Week in Ethereum News, November 30, 2024
Eth News and Links
Tornado Cash contracts can’t be sanctioned under current law, blob increase included in Pectra upgrade and Ethereum protocol attackathon
Eth R&D protocol call (All Core Devs)
Consensus layer focused protocol call (ACDC #146):
Pectra upgrade:
Mekong testnet: consensus layer client teams fixing deposit processing bug
Blobs:
Agreed to increase blobs per block target to 6 & max of 9 and change update fraction via EIP7691
Long range syncing, clients not purely bottlenecked by bandwidth
Block arrival & home staker analysis supports increase to 4/8 or 6/9 (target/max)
Blob fee market discussion
EIP7623 (increase calldata cost): inclusion in Pectra to be decided at execution layer call (ACDE) next week
Pectra-devnet-5 spec: agreed to exclude empty requests in Engine API to mirror EIP7685 & consolidation processing fix in EIP7251
EIP7805 Fork-choice enforced Inclusion Lists (FOCIL) presentation
Fusaka (Osaka + Fulu) upgrade
PeerDAS breakout #12: spec discussions on decoupling subnets and validator custody
EOF implementers call #62: discussions on compiler metadata and EOFCREATE hash
Layer 1
QUIC support: ~42% of nodes, majority running Lighthouse & mostly over IPv4
BuilderNet: block building network running on TEEs, shares MEV with users, early version live operated by Flashbots, Beaverbuild & Nethermind
Terence: same slot vs next slot for inclusion list design, spec & prototype will use same slot
For stakers
Deposit tools vulnerability: multiple keystore files generated in a single run should be considered as unencrypted
Research
In-protocol transaction ordering, extension to Fork-Choice enforced Inclusion Lists (FOCIL)
Centralization watch: threatening the value of your ETH
🚨 Lido at 28.1%, still too close to 33.3% threshold
Client diversity (via clientdiversity.org):
Execution layer: Geth ~43% & Nethermind ~36% (estimate based on 74% self reported data)
Consensus layer: Prysm 35%
Any client bug over 33.3% could mean loss of finality
Better geographic diversity is optimal, particularly outside of North America & Europe
Client Releases
Consensus layer:
Lodestar v1.23.1: fixes for issues in recent devnets
EIPs/Standards
EIPs (Ethereum improvement proposals):
EIP7825: Transaction gas limit cap
ERCs (application layer):
Stuff for developers
Foundry compiler profiles: compile contracts needing optimization with IR & tests without IR; 10x compile time reduction for Uniswap v4 contracts
Echidna trace parser: convert Echidna call traces into Foundry tests
Uniswap Compact (Solidity): ownerless ERC6909 contract, facilitates formation/dissolution of reusable resource locks
MicroStable: simple stablecoin design in Solidity & Vyper
Cyfrin Upgrade beginner & intermediate Python & Vyper courses
CTFs:
OSAKA: EVM Object Format (EOF) challenge
Drift: write cached contract calls for web3 libraries (viem, web3.js & ethers)
Security
Ethereum protocol attackathon: $1.5M reward pool, January 20 deadline
Job Listings
Nethermind: AI Agent, Infra, Blockchain, Full Stack, BizDev & Researcher
Job listings: $600 for 4 issues (75 char limit). Pay using 3cities. Questions? abcoathup at-gmail
Onchain stats
Fees (via ultrasound.money):
Gas: 4.0 to 46.4 gwei, 11.2 gwei average; zero net issuance at 24.2 gwei
9.5k ETH net issuance this week
ETHUSD: $3,288 - $3,666, currently $3,598, all time high $4,878
ETHBTC: currently 0.037 (Flippening at ~0.164)
Notable at app layer
Dan Finlay: meme token experiment, tools & incentives not currently sufficient for fundraising or having fun
Kraken NFT marketplace closing, users have 3 months to withdraw NFTs
Freysa: player successfully convinced AI agent to transfer prize pool
Regulation/business/tokens
US Fifth Circuit rules Tornado Cash immutable contracts can’t be sanctioned under current law, OFAC overstepped
Coinbase USDC Rewards sunset in Europe due to MiCA regulation
General
EF Poseidon cryptanalysis initiative: attack bounties & research grants
END OF SERVICE: plan to deprecate Week in Ethereum News
Editor: @abcoathup
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Permalink: https://weekinethereumnews.com/week-in-ethereum-news-november-30-2024
Upcoming Dates of Note
(new/changes in bold)
Dec 4-5 – Columbia CryptoEconomics workshop (New York)
Dec 6-8 – ETHIndia hackathon
Dec 9 – EF internships 2025 application deadline
Jan 20 – Ethereum protocol attackathon ends
Jan 30-31 – EthereumZuri.ch conference
Feb 23 - Mar 2 – ETHDenver
Apr 4-6 – ETHGlobal Taipei hackathon
May 9-11 – ETHDam (Amsterdam) conference & hackathon
May 27-29 – ETHPrague conference
May 30 - Jun 1 – ETHGlobal Prague hackathon
Jun 3-8 – ETH Belgrade conference & hackathon
Jun 12-13 – Protocol Berg (Berlin) conference
Jun 16-18 – DappCon (Berlin)
Jun 26-28 – ETHCluj (Romania) conference
Jun 30 - Jul 3 – EthCC (Cannes) conference
Jul 4-6 – ETHGlobal Cannes hackathon
Aug 15-17 – ETHGlobal New York hackathon
Sep 26-28 – ETHGlobal New Delhi hackathon
Nov – ETHGlobal Devconnect hackathon
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