Ethereum completed its Glamsterdam activation on Sepolia this week, with developers turning toward Hoodi's October 26 fork and narrowing Hegotá's execution-layer scope. ACDE #247 advanced eight EIPs to Considered for Inclusion while declining three others. Beyond the protocol, Ethereum's post-quantum security debate intensified, ZachXBT exposed a major crypto laundering operation, and privacy technology and tokenized securities continued gaining attention. The week also brought fresh discussions about AI-powered blockchain interfaces, protocol security and the future of Ethereum's L2 ecosystem.

Catch up on last week's edition here.

This Week at a Glance

A. Regulation

• India's USDT Premium Exposes Crypto Market Frictions: India's USDT trading premium highlights persistent liquidity constraints, crypto taxation, regulatory uncertainty and limited market access. The analysis examines why Indian traders pay more for dollar-backed stablecoins and what the premium reveals about domestic cryptocurrency infrastructure.
• OKXICE Moves Toward 24/7 Tokenized Stock Trading: OKXICE notified the SEC of plans to offer round-the-clock trading of more than 60 tokenized U.S. equities on X Layer, including Apple, Tesla, Microsoft and NVIDIA. The initiative could expand blockchain-based access to traditional financial markets.

B. Security

• ZachXBT Uncovers Chinese $1B Crypto Laundering Ring: Blockchain investigator ZachXBT uncovered a Chinese-linked laundering operation allegedly handling stolen cryptocurrency connected to North Korea's Lazarus Group. The investigation traced approximately $12 million linked to the Bybit exploit and helped trigger a $442,000 Tether freeze.
• Vitalik Warns Ethereum About a Cryptographic Threat: Vitalik Buterin and Justin Drake raised concerns about AI-assisted mathematical breakthroughs and quantum computing potentially weakening blockchain cryptography. While researchers discussed preparing for post-quantum security, Vitalik cautioned against rushed wallet migrations that could introduce additional risks.

C. Privacy

• Zama & Zcash Push Crypto Privacy Forward: Zama demonstrated confidential cUSDT deposits into Ethereum-based DeFi vaults, highlighting the potential of fully homomorphic encryption for private onchain finance. Meanwhile, Zcash's market activity brought renewed attention to demand for privacy-preserving cryptocurrency infrastructure.

D. Global

• Abstract Blockchain Shutdown Set for December 2026: Abstract announced plans to shut down its blockchain on December 15, citing weak liquidity, high operating expenses and insufficient adoption. The decision highlights the sustainability challenges facing blockchain networks in an increasingly competitive L2 ecosystem.
• Vitalik Buterin Says AI Could Replace Crypto UI: Vitalik discussed AI agents becoming the primary interface for blockchain interactions, allowing users to communicate intentions instead of navigating traditional applications. The discussion also touched on AI security and new stablecoin payment infrastructure introduced by OKX.

Ethereum Protocol

1. Ethereum Protocol Update: ACDE #247

   • Hoodi's Glamsterdam activation was scheduled for October 26 at 17:42 UTC, with client teams targeting October 16 for compatible software releases following Sepolia's successful activation.
   • The gas limit ramp will activate at the fork epoch for Hoodi and mainnet, rather than requiring a separate activation point.
   • EIP-7907, covering contract size metering, was added to the Proposed for Inclusion list, with a final decision deferred to the next call.
   • Eight proposals advanced to Considered for Inclusion for Hegotá: EIP-5920, EIP-8151, EIP-8298, EIP-8360, EIP-4758, EIP-7709, EIP-8077 and EIP-8116.
   • Three proposals were Declined for Inclusion: EIP-7666, EIP-8355 and EIP-8374, following concerns involving complexity or insufficient consensus.

2. P2P Networking #009

   • Lighthouse commits to implement the segmented execution payload broadcast (EIP-8411) irrespective of whether the Hegota fork is adopted, ensuring backward compatibility.

3. Native Account Abstraction #006

   • frames-devnet-1 scope confirmed with EIP-8250, EIP-8272 and EIP-7906, while EIP-8253 and EIP-7979 were deferred.
   • Verification prefix gas limit set to 500,000 for frames-devnet-1.
   • Separate FOCIL and Frames devnets will be retired after hegota-devnet-0 launches, consolidating future testing under Hegotá devnets.
   • Max-fee cost bounding deferred from frames-devnet-1, while Nick's expiry verifier method will proceed with merging.
   • Daniil's variable-floor verification limit proposal rejected due to the absence of a peer communication mechanism.

4. RPC Standards #036

   • Positive error codes will use a new grouped catalog, while negative error codes retain legacy semantics. No changes will be made to simulate V1.
   • Tracing API will not require a new EIP, as existing client implementations were considered sufficient.

5. Ethereum Sepolia Glamsterdam Upgrade Goes Live

   • Sepolia successfully activated Glamsterdam on October 6, reaching a major milestone in Ethereum's next network upgrade.
   • Enshrined proposer-builder separation, block-level access lists and state repricing entered public-testnet testing, advancing Ethereum's broader scaling roadmap.
   • Sepolia's gas-limit testing reached the 200 million target, demonstrating the upgrade's intended higher-throughput configuration.
   • The successful activation shifted attention toward Hoodi, where client teams will perform additional validation before planning mainnet deployment.

Ethereum Standards Updates

Ethereum standards saw 24 proposals advance to Last Call, two ERCs reach Final and two new Drafts enter the process. Glamsterdam-related proposals progressed through the standards lifecycle while Hegota's Frame Transactions received further specification updates.

Editors continued reviewing execution, networking, account abstraction and application-level proposals. Upcoming Last Call deadlines on October 19 and November 1 will be important for community feedback.

Read the full update on EIPsInsight.

Client & Infrastructure Updates

• Execution Layer:

  • Nethermind 2.1.0
  • Geth 1.17.8 - NEW RELEASE
  • Erigon 3.7.1
  • Besu 26.9.0
  • Reth 2.7.0
  • EthereumJS 10.1.3

• Consensus Layer:

  • Teku 26.10.0 - NEW RELEASE
  • Nimbus 26.10.0 - NEW RELEASE
  • Prysm 7.2.1 - NEW RELEASE
  • Lodestar 1.49.0
  • Lighthouse 8.2.3

Podcasts

1. How NEAR Intents Identified a Suspect and Got Its Stolen Funds Back: Laura Shin speaks with Alex Shevchenko about NEAR Intents' $3.8 million bridge exploit, the investigation that identified the suspected attacker, recovery of stolen assets and the protocol's efforts to block laundering linked to the Bitget hack.
2. How OpenAI's Math Dump Has Crypto Rethinking Its Cryptography: Uneasy Money: Ben DiFrancesco joins Kain Warwick, Taylor Monahan and Austin Griffith to discuss AI-driven mathematical breakthroughs, possible implications for elliptic-curve cryptography, Ethereum wallet security and the growing need for post-quantum readiness.
3. THORChain Says It Can't Block North Korean Laundering. Is That True?: THORChain co-founder Chad Barraford and security researcher Taylor Monahan debate whether decentralized protocols can intervene when stolen funds move through their infrastructure, including the trade-offs between censorship resistance and security.

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Community Spotlight

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The initiative goes beyond introductory blockchain concepts, focusing on Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), protocol architecture, consensus mechanisms, governance and the broader development process. It also encourages learners to move from understanding Ethereum to actively participating in its ecosystem.

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