Hey Edge readers, welcome back!

Another week, another milestone for BTC! This week we smashed through $90K and are holding steady around that range. We’re also diving into Ethereum’s next big challenge: keeping the network fair, decentralized, and censorship-resistant. And to top it off, we’ve launched 3 new pools on Exponential.fi, giving you fresh opportunities to maximize your yield.

Here’s what we got for you this week:

• Ethereum’s battle for decentralization ⚔️

  We break down how Ethereum plans to tackle censorship risks and centralization in block production.

• New lending pools: Earn yield on BTC, AERO and OP ✨

  Boost your BTC yield to ~10% on Exponential.fi. Or, if you’re into altcoins, check out our latest offerings in AERO and OP.

• Bitcoin consolidates near 90K 🗞️

  BTC strategic reserve on the agenda, Solana DEX volume doubles previous records, and memecoins make headlines.

Stay sharp. 🫡

-The Exponential team

The future of Ethereum: Part 3

Last week, we continued Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s six-part vision for Ethereum (Possible futures of the Ethereum protocol) with The Surge, exploring how Ethereum is scaling to handle mainstream adoption. Now, in Part 3: The Scourge, Vitalik dives into how Ethereum plans to tackle centralization risks

Part 1: The Merge ⛘
Part 2: The Surge 📈
Part 3: The Scourge ⚔️
Part 4: The Verge 🧩
Part 5: The Purge 🧹
Part 6: The Splurge 💎

Part 3: The Scourge ⚔️

Ethereum’s next challenge, The Scourge, is tackling centralization risks in its staking and block-building processes. Currently, the way blocks are created—deciding which transactions to include—favors large-scale players with access to sophisticated tools that maximize profits. This can lead to transaction manipulation, unfair delays, and risks to Ethereum’s decentralization goals.

One potential solution is separating the block-building process into more accessible and equitable components. Ideas like inclusion lists would allow smaller validators to ensure specific transactions are included in a block, giving them more influence and counterbalancing the dominance of large block builders.

Another critical focus is reducing opportunities for transaction manipulation through advancements like encrypted mempools. A mempool is where transactions wait before being added to a block. Today, these transactions are visible, enabling practices like MEV (Maximal Extractable Value), where block builders reorder transactions for profit. Encrypting mempools would conceal transaction details until they are confirmed, significantly reducing these manipulative practices.

Ethereum is also looking at changes to staking rewards to address wealth concentration. By fine-tuning rewards, Ethereum aims to prevent a small group of validators from accumulating disproportionate power, ensuring the network remains decentralized and resistant to exploitation.

Through these measures, Ethereum is working to preserve its foundational principles of decentralization, security, and fairness.

Next week, we’ll dive into Part 4: The Verge, and explore how Ethereum could make running a node as simple as using your smartphone.

BTC is chilling near ATHs. Deposit now on Exponential to keep stacking sats. 🥞

Historically, altcoin season follows when BTC dominance (BTC.d) drops. It’s currently sitting at a year-to-date (YTD) high of 61%. Prepare your bags accordingly. 🫡

In the news 🗞️

• Ethereum’s teases next major upgrade. Ethereum researcher Justin Drake unveiled the Beam Chain, a proposed redesign of the network’s consensus layer. The goal? Leveling up Ethereum’s scalability and security for the next wave of adoption.

• Bitcoin on Pennsylvania’s balance sheet? Pennsylvania lawmakers are pushing for a strategic Bitcoin reserve, aiming to allocate up to 10% of its roughly $7 billion in state-owned reserve assets. If passed, it would be the first US state to make a big crypto power play.

• Memecoins soar with Coinbase listings. Coinbase added Pepe and Wif this week, and memecoin mania followed. The listings are driving a fresh wave of speculative frenzy—because who doesn’t want a piece of the meme pie?

• Solana DEXs smash volume records. Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) on Solana just doubled their all-time volume records, signaling major growth for the chain. While Ethereum remains the heavyweight hub for DeFi, Solana is proving it can play in the big leagues too.

Trending 📈