Crypto security, tokenized banking, stablecoin infrastructure and Ethereum’s next upgrade decisions shaped the week. Bitget and Payy responded to major exploits, Apple users faced renewed wallet-security risks, banks in the UK and Canada pushed tokenized deposits closer to production, and stablecoins gained attention across Big Tech, enterprise finance and U.S. monetary strategy. On Ethereum, ACDE #246 locked a 200M gas-limit signal for the Glamsterdam Sepolia fork while developers advanced a wider set of Hegotá execution-layer proposals. Frame Transactions also moved deeper into implementation testing as RPC standardization work focused on Amsterdam-era simulation and API behavior.

Catch up on last week's edition here.

This Week at a Glance

A. Regulation

• Is India Quietly Nudging UPI Users Toward CBDC?: India’s changing UPI merchant economics could give the digital rupee a stronger payments advantage, raising new questions about whether policy incentives may gradually accelerate CBDC adoption.
• US Eyes Global Stablecoin Push to Defend Dollar: The United States is reportedly exploring a broader global stablecoin strategy aimed at expanding dollar-denominated digital payments, supporting Treasury demand and strengthening the dollar’s role in cross-border finance.

B. Security

• Bitget Freezes Withdrawals After $351.6M Hack: Bitget suspended withdrawals after detecting roughly $351.6 million in unauthorized transfers from hot and warm wallets. The exchange said deposits and trading remained operational while it investigated the incident and pointed to its User Protection Fund as a backstop.
• Payy Freezes Network After $1.83M Exploit: Payy Network paused deposits, withdrawals, transfers and card transactions after an Ethereum bridge exploit drained approximately $1.83 million in USDC.
• Safari Zero Day Puts iPhone Crypto Keys at Risk: CERT-In warned about high-severity Apple vulnerabilities affecting iPhones and other Apple devices, increasing the urgency for crypto users who keep wallet credentials or other sensitive information on their phones.
• Apple DarkSword Hack Puts iPhone Crypto at Risk: The DarkSword exploit chain can potentially turn a malicious Safari visit into a deeper device compromise, with researchers warning that wallet information, Keychain data and other sensitive records could be exposed.
• Crypto RAT Malware Drains $235K in 48 Hours: A suspected remote-access trojan was linked to more than $235,000 in crypto losses over roughly 48 hours, highlighting the growing threat from malware that hijacks active sessions rather than directly attacking blockchain protocols.

C. Privacy

• Lloyds, NatWest & Barclays Execute First Tokenized Deposits: Three major UK banks completed live tokenized sterling-deposit transactions through the Great British Tokenised Deposit initiative, pushing programmable commercial-bank money closer to production use while keeping settlement inside regulated banking rails.
• Canada’s Big Six Banks Explore Tokenized Deposits: Canada’s six largest banks are exploring tokenized Canadian-dollar deposits as a regulated route toward faster and more programmable interbank settlement.

D. Global

• Apple & Google Push Deeper Into Tokenziation & Stablecoins: Apple and Google are expanding their focus on stablecoins, tokenized deposits and blockchain-based payment infrastructure, showing how digital-asset rails are moving deeper into mainstream technology and payments strategies.
• Stripe Closures Push Startups Toward Stablecoins: Complaints about Stripe account shutdowns are reviving interest in stablecoin payment rails as startups reassess their dependence on centralized payment processors.
• Revolut Tests Pay With Smile in London Cafes: Revolut began testing facial-recognition checkout in London, allowing customers to pay through “Pay with Smile” while participating merchants receive zero processing fees through Revolut Register.
• Infosys Joins Chainlink to Connect Enterprise Finance: Infosys is integrating Chainlink infrastructure including CCIP, Proof of Reserve and compliance tooling into financial platforms to help enterprises connect traditional systems with onchain markets.
• Bitwise Debuts LIT Staking ETP on Deutsche Börse: Bitwise launched a physically backed LIT ETP on Deutsche Börse Xetra, giving investors regulated exposure to the token with future staking functionality planned.
• BlackRock Sees AI Creating New Crypto Demand: BlackRock argues that AI agents could create new demand for stablecoins, tokenized assets and blockchain payments as machine-native commerce expands.
• Trueo Leaves Base for Ethereum Mainnet: Prediction-market protocol Trueo is moving from Base to Ethereum mainnet, citing liquidity, decentralization, network effects and Ethereum’s long-term positioning.
• X Launches Cashtag Trading With Coinbase, Kraken, & Major Brokers: X is connecting Cashtag-based market conversations with trading access through Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini and major brokerage platforms in the United States.
• How SBF Lost the Domain Uniswap Refused to Buy: Hayden Adams revisited the story of a Uniswap-related domain that Sam Bankman-Fried acquired after its owners sought a seven-figure price from Uniswap, before the domain was later lost through WIPO arbitration.

Ethereum Protocol

1. Ethereum Protocol Update: ACDE #246

• Developers agreed to signal a 200M gas limit at the Glamsterdam Sepolia fork on October 6, allowing the normal gas-limit voting mechanism to begin moving the network upward after activation rather than using a separate phased increase.
• EIP-8304, Trustless Log Index, moved to DFI for Hegotá.
• EIP-7979, Call and Return Opcodes for the EVM, moved to CFI for Hegotá.
• EIP-8163, reserving the EXTENSION opcode at 0xae, moved to CFI for Hegotá.

2. Native Account Abstraction #005

• The Frame Transactions / Native AA breakout moved to a bi-weekly cadence, replacing the previous more frequent schedule.
• EIP-8141 Frame Transactions remained the implementation focus, with the call centered on specification changes, test releases and client progress rather than reopening the broader Native AA design direction.
• Developers continued coordinating around frames-devnet-0 and the ethrex testnet, using implementation testing to surface interoperability and JSON-RPC issues before broader deployment.

3. RPC Standards #035

• The group prioritized defining eth_simulateV1 block identity after Amsterdam, addressing ambiguity around what block hash and related identity fields should represent for simulated blocks.
• Developers continued work to specify blockOverrides.difficulty and the handling of unknown override keys so simulation behavior is consistent across clients.
• The execution-apis test chain is being updated to Amsterdam with regenerated fixtures, keeping RPC conformance tests aligned with the upcoming fork.

Ethereum Standards Updates

Three new proposals entered Draft as standards work continued across Core EIPs & ERCs. Glamsterdam progressed toward its October 6 Sepolia activation with further testing & client preparation.

Hegota saw fresh inclusion-stage decisions, including multiple proposals advancing to CFI. EIP-8383 emerged as a key proposal, focusing on reducing Ethereum’s Consensus Layer block-retention window.

Read the full update on EIPsInsight.

Clients Latest Releases

• Execution Layer:

  • Nethermind 2.0.0 - NEW RELEASE
  • Geth 1.17.6 - NEW RELEASE
  • Erigon 3.7.0 - NEW RELEASE
  • Besu 26.8.1
  • Reth 2.6.0
  • EthereumJS 10.1.3

• Consensus Layer:

  • Teku 26.9.0
  • Nimbus 26.8.0
  • Prysm 7.1.8
  • Lodestar 1.48.0
  • Lighthouse 8.2.2

Podcasts

1. Why Kalshi's Timeline Fight Put Its ETH Perp Volume Under a Microscope: Uneasy Money | Unchained: Kain Warwick, Taylor Monahan and Austin Griffith examine Kalshi’s ETH perpetual market, including the relationship between reported volume, open interest and the debate around how activity should be interpreted.
2. FOMO, Meme Stocks and Robinhood Chain | Andy8052 & Eric Conner | Bankless: David Hoffman, Eric Conner and Andy8052 discuss memecoins, tokenized-stock-linked speculation on Robinhood Chain, liquidity formation and the changing relationship between crypto trading and tokenized equities.
3. Bits + Bips: Is Bitcoin Finally Being Priced on Fundamentals? | Unchained: The panel looks at Bitcoin’s market structure, institutional participation, ETF flows and whether recent price action reflects a shift toward fundamentals rather than primarily narrative-driven trading.

Upcoming Events

• ETHTokyo Week 2026: Sep 19–27
• ETHGlobal Tokyo 2026: Sep 25–27
• Pragma Tokyo 2026: Sep 26
• TOKEN2049 Singapore: Oct 7–8
• Devcon 8 in Mumbai: Nov 3–6
• Pragma Mumbai: Nov 5
• ETHGlobal Mumbai: Nov 6–8

Jobs

• Conduit: Core Blockchain Engineer
• Consensys: Blockchain Engineer
• Nomina: Senior Frontend Engineer
• Coinbase: Staff Software Engineer - Wallets, Liquidity & Bridging
• TRM Labs: Staff Software Engineer, Blockchain Protocols

Community Spotlight

Devcon 8 is putting community-led programming at the center of its Mumbai edition, with 14 Community Hubs selected from 32 proposals, the highest number of Community Hub submissions for a Devcon so far.

The selected hubs span Privacy, Security, EIPs, P2P Networking, Token Rights, Prediction Markets, Open Source Builders, Onchain Art, DeSci, Resilient Networks, Katta Developers, Fragmentation, Agentic systems and Zuzone. Each hub will independently curate discussions, workshops and community programming across Devcon’s four days.

Rather than treating Devcon only as a traditional conference, the Hub model gives specialized Ethereum communities their own space to shape conversations around the topics they work on every day.

With Devcon 8 taking place in Mumbai from November 3–6, these hubs are now beginning to turn their proposals into actual programming, speakers and community sessions.

Read the full Community Hub announcement

Want to post a job? Write to us at contact@etherworld.co