Please fasten your belts!
Spot Ethereum ETFs set for SEC green light in 2024, analysts predict
Industry experts are predicting a strong likelihood for the approval of spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024. This optimism follows the recent approval of 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 10, suggesting a clear path for similar Ethereum-based products.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas highlighted the close relationship between Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, stating, “The Ether spot is tied to the hip of Bitcoin spot for sure. It’s gonna go wherever it goes.” Balchunas also conveyed confidence, based on back-channel information, that spot Ether ETFs “will be fine.”
The timeline for these approvals, however, remains uncertain. While Balchunas estimates a 70% chance of approval by May 2024, digital asset lawyer Joe Carlasare expects a longer process. Carlasare emphasized that the SEC aims to craft a precedent that allows for careful consideration of which digital asset ETFs are permitted.
Several applicants, including BlackRock, VanEck, ARK 21Shares, Fidelity, and Invesco Galaxy, are vying for SEC approval, with key decisions expected by mid-2024.
Drastic changes in the ERC-4337 standard specification
The Ethereum Foundation has unveiled its plans to implement major changes to the ERC-4337 standard specification, also known as smart accounts, aiming to enhance gas efficiency.
The upgrade, marked as version 0.7, incorporates insights from nine months of ERC-4337 usage. Tom Teman of the Ethereum Foundation, shared a document that covers the latest release of the ERC and contracts implementations.
Transactions, inherently more complex than standard Ether transactions, will now require the specification of five gas values instead of just one. This change aims to make the gas estimation more accurate and subsequently reduce gas costs, a boon, especially for layer-2 networks.
Account abstraction transactions in Ethereum allow for a range of signature types and gas payment methods. This diversity necessitates varied gas requirements, and the new transaction structure is designed to accommodate these differences efficiently.
The anticipated v0.7 update also introduces a penalty mechanism, charging users a 10% fee for any unused gas in execution. This feature is intended to discourage transactions with excessively high gas limits, further optimizing network efficiency.
While the Ethereum Foundation has not set a definitive date for the rollout of v0.7, the security audit is underway. Rising speculates that the finalization could occur by ETHDenver and is scheduled for the end of February.
Developers express concerns over Vitalik Buterin’s gas limit increase plan
Ethereum’s development community is in the midst of a heated debate following Vitalik Buterin’s recent proposal to increase the network’s gas limit.
Buterin, a co-founder of Ethereum, advocated for a “modest” 33% increase in the gas limit, aiming to enhance the network’s throughput and capacity.
However, this suggestion has sparked concerns among developers and node operators about the potential ramifications.
Marius van der Wijden, a prominent Ethereum developer, voiced his worries in a blog post titled “Why increasing the gas limit is difficult.”
His primary concern revolves around the growing size of the blockchain state, which currently demands approximately 267 gigabytes solely for state data. An increased gas limit could accelerate this growth, potentially complicating data storage and access.
The current total size of Ethereum’s blockchain, including full history data, is about 900 gigabytes. While van der Wijden acknowledges that storage cost is not the issue, he highlights the increasing challenges in accessing and modifying this data.
He notes that there are no concrete solutions yet for managing state growth, which could lead to slower synchronization times and difficulties in developing diverse clients.
The community is considering various solutions to these challenges, including upgrades like EIP-4444, which addresses chain history expiration, and EIP-4844, which proposes rollup data availability using “blobs” to help curb long-term growth trends.
Universal Page launches gasless NFT marketplace
Universal Page, an innovative NFT platform, has launched a gasless NFT 2.0 marketplace.
Co-founded by Jake Prins and Vlad Lykhonis, former employees of Meta and Amazon, respectively, Universal Page is pioneering the movement toward a more inclusive digital ownership model. The platform operates on LUKSO, a new Layer 1 blockchain developed by Ethereum OG Fabian Vogelsteller, known for creating the ERC-20 token standard.
The gasless marketplace is a core feature of Universal Page, eliminating the need for users to pay gas fees, which are often a barrier to entry in the world of digital collectibles. This is enabled through the support of Universal Profiles, providing a refined account abstraction solution.
Moreover, Universal Page exclusively supports the innovative NFT 2.0 standards (LSP7 and LSP8), which offer enhanced flexibility and dynamic features, including on-chain data storage. This allows for advanced functionalities like improved metadata and flexible royalty settings.
The platform also introduces a unique customization feature, so users can create personalized web pages tied to their Universal Profile.
Tutorial on the creation of a Smart Wallet on Fuse using Etherspot SDK
Fuse, a robust blockchain network that provides an optimal environment for developing decentralized applications, has rolled out a detailed developer guide for implementing Account Abstraction with Etherspot.
The process involves a series of straightforward steps, starting with setting up the development environment, acquiring an Etherspot API key, and configuring the smart wallet.
Developers are required to have Node.js, npm, and an Ethereum wallet with a private key. The open-source Etherspot Prime SDK offers a set of features that provide decentralized applications with a web2-like user experience, and grants access to the entire Etherspot Account Abstraction infrastructure, including the Skandha ERC-4337 Bundler, Arka Paymaster and data APIs.
🐞This digest is sponsored by TransactionKit
Looking for an Account Abstraction infrastructure to streamline the user experience of your dApps? Elevate your project’s potential with Etherspot — leverage AA Prime SDK, ERC4337 Skandha Bundler, and Paymaster Service.
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- Learn more about account abstraction here.
- Head to our docs and read all about the Etherspot SDK.
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