Ethereal news weekly #5

Vitalik: call to improve usability & decentralization, Nethereum 10 year anniversary release, Uniswap interface fees set to zero

Vitalik: call to improve usability & decentralization, at both protocol & application layers
ETH metrics:
- Gas (gwei): 0.1 average, 0.0 - 1.1 (12.2 for zero net issuance)
- ETHUSD: $2,916 - $3,040 (all time high $4,946, August 24, 2025)
- ETH ETFs: 5% of ETH supply
- ETHBTC: 0.034 (0.165 for the Flippening)

Consensys

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Paul Brody (Chair of Enterprise Ethereum Alliance) 2026 predictions: building season for finance plumbing; onboarding via per gig & just in time payments; slower regulatory progress; rise of onchain privacy; geopolitics of stablecoins

Hardhat v3.1.2 (dev framework): supports Solidity v0.8.32/33
Ape v0.8.44 (dev framework): help command loads faster
Nethereum 5.8.0 (client library): 10 year anniversary release, adds light client & verification, wallet platform, hardware wallet improvements, protocol integrations & data services
EIP712 domain separator caching best practices
CTFs:
- BuidlGuidl CTF: season 1 & season 2 (created for Devcon & Devconnect)
Application layer standards (ERCs):
- ERC8117: Compressed display format for addresses

Glamsterdam upgrade (targeting June 2026):
- Scoping continues January 5 at all core devs - execution (ACDE) #227
  - 16 EIPs Proposed for Inclusion yet to be decided upon
  - 14 EIPs Considered for Inclusion
Hegotá upgrade:
- Fork focus & headliner discussions start January 8 at all core devs - consensus (ACDC) #172
Ethereum improvement proposals (EIPs):
- Forkcast EIP directory: view/filter list, details include governance timeline
- EIP8115: Batch priority fees at end of block (split from EIP7799: System logs)
- EIP8116: Replace cumulative receipt fields (split from EIP6466: SSZ receipts)

Dankrad Feist: Minimmit explainer, proposed consensus algorithm with 80% honest majority

Toni Wahrstätter: MEV-Boost market, relays: Titan gaining share, builders: Titan ~50%
Client diversity:
- Consensus layer:
  - ⚠️ Lighthouse ~49% (data may not be 100% accurate)
- Execution layer: Geth ~41%, Nethermind ~38% (estimated from self reports)
Staking marketshare: Lido 24.5% [Note: dual governance]

Zero Network (ZK Stack) still paused, targeting resolution in mid-January. Users just have to wait for a stage 0 rollup

Trust wallet browser extension v2.68 incident: November’s Sha1-Hulud 2 npm supply-chain attack believed to have been used to access source code & web store API key to deploy malicious version
Vitalik: balance of power, projects should have a decentralization model to avoid concentrating power in themselves & the risks associated with having such power