist 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 expertise in an effort to spice up the curbside precision of autonomous pick-ups and drop-offs, a Bee Maps spokesperson informed 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 among the best-known DePIN tasks within the Solana ecosystem. In keeping with the Wall Avenue Journal, Volkswagen’s autonomous driving unit has been testing its ‘Robotaxi’ fleet in current months. In April, the firm 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 principle developer agency behind restaking protocol EigenLayer, reduce its workforce by 25%, dropping 29 roles, as CEO Sreeram Kannan mentioned he restructured the corporate to give attention to creating EigenCloud, which he referred to as a “verifiable” various to present, opaque cloud providers. The Seattle-based startup mentioned 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 predominant product, to having main Ethereum Basis figures obtain massive payouts for advisory roles. EigenLayer was as soon as one of many buzziest tasks in crypto, reaching $20 billion in complete 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 mentioned. Bit Digital revealed its plans to focus solely on ETH staking final month in a transfer that wasn’t fully surprising given the tougher surroundings bitcoin miners have skilled since final 12 months’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 will observe a number of digital belongings, the most recent 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 line with a submitting with the SEC. Eighty-five p.c 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 instrument 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 knowledgeable witnesses to testify in regards to the sanctions, which had been first imposed in August 2022, eliminated this March and subsequently discovered unlawful by a Texas court docket. After listening to arguments from each prosecution and protection, Failla determined to grant Storm’s movement in limine shifting to ban testimony in regards to the sanctions fully, arguing that it could merely be too complicated for a jury to do what she described because the “psychological gymnastics” of understanding why the sanctions had 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 function in OmegaPro, a crypto and funding Ponzi scheme that defrauded buyers 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 elements of the U.S., had been charged on conspiracy to commit wire fraud and cash laundering, in line with paperwork revealed. OmegaPro was a global 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.
