Hey Edge readers, welcome back!

We’re kicking off a new series that dives into the latest Ethereum roadmap updates shared by Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum. Vitalik’s six-part blog series, “Possible Futures of the Ethereum Protocol,” sheds light on Ethereum’s development path, starting with the monumental upgrade that changed it all: The Merge.

Here’s what we got for you this week:

• Ethereum’s future roadmap 🔮

  Vitalik kicks off his roadmap with ‘The Merge,’ highlighting Ethereum’s evolution into a faster, more accessible network.

• DEX trading volume booms 📈

  Raydium and Aerodrome are seeing rising volume and fees.

• Layer 2 rollup milestone 🗞️

  Starknet sets a new record of 857 transactions per second!

Stay sharp. 🫡

-The Exponential team

The future of Ethereum: Part 1

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has laid out his vision for the network’s next steps in a six-part blog series. His blog series, “Possible futures of the Ethereum protocol,” explores the six major pillars of the Ethereum roadmap:

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

There's a lot of info to digest here, so we’ve provided a high-level overview of what each major upgrade is focused on, starting with ‘The Merge.’

Part 1: The Merge ⛘

In the first blog post, Vitalik Buterin outlines a vision for building on Ethereum’s successful transition from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS), known as “The Merge.” This transition reduced Ethereum’s energy use by over 99% and improved network security. Still, Vitalik sees room for enhancing Ethereum’s PoS system.

One main goal is to drastically shorten Ethereum’s block finalization time from 15 minutes to ~12 seconds. This improvement, called “single-slot finality,” would make transactions almost instantly irreversible, offering users quicker confirmation and greater security.

Additionally, Vitalik wants to lower the staking requirement from 32 ETH to just 1 ETH. The 32 ETH minimum threshold has been a barrier for many who want to participate in staking. By lowering the requirement to just 1 ETH, Ethereum would open staking to a much wider audience, encouraging a more decentralized network.

Vitalik also addresses enhancing security. He suggests introducing automated recovery mechanisms for Ethereum to bounce back from potential 51% attacks, making the network even more resilient.

With these upgrades, Ethereum aims to become faster and more inclusive—keeping it competitive and user-friendly as the network grows.

Next week, we’ll dive into Part 2: The Surge, and explore Ethereum’s next steps toward scaling.

Decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volumes are soaring!

October saw DEXs making waves, capturing 14.3% of the spot trading volume compared to centralized exchanges (CEXs). Platforms like Raydium and Aerodrome are leading the charge, making it a great time to be a liquidity provider in these protocols. More volume means more fees up for grabs, plus juicy protocol incentives – perfect conditions if you’re looking to dive into market making.

In the news 🗞️

• Starknet hits 857 TPS. Layer 2 rollup Starknet just hit a record 857 transactions per second (TPS) in a controlled stress test, signaling impressive scaling potential for Ethereum.

• MicroStrategy’s BTC move. Michael Saylor is planning a $42 billion raise to buy even more Bitcoin over the next three years.

• Base chain ships new fault proofs. Layer 2 rollup Base has launched fault proofs, a big step toward decentralization. Now, anyone can validate or contest transactions on the network.

• Oracle wars heat up. Oracle provider Pyth has surpassed Chainlink in 30-day transaction volume, fueling competition in the oracle space.

Airdrop radar 🪂

• Mantle Network has annonced COOK tokens to holders of its mETH liquid staking token. This distribution aims to incentivize Mantle’s community of stakers as the network grows.

• Zircuit is launching an airdrop for EIGEN holders and stakers. By tapping into EigenLayer’s expansive user base, Zircuit hopes to bolster its own users and encourage more staking on the platform.

Trending 📈