1. Ethereum Foundation warns of Glamsterdam upgrade compatibility risks, urges developers to audit smart contracts link
On November 6, the Ethereum Foundation said that security auditing firm ChainSecurity had recently discovered that some projects could face smart contract compatibility and security risks after the Glamsterdam upgrade. This is because EIP-8037 and EIP-8038 will adjust the Gas costs of certain operations and the Gas accounting mechanism for state storage, potentially breaking execution assumptions that existing contracts rely on. In response to these findings, Ethereum core developers had already decided to postpone the Hoodi testnet hard fork until the issues are resolved. The Foundation has now published on GitHub eight types of potentially affected execution assumptions, along with examples of checks, urging smart contract developers and audit firms to review projects, including both on-chain contracts and off-chain services. The Ethereum team is working with several audit firms to conduct reviews and will assess whether the relevant EIPs need to be revised based on the scope of the impact.
2. Solana Foundation adjusts validator delegation program: participation period shortened to 12 months, cap of 100 supported validators link
The Solana Foundation announced changes to the rules of its Solana Foundation Delegation Program (SFDP), effective immediately, to strengthen support for new validators. The new rules limit participation to 12 months. Validators with more than 300,000 SOL in stake from sources outside the SFDP must leave the program, and the maximum number of validators eligible for delegation support is set at 100. Each validator may initially receive a base delegation of approximately 5,000 SOL, plus a matching delegation equal to 50% of their external stake. The total SFDP delegation per validator is capped at 50,000 SOL. Participants must operate their own validator nodes and control their software and keys. White-label services and third-party node operation are prohibited, although third-party server hosting is allowed. Existing participants who do not meet the new rules will be phased out weekly. Validators that are in the process of exiting or have already exited may apply for an extension.
3. Aave Labs acquires the team and technology behind onchain lending project Avon, plans to launch fixed-rate lending link
Aave Labs, the core development company behind Aave, has acquired the team and technology of onchain lending project Avon to expand into fixed-rate lending. The acquisition includes Avon's fixed- and variable-rate lending protocols, onchain order book, domain names, and related assets. The transaction amount was not disclosed. Three Avon members will join Aave Labs: two will join the engineering team and one the business development team. Aave Labs CEO Stani Kulechov said fixed-rate products will help Aave reach more institutions, fintech companies, and everyday users. According to Aave, its network has more than $30 billion in deposits and over $12 billion in active loans.
4. Zcash NU7 upgrade activates, targeting a block interval of 25 seconds link
Zcash activated the NU7 upgrade at block height 3,543,405, shortening the target block interval from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. As of 04:59 UTC, the actual average interval for blocks produced after the upgrade was about 39 seconds, and mining difficulty was still adjusting. The upgrade also limits the volume of privacy transaction activity in each block to reduce the burden of wallet scanning. Forty percent of transaction fees go to miners, while the remaining 60% is allocated to a reserve for future block rewards. NU7 also deactivates the Sprout privacy pool, making approximately 12,224 ZEC temporarily unusable. A recovery plan has not yet been approved.
5. Trump family crypto project WLFI plans token buybacks, potentially funded in part by revenue from USD1 reserve fees link
World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a crypto project backed by the Trump family, announced plans to launch a new WLFI token buyback program. Initial funding may include revenue from fees generated by USD1 stablecoin reserves, as well as other sources. WLFI said the buybacks are intended to encourage holders to participate actively in governance and further concentrate voting power among long-term holders. The project plans to make buybacks part of its long-term strategy, with their scale and frequency adjusted according to ecosystem growth and governance participation. No specific buyback amount or timeline has been disclosed.
6. Base mainnet completes Denim upgrade, deprecating Flashblocks and enabling 200-millisecond blocks link
Base mainnet has completed its fourth independent upgrade, Denim, officially deprecating Flashblocks and switching to producing one complete canonical block every 200 milliseconds, or five blocks per second. The upgrade also introduces BaseTime, which provides smart contracts with millisecond-precision Unix timestamps while retaining second-level precision for the existing block timestamp. New RPC fields provide millisecond-precision timestamps for blocks, transactions, and logs. In addition, Denim updates transfer and compliance controls for the B20 token standard. It supports reusing compliance policies through the NOT operator, extends transfer executor restrictions to direct transfers, and prohibits transfers to a token contract's own address, token minting, and seizure operations. Applications that previously relied on Flashblocks must migrate to the standard canonical block subscription mechanism.
7. Lido launches token swap feature supporting Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Base link
Lido announced the launch of a token swap feature in its interface, powered by CoW Swap. Users can swap tokens through the built-in interface on Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Base. The Lido Swap component also automatically adds an extra layer of price protection for larger swaps. Combined with Chainlink price oracles, this helps users avoid unusually unfavorable exchange rates.
8. ZetaChain proposes halting Layer 1 block production on December 9, migrating ZETA to Solana at a 1:1 ratio link
ZetaChain has launched an onchain governance vote on a proposal to permanently halt block production on its Layer 1 network on December 9 and migrate native ZETA to Solana at a 1:1 ratio as an SPL token. The proposal also plans to launch ZetaLabs, a privacy-focused AI application for financial markets, during the same period. ZETA would be used to pay for AI services, unlock features, and participate in product governance. The project also plans to burn approximately 55 million ZETA, originally earmarked for validator rewards, in phases during 2027. The vote ends on November 7.
9. Scroll proposes pivoting to a privacy-focused AI network, migrating SCR tokens to Ethereum mainnet link
Ethereum Layer 2 project Scroll published a protocol upgrade proposal on its official governance forum on November 3. It proposes transforming the existing permissionless, general-purpose L2 network into a permissioned network dedicated to privacy-focused AI applications, and migrating SCR tokens to Ethereum mainnet while keeping the token supply and overall tokenomics unchanged. Scroll said operating a general-purpose network makes it difficult to ensure sustained demand, while the underlying infrastructure still incurs maintenance costs. It therefore plans to generate new network demand around AI products such as Compass, CENO, and USX. According to growthepie data, Scroll's onchain net profit is only about $42.50, down approximately 92% over the past year.
10. Zilliqa announces pivot to Ethereum Layer 2, launching a permissioned marketplace for regulated institutions link
Zilliqa announced that it will transition from an independent Layer 1 to an Ethereum Layer 2 called Zilliqa Institutional Layer (ZIL), targeting regulated institutions. Zilliqa said usage of its existing chain is insufficient to support independent operations. The new network will rely on Ethereum for settlement security, feature built-in identity and compliance mechanisms, and establish a permissioned marketplace for verified institutions to trade. Its token will remain ZIL. Zilliqa said holders do not need to take any action for now, and that relevant technical details will be announced before the transition. Zilliqa was founded in 2017 by a research team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and was among the early public blockchain projects to implement sharding technology. It raised approximately $22 million through seed funding and an ICO from late 2017 to early 2018, with major investors including Polychain Capital, FBG Capital, and NGC Ventures.