Week in Ethereum News, November 4, 2023

and

Nov 03, 2023

Eth News and Links

Dencun (Cancun + Deneb) upgrade

Latest all core devs – consensus (ACDC) call video. Notes from Christine Kim:
- Agreed to Deneb simplification (blob sidecar inclusion proof), ~3 weeks to implement, delays next devnet but gives safer mainnet
- Devnet 11 launched
Consensus-specs v1.4.0-beta.4: adds blob sidecar inclusion proof
Dencun interop testing call video

Centralization watch: threatening the value of your ETH

🚨 Lido at 31.34% continues to reduce but still far too close to 33.3% threshold
Client diversity (via clientdiversity.org):
- Execution layer: Geth ~85% supermajority, could possibly cause a chain split
- Consensus layer: Prysm 43% & Lighthouse 34%, any client bug over 33.3% could mean loss of finality
Geographic diversity needed for stakers & nodes, particularly outside of US/Canada/EU

Layer 1

For Stakers

Client releases

Execution layer:
- EthereumJS releases: Holešky testnet support, Dencun devnet 11 support & EVM profiler

Research

Layer 2

Vitalik: types of layer 2s, rollup & validium spectrum, dimensions of withdrawing security & reading security

EIPs/Standards

EIPs
- EIP7547: Inclusion lists
- EIP7549: Move committee index outside Attestation
ERCs (application layer):
- ERC7548: Open IP protocol (remix ERC721 NFTs)
- ERC7550: Transient ERC20 approvals
- ERC7551: Crypto security token contract interface
- ERC7552: Decentralized embedding registry

Stuff for developers

Hardhat:
- Hardhat v2.19.0: adds configuration variables (stored in plain text)
- Guide to deploying a contract with Hardhat Ignition
Gaslite Splitter: gas optimized contract for splitting ERC20 & ETH payments
Solid-grinder: reduce L2 gas cost by encoding calldata, front end snippets & CLI
Reinforced-Concrete-Huff: hash function for bn254 curve, ported to Huff
Fe (language) v0.26.0: option to produce runtime bytecode and verify onchain contracts against local source code
Addreth: React component to display ETH addresses
Web3py-discord-bot: example repo using web3.py websocket provider
Paradigm CTF write up (from 2nd placed Kalos)
Securing C (language) code: best practices used to secure c-kzg-4844 C library

Security

Onyx protocol (Compound v2 fork) $2.1M exploit via precision loss vulnerability
Unibot router $600k exploit via suspected lack of input validation allowing arbitrary call
Astrid Finance $230K exploit via lack of input validation in withdraw

Ecosystem

Onchain stats

Gas fees (via ultrasound.money): 7.4 to 95.2 gwei, with 21.1 gwei average
- Zero net issuance currently at 21.6 gwei
- 450 ETH net issuance this week
ETHUSD: $1,774 - $1,865, currently $1,828
ETHBTC: currently 0.053 (Flippening at ~0.16)

Notable at app layer

WalletConnect reenabling access to Russia & occupied Ukraine after previously blocking based on legal & OFAC guidance
Aragon Association dissolving
Drawtech live on Base, shared canvas onchain mobile game
OpenSea staff layoffs

Job listings: $600 for four issues (75 character limit). Questions? abcoathup at-gmail

Regulation/business/tokens

SBF found guilty on all 7 counts, sentencing set for March 28
SafeMoon executives charged with securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering
SEC crypto accounting bulletin should have been submitted to Congress
PayPal received SEC subpoena for PYUSD stablecoin
UK Treasury response to crypto regulation consultation

General

Follow @WeekinEthNews to find out what the most clicked links are. Follow @abcoathup and @evan_van_ness to get most of the week’s news in real time.

(new/changes in bold)

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