About
EIGEN
Ended--
Last price (USDT)
171.76K
24h total (USDT)
739.77K
Total vol (USDT)
2024-04-30 09:00:00 ~ 2024-10-01 03:30:00
Trading time (UTC+0)
2024-10-01 09:00:00
Delivery time (UTC+0)
Total supply1.75B
Resources
Introduction
EigenLayer is a protocol built on Ethereum that introduces re-staking, allowing users who have staked $ETH to join the EigenLayer smart contract to re-stake their $ETH and extend cryptoeconomic security to other applications on the network. As a platform, EigenLayer, on the one hand, raises assets from LSD asset holders, and on the other hand, uses the raised LSD assets as collateral to provide middleware, side chains, and rollups with AVS (Active verification service) needs. The convenient and low-cost AVS service itself provides demand matching services between LSD providers and AVS demanders, and a specialized pledge service provider is responsible for specific pledge security services. EIGEN total supply: 1.67 billion tokens
x402 is becoming increasingly competitive, seize new asset opportunities in ERC-8004 ahead of time
Original Title: "x402 Intensifies, Unearthing New Asset Opportunities in ERC-8004 Ahead of the Curve" Original Author: David, Deep Tide TechFlow x402 has clearly become a sensation. According to CoinmarketCap data, trading volume for various projects within the x402 ecosystem has surged 137-fold, and the first ecosystem token, PING, soared from zero to a market cap of $30 million in just a few days. KOLs from all sides are publishing intensive analyses, covering everything from technical principles to project reviews—every angle you can think of has been written about. Yet two weeks ago, when we were among the first to analyze x402 and mention the potential of projects like PayAI, the market was relatively quiet. In a market where narratives and token lifecycles are rapidly shortening, researching new narratives ahead of time makes it easier to lock in opportunities related to those assets. Now, every time you refresh Twitter, a new "x402 ecosystem project" pops up; frankly, if you're only starting to research x402 now, it might already be a bit late. It's not that the protocol itself lacks prospects, but rather that the most obvious alpha opportunities have already been fully exploited. But while everyone is focused on x402, attentive observers will notice that another protocol has recently been frequently discussed in the English-speaking crypto community: ERC-8004. Even more interestingly, Davide Crapis, one of the proposers of ERC-8004 and head of the Ethereum Foundation's dAI team, revealed a detail in a September interview with Decrypt: "ERC-8004 will support multiple payment methods, but having x402 extensions helps improve the developer experience." Wait, support multiple payment methods? Isn't x402 a payment protocol? Why does ERC-8004 also involve payments—are they competitors or complementary? In early October, when the Ethereum Foundation announced the final version of ERC-8004, the signatories included Marco De Rossi from MetaMask, Jordan Ellis from Google, and Erik Reppel from Coinbase, who is also the creator of x402. The same person is driving both protocols. What's the logic behind this? If the explosion of x402 made everyone see the huge market for AI Agent payments, then ERC-8004 may represent the other half of the puzzle in this market that has yet to be fully recognized. When everyone is chasing the payment track, perhaps the real opportunity lies outside of payments. ERC-8004: The Prerequisite for Payments is Identity Registration for AI To understand ERC-8004, we must first return to a fundamental issue in the AI Agent economy. Imagine a scenario where AIs collaborate: Your personal AI assistant needs to complete a complex task: preparing a market analysis report for your upcoming product launch. This task exceeds its capabilities, so it needs to hire other specialized AIs: one for data scraping, one for competitor analysis, and one for chart creation. Now with x402, payments are no longer an issue; a few lines of code can complete a USDC transfer. But before payment, your AI assistant faces a series of tricky identity issues: Among these self-proclaimed "professional data analysis AIs," which are genuine and which are scammers? How was their past work quality? How many clients gave positive reviews, and how many complaints were there? This is a bit like doing business in a world without Taobao, Dianping, or business registration authorities. Every transaction is a blind box, every collaboration a gamble. Therefore, to put it in one sentence, ERC-8004 is the "business registration bureau + credit system + qualification certification center" for AI Agents on-chain. It gives every AI Agent an ID card, credit record, and capability certification, all recorded on the blockchain—publicly queryable and tamper-proof. On August 13 this year, Davide Crapis from the Ethereum Foundation, Marco De Rossi from MetaMask, and an independent AI developer Jordan Ellis jointly submitted the EIP-8004 proposal. Interestingly, Jordan Ellis was later confirmed to have close ties with Google’s Agent-to-Agent team. Simply put, ERC-8004 adds a trust layer to Google’s A2A. In the words of the Ethereum Foundation, this is about establishing a "trusted neutral track" for AI Agents. Leaving aside the complex code details, let’s take a rough look at how 8004 works. The design of ERC-8004 is extremely streamlined, containing only three on-chain registries: · Identity Registry Each AI Agent receives an ERC-721 token as an ID card. Yes, you read that right, AI Agents are NFT-ized. This means an Agent’s identity can be viewed, transferred, or even traded in any NFT-compatible wallet. This NFT points to a standardized "Agent card," describing the Agent’s name, skills, endpoints, and metadata. Because it follows open standards, any browser or marketplace can index it, enabling cross-platform permissionless discovery. · Reputation Registry This is the "Dianping" of the AI Agent world. Clients and other Agents can submit structured feedback, tagging by skill or task. More importantly, x402 payment proofs can be attached. Only clients who have actually paid can review, preventing fake reviews. All reputation signals are public goods. This means anyone can build their own reputation scoring system based on this data. · Validation Registry For high-value tasks, reviews alone are not enough. The validation registry allows Agents to request third-party validation—this could be TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) oracles, staked guarantee inference, or zkML verification. This is the qualification certification in the Agent world. An Agent claiming to do financial analysis can cryptographically prove it ran a specific model and produced specific results. If this sounds a bit technical, let’s look at a concrete example. Suppose an exchange’s AI Agent needs a weekly DeFi market analysis report but lacks the capability itself. · Search for Service: The client Agent finds analyst Agent Alice via the identity registry and checks her NFT identity card’s service description. · Check Reputation: Finds Alice has 156 positive reviews, an 89% completion rate, and real reviews with x402 payment proofs. · Escrow Payment: Pays 100 USDC via x402 to a smart contract escrow, not directly to Alice. · Third-Party Validation: After Alice completes the report, validator Bob checks the quality and signs confirmation in the validation registry. · Automatic Settlement: The contract sees validation passed, automatically releases funds to Alice, and the client leaves a review. (Source: Researcher Yehia Tarek’s personal column) The entire process requires no human intervention; three AI Agents autonomously completed a business transaction based on the ERC-8004 trust system. Wait, does this have anything to do with x402? To clarify the relationship between x402 and ERC-8004 in one sentence: x402 solves the payment problem for AI Agents, ERC-8004 solves the trust problem, and a truly autonomous AI economy needs both. Specifically, x402 is a standard for micropayments between agents or users, eliminating payment friction and allowing one agent to automatically pay another for task completion. ERC-8004 is the identity and reputation layer for agents. It introduces on-chain verification, making every task and score traceable. An easier analogy: · x402 = ERC20 · ERC-8004 = Etherscan The former allows you to pay API access fees directly by call count, acting as a payment standard; the latter is more like an on-chain AI agent registry, with each agent having an associated wallet that can be queried and verified. In fact, all of this is part of a broader "crypto x AI" narrative. In a large crypto AI economy: · Crypto AI Economy = Discovering AI Agents + Communication Between AI Agents + Verifiable Computation (Image source: Twitter user @soubhik_deb) How do you discover AI Agents? Essentially, it means enabling AI Agents to find each other—this is what ERC-8004 does, writing a registry on Ethereum to record AI identities. How do you enable communication between AI Agents? x402 is an open standard for on-chain payments between agents; there are also protocols like Google’s A2A. How do you verify all this? Every AI Agent must perform verifiable reasoning, inference, and actions, which may be recorded in places emphasizing data availability. The post by @soubhik_deb on Twitter is worth reading, as it explains the above logic clearly and can help you discover more alpha project opportunities based on this logic. At this point, we fully understand the relationship between x402 and ERC-8004; it’s more appropriate to describe their relationship as complementary and jointly constructing the full picture of the AI economy. If you want a clearer and more direct comparison, here’s a one-picture summary: Beneficiary Projects Under the ERC-8004 Narrative Too long, didn’t read version: you can refer directly to the chart below. When x402 exploded, payment tokens like PING were the first to surge. But ERC-8004’s opportunities are more widely distributed—from infrastructure to applications, each layer has its own logic. Understanding this logic is more important than chasing individual projects. 1. First is the infrastructure layer, such as Taiko and EigenLayer. Taiko, L2 Execution Layer Why would an L2 be the most active supporter? The narrative here is that the Agent economy needs cheap and fast chains. Mainnet is too expensive—every identity or reputation update costs several dollars in gas fees, which is unaffordable for Agents. Taiko offers a solution by deploying the 8004 registry on L2, reducing costs. The contract was deployed on October 24 and may become the main battleground for Agent activity. EigenLayer, Security Layer The biggest challenge for 8004 is what to do if validators act maliciously? EigenLayer’s answer: slashing. Validators stake ETH, and if they provide false validation, their assets are slashed. EigenLayer is integrating 8004 into over 200 AVSs, each potentially becoming a dedicated Agent validation service. The logic for infrastructure is simple: the more Agents, the more transactions, the more revenue. It’s the business of selling shovels. 2. Next is the middleware layer, such as S.A.N.T.A and Unibase. S.A.N.T.A, Payment Bridge Its positioning straddles both narratives, acting as a connector between x402 and 8004. When one Agent finds another via 8004 and then needs to pay via x402, S.A.N.T.A handles the process. More importantly, it enables cross-chain operations—for example, if a Solana Agent wants to hire an Ethereum Agent in the ideal narrative, S.A.N.T.A can play a role. Unibase, Memory Layer Agents need not only identity but also memory. Unibase gives each Agent persistent storage, linked through the 8004 identity system. This means Agents can "remember" previous interactions, accumulate experience, and even share knowledge. On October 26, it achieved x402+8004 integration on the BNB Chain, taking the lead. The value of middleware lies in its irreplaceability. You can switch L2s, but some connection functions are unique. 3. Finally, the application layer, such as the familiar Virtuals Protocol. Virtuals is an AI Agent token issuance platform, allowing users to create, invest in, and trade AI Agent tokens via a bonding curve mechanism. Currently, there are over 1,000 Agent projects on the platform, with daily trading volume exceeding $20 million. For Virtuals, 8004 solves a practical problem: how to enable different Agents to recognize and interact with each other. Recently, its official Twitter announced that the ACP protocol update will fully support the 8004 standard, meaning every Agent issued on Virtuals will automatically receive an on-chain identity and reputation system. As for which application will break out, perhaps it can be combined with Launchpad gameplay, and further observations can be made regarding updates in rule design and incentives. Overall, x402 solves the payment problem, ERC-8004 solves the trust problem. x402 took five months from launch to explosion; 8004 may be even faster. In terms of timing, pay attention to Devconnect on November 21, which will feature a Trustless Agents Day showcase. The first batch of applications based on 8004 may demonstrate their features at the conference. If a killer app emerges, it could trigger the first wave of hype. By the end of this year, I predict that x402 ecosystem projects will enter a consolidation phase and are likely to announce support for 8004. The synergy between the two protocols will produce a 1+1>2 effect. If you are a conservative player, you might focus on large-cap infrastructure projects benefiting from 8004; if you are more aggressive, you need to closely monitor the small-cap projects in the table above and watch for new projects emerging. After all, it’s been a long time since the crypto market was dominated by a narrative driven by technology. Whether x402 and ERC-8004 are just a flash in the pan or have far-reaching impact will be left to the market to decide.
Can ERC-8004 replicate the success of x402 and become the cornerstone of the AI agent trust layer?
Original Author: David, TechFlow by Deep Tide Original Title: Successor to x402? It's Time to Pay Attention to ERC-8004 x402 has clearly exploded in popularity. According to CoinmarketCap data, trading volume of various projects in the x402 ecosystem has surged 137 times, and the first ecosystem token PING soared from zero to a market cap of $30 million within a few days. KOLs from all sides have been publishing intensive analyses, covering everything from technical principles to project overviews—every angle you can think of has been written about. Yet two weeks ago, when we analyzed x402 early and mentioned the potential of projects like PayAI, the entire market was relatively quiet. In a market where narratives and token lifecycles are rapidly shortening, researching new narratives in advance makes it easier to lock in opportunities for related assets. (Related reading: What investment opportunities are hidden in the underestimated x402 protocol, which both Google and Visa are deploying?) Now, every time you refresh Twitter, a new "x402 ecosystem project" pops up; frankly, if you're just starting to research x402 now, it might already be a bit late. It's not that the protocol itself lacks prospects, but rather that the most obvious Alpha opportunities have already been fully mined. But while everyone is focused on x402, attentive observers will notice that another protocol has recently been appearing frequently in discussions in the English-speaking crypto community: ERC-8004. Even more interestingly, one of the proposers of ERC-8004, Davide Crapis, head of the dAI team at the Ethereum Foundation, revealed a detail in a September interview with Decrypt: "ERC-8004 will support multiple payment methods, but having x402 extensions helps the developer experience." Wait, support multiple payment methods? Isn't x402 a payment protocol? Why is ERC-8004 also involved in payments—are they competitors or complementary? In early October, when the Ethereum Foundation announced the final version of ERC-8004, the signatories included Marco De Rossi from MetaMask, Jordan Ellis from Google, and Erik Reppel from Coinbase, who is also the creator of x402. The same person is driving both protocols. What's the logic behind this? If the explosion of x402 made everyone see the huge market for AI Agent payments, then ERC-8004 may represent the other half of the puzzle in this market that has yet to be fully recognized. When everyone is chasing the payments track, perhaps the real opportunity lies outside of payments. ERC-8004: The Prerequisite for Payments Is Identity Registration for AI To understand ERC-8004, we need to return to a fundamental issue of the AI Agent economy. Imagine a scenario of collaborative AI: Your personal AI assistant needs to complete a complex task—preparing a market analysis report for your upcoming product launch event. This task is beyond its capabilities, so it needs to hire other specialized AIs: one for data scraping, one for competitor analysis, and one for chart creation. With x402, payments are no longer an issue; a few lines of code can complete a USDC transfer. But before making payments, your AI assistant faces a series of tricky identity problems: Among these self-proclaimed "professional data analysis AIs," which ones are real and which are scammers? What is their past work quality? How many clients have given positive reviews, and how many have complained? This is a bit like doing business in a world without Taobao, Dianping, or business registration. Every transaction is a blind box, every collaboration a gamble. Therefore, if we have to explain it in one sentence, ERC-8004 is the "business registration bureau + credit system + qualification certification center" for AI Agents on-chain. It gives every AI Agent an ID card, credit record, and competency certification, all recorded on the blockchain—publicly queryable and tamper-proof. On August 13 this year, Davide Crapis from the Ethereum Foundation, Marco De Rossi from MetaMask, and an independent AI developer Jordan Ellis jointly submitted the EIP-8004 proposal. Interestingly, this Jordan Ellis was later confirmed to be closely associated with Google’s Agent-to-Agent team. Simply put, ERC-8004 adds a trust layer to Google’s A2A. In the words of the Ethereum Foundation, this is about building a "trusted neutral rail" for AI Agents. Leaving aside the complex code details, let's briefly look at how 8004 works. The design of ERC-8004 is extremely streamlined, containing only three on-chain registries: Identity Registry: Each AI Agent receives an ERC-721 token as an ID card. Yes, you read that right—AI Agents are NFT-ized. This means the Agent’s identity can be viewed, transferred, or even traded in any wallet that supports NFTs. This NFT points to a standardized "Agent Card," describing the Agent’s name, skills, endpoints, and metadata. Because it follows open standards, any browser or marketplace can index it, enabling cross-platform permissionless discovery. Reputation Registry: This is the "Dianping" of the AI Agent world. Clients and other Agents can submit structured feedback, tagging by skill or task. More importantly, x402 payment proof can be attached. Only clients who have actually paid can leave reviews, preventing fake ratings. All reputation signals are public goods. This means anyone can build their own reputation scoring system based on this data. Validation Registry: For high-value tasks, reviews alone are not enough. The validation registry allows Agents to request third-party validation—it could be a TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) oracle, staking-backed inference, or zkML verification. This is the qualification certification in the Agent world. An Agent claiming to do financial analysis can cryptographically prove it actually ran a specific model and produced specific results. If this sounds a bit technical, let’s look at a concrete example. Suppose an exchange’s AI Agent needs a weekly DeFi market analysis report, but it doesn’t have this capability itself. Service Search: The client Agent finds analyst Agent Alice through the identity registry and checks her service description on the NFT identity card. Check Reputation: Finds that Alice has 156 positive reviews, an 89% completion rate, and real reviews with x402 payment proof. Escrow Payment: Pays 100 USDC via x402 to a smart contract escrow, not directly to Alice. Third-party Validation: After Alice completes the report, validator Bob checks the quality and signs confirmation in the validation registry. Automatic Settlement: The contract sees the validation is passed, automatically releases funds to Alice, and the client leaves a review. (Source: Researcher Yehia Tarek’s personal column) The entire process requires no human intervention; three AI Agents autonomously complete a business transaction based on the ERC-8004 trust system. Wait, does this have anything to do with x402? To put it simply, the relationship between x402 and ERC-8004 is: x402 solves the payment problem for AI Agents, ERC-8004 solves the trust problem, and a truly autonomous AI economy requires both. Specifically, x402 is the standard for micropayments between agents or users, eliminating payment friction and allowing one agent to automatically pay another for task completion. ERC-8004 is the identity and reputation layer for agents. It introduces on-chain verification, making every task and score traceable. An easier analogy is: x402 = ERC20 ERC 8004 = Etherscan The former allows you to pay API access fees directly by call count, acting as a payment standard; the latter is more like an on-chain AI agent registry, with each agent having an associated wallet that is queryable and verifiable. In fact, all of this is part of a larger "crypto x AI" narrative. In a broad crypto AI economy: Crypto AI Economy = Discovering AI Agents + Communication Between AI Agents + Verifiable Computation (Image source: Twitter user @soubhik_deb) How do you discover AI Agents? Essentially, it's about enabling AI Agents to find each other—this is what ERC-8004 does, writing a registry on Ethereum to record the identities of AIs. How do you enable communication between AI Agents? x402 is an open standard for on-chain payments between agents; there’s also Google’s A2A protocol, etc. How do you verify all this? Every AI Agent must perform verifiable inference, reasoning, and actions, which may be recorded in places that emphasize data availability. This post by @soubhik_deb on Twitter is worth reading, as it explains the above logic clearly and can help you discover more Alpha project opportunities based on this logic. At this point, we fully understand the relationship between x402 and ERC-8004; describing their relationship as complementary and jointly building the full picture of the AI economy is more appropriate. If you want a clearer and more direct comparison, here’s a one-picture summary: Beneficiary Projects Under the ERC-8004 Narrative If you want the TL;DR version, just refer to the image below. When x402 exploded, the first to rise were payment tokens like PING. But ERC-8004’s opportunities are more widely distributed, from infrastructure to applications—each layer has its own logic. Understanding this logic is more important than chasing a single project. 1. First is the infrastructure layer, such as Taiko and EigenLayer. Taiko, L2 Execution Layer Why would an L2 be the most active supporter? The narrative here is that the Agent economy needs cheap and fast chains. Mainnet is too expensive; every identity or reputation update costs several dollars in gas fees, which Agents can't afford. Taiko provides a solution by deploying the 8004 registry on L2, reducing costs. The contract was deployed on October 24 and may become the main battleground for Agent activity. EigenLayer, Security Layer The biggest challenge for 8004 is: what if validators act maliciously? EigenLayer’s answer: slashing. Validators stake ETH, and if they provide false validation, their assets are confiscated. EigenLayer is integrating 8004 into over 200 AVSs, each of which could become a dedicated Agent validation service. The logic of infrastructure is simple: the more Agents, the more transactions, the more revenue. This is the business of selling shovels. 2. Next is the middleware layer, such as S.A.N.T.A and Unibase. S.A.N.T.A, Payment Bridge Its positioning straddles both narratives, acting as a connector between x402 and 8004. When one Agent finds another through 8004 and needs to pay via x402, S.A.N.T.A handles the process. More importantly, it enables cross-chain operations—for example, in the ideal narrative, if a Solana Agent wants to hire an Ethereum Agent, S.A.N.T.A can play a role. Unibase, Memory Layer Agents need not only identity but also memory. Unibase gives each Agent persistent storage, linked through the 8004 identity system. This means Agents can "remember" previous interactions, accumulate experience, and even share knowledge. On October 26, it achieved x402+8004 integration on the BNB Chain, taking the lead. The value of middleware lies in its irreplaceability. You can switch to another L2, but some connection functions are unique. 3. Finally, the application layer, such as the old friend Virtuals Protocol. Virtuals is an AI Agent token issuance platform, allowing users to create, invest in, and trade AI Agent tokens through a bonding curve mechanism. Currently, there are over 1,000 Agent projects on the platform, with daily trading volume exceeding $20 million. For Virtuals, 8004 solves a real problem: how to enable different Agents to recognize and interact with each other. Recently, its official Twitter announced that the ACP protocol update will fully support the 8004 standard, meaning every Agent issued on Virtuals will automatically have an on-chain identity and reputation system. As for which application will break out, perhaps it can be combined with Launchpad gameplay, and further observation is needed regarding updates in rule design and incentives. Overall, x402 solves the payment problem, ERC-8004 solves the trust problem. x402 took five months from launch to explosion; 8004 may be even faster. In terms of timing, pay attention to Devconnect on November 21, which will feature a Trustless Agents Day showcase. The first batch of applications based on 8004 may demonstrate their features at the conference. If a killer app appears, it could trigger the first wave of hype. By the end of this year, I predict that x402 ecosystem projects will enter a consolidation period and are likely to announce support for 8004. The synergy between the two protocols will create a 1+1>2 effect. If you are a conservative player, you might focus on large-cap infrastructure projects benefiting from 8004; if you are more aggressive, you need to closely monitor the small-cap projects in the table above and watch for new projects emerging. After all, the crypto market has not been dominated by a technology-driven narrative for a long time. Whether x402 and ERC-8004 are just a flash in the pan or have far-reaching impact will be tested by the market.
SharpLink plans $200M Ethereum deployment with Linea partnership
Key Takeaways SharpLink will deploy $200 million in Ethereum via a partnership with Linea. The initiative targets higher yields by accessing native staking rewards and DeFi opportunities. Share this article SharpLink, a Nasdaq-listed firm with one of the largest Ethereum treasuries, today announced plans to deploy $200 million worth of Ethereum through a strategic partnership with Linea. The deployment will leverage Linea, a Layer-2 scaling network for Ethereum developed by ConsenSys, to capture both native staking rewards and enhanced DeFi yields. The firm has tokenized its equity as SBET directly on Ethereum, signaling a broader commitment to on-chain institutional-grade finance. SBET offers investors institutional-grade, leveraged exposure to ETH. SharpLink’s entry into the Linea Consortium gives it influence over Layer-2 governance and a prominent role in shaping Ethereum’s scaling landscape. Collaborations with EtherFi, a liquid restaking protocol, and EigenLayer, a leading Ethereum restaking protocol, enable SharpLink to access restaking rewards by securing third-party services and EigenCloud AVSs.
x402 is gradually succumbing to internal strife, preemptively mining new asset opportunities within ERC-8004
Original Article Title: "x402 Gradually Navigating Inward, Preemptively Unearthing New Asset Opportunities in ERC-8004" Original Article Author: David, Deep Tide TechFlow x402 is clearly on fire. CoinmarketCap data shows that the trading volume of various projects in the x402 ecosystem has surged by 137x, with the first ecosystem token PING skyrocketing from zero to a $30 million market cap in just a few days. All kinds of Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) have intensively published analyses, covering every angle from technical principles to project inventories. However, two weeks ago, when we conducted early analysis of x402 and mentioned the potential of projects like PayAI, the market didn't react much. In various narratives and rapidly shortened token lifecycles, conducting early research on new narratives makes it easier to identify opportunities related to assets. Now, every time you refresh Twitter, a new "x402 ecosystem project" pops up; if you are just starting to research x402 now, to be honest, you may be a bit late. This is not to say that the protocol itself lacks prospects, but the most obvious Alpha opportunity has already been extensively explored. But just when everyone is focusing on x402, the observant will notice that another protocol has been frequently mentioned in English-speaking crypto circles recently: ERC-8004. What's even more interesting is that one of the proposers of ERC-8004, Davide Crapis, Head of the Ethereum Foundation's dAI team, revealed a detail in a September interview with Decrypt: "ERC-8004 will support multiple payment methods, but having an x402 extension contributes to the developer experience." Wait a minute, supporting multiple payment methods? Isn't x402 a payment protocol? Why does ERC-8004 also involve payments? Are they in competition or complementary? In early October, when the Ethereum Foundation announced the final version of ERC-8004, the signatories included Marco De Rossi of MetaMask, Jordan Ellis of Google, and Erik Reppel of Coinbase, who is also the creator of x402. The Same Person Driving Two Protocols at Once. What's the Logic Behind It? If the x402 outbreak showcased the massive market for AI Agent payments, ERC-8004 might represent the other half of this puzzle that has yet to be fully recognized in this market. While everyone is chasing after the payment track, perhaps the real opportunity lies outside of payments. ERC-8004: The Prerequisite for Payments Is Identifying AI To understand ERC-8004, we first need to revisit a fundamental question in the AI Agent economy. Imagine a scenario where AIs collaborate: Your personal AI assistant needs to complete a complex task — preparing a market analysis report for an upcoming product launch. This task is beyond its capabilities, so it needs to hire other specialized AIs: one for data scraping, one for competitive analysis, and one for chart creation. With x402 in place, payment is not an issue; a few lines of code can handle the USDC transfer. But before payment, your AI assistant faces a series of tricky identity issues: Which of these self-proclaimed "professional data analysis AIs" is genuine, and which is a fraud? What is their past work quality? How many clients have given positive feedback, and how many have complained? This is a bit like doing business in a world without Taobao, Yelp, or business registrations. Each transaction is a blind box, and every collaboration is a gamble. Therefore, if we must explain it in one sentence, ERC-8004 is the "Business Bureau + Credit System + Qualification Accreditation Center" for AI Agents in the blockchain world. It gives each AI Agent an ID, credit record, and capability accreditation, all recorded on the blockchain, open for anyone to verify and impossible for anyone to tamper with. On August 13th of this year, Davide Crapis from the Ethereum Foundation, Marco De Rossi from MetaMask, and independent AI developer Jordan Ellis jointly submitted the EIP-8004 proposal. Interestingly, this Jordan Ellis was later confirmed to have close ties to Google's Agent-to-Agent team. In simple terms, ERC-8004 adds a trust layer to Google's A2A. In the words of the Ethereum Foundation, this is to establish a "trusted neutral channel" for building AI Agents. Leaving aside the intricate details of the code, we can roughly see what 8004 does. ERC-8004 is designed to be extremely concise, comprising only three on-chain registries: · Identity Registry where each AI Agent receives an ERC-721 token as proof of identity. Yes, you read that right, AI Agents have been NFT-ized. This means an Agent's identity can be viewed, transferred, and even traded in any NFT-supporting wallet. This NFT points to a standardized "Agent Card" detailing the Agent's name, skills, endpoint, and metadata. As it adheres to an open standard, any browser or marketplace can index it, enabling permissionless cross-platform discovery. · Reputation Registry acting as the "Yelp" of the AI Agent world. Clients and other Agents can submit structured feedback, tagging it by skill or task. More significantly, they can attach x402 payment proofs. Only clients who have actually paid can review, preventing fake reviews. All reputation signals are public goods. This means anyone can build their own reputation scoring system based on this data. · Validation Registry for high-value tasks, mere feedback isn't sufficient. The Validation Registry allows Agents to request third-party validations—be it TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) oracles, staking-backed reasoning, or zkML proofs. This is the credentialing of the Agent world. An Agent claiming to perform financial analysis can cryptographically prove it has indeed run a specific model and produced specific results. If things get a bit technical, let's look at a specific example. Imagine an exchange's AI Agent needs a weekly DeFi market analysis report, but it doesn't have this capability itself. · Search for Service: The client Agent finds analyst Agent Alice through the identity registry, and views the service description on her NFT identity card · View Reputation: Discovers Alice has 156 positive ratings, an 89% completion rate, and real reviews with x402 payment proofs · Escrow Payment: Pays 100 USDC through x402 to a smart contract escrow, not directly to Alice · Third-Party Verification: After Alice completes the report, validator Bob checks the quality and signs off on the verification registry · Automated Settlement: The contract sees the validation is successful, automatically releases the funds to Alice, and the client leaves feedback (Source: Researcher Yehia Tarek's Personal Column) The entire process was carried out autonomously by three AI Agents based on the ERC-8004 trust framework, without any human intervention, completing a business transaction. Hold on, what does x402 have to do with this? Summing up the relationship between x402 and ERC-8004: x402 solves the payment issue for AI Agents, ERC-8004 addresses the trust problem, and a truly autonomous AI economy requires both. Specifically, x402 is a standard for micropayments between agents or users, removing payment friction, allowing one agent to automatically pay another for completing a task. ERC-8004 is the identity and reputation layer for agents. It introduces on-chain validation, making every task and score traceable. An easier-to-understand analogy is: · x402 = ERC20 · ERC 8004 = Etherscan The former allows you to directly pay API access fees based on call count, more like a payment standard; the latter is more like an on-chain AI agent registry, where each agent has an associated wallet, making it queryable and verifiable. In fact, all of this is part of a broader "Crypto x AI" narrative, within a larger crypto AI economy: · Crypto AI Economy = Discoverable AI Agents + Communicating AI Agents + Verifiable Computation (Image Source: Twitter user @soubhik_deb) How do you discover AI Agents then? Essentially, it means AI agents need to find each other, which is what ERC-8004 does by creating a registry on Ethereum to record the identities of AIs; How do AI Agents communicate with each other? x402 is an open standard for agents to perform on-chain payments; there's also Google's A2A protocol, among others; How do you verify all of this? Each AI Agent must engage in verifiable reasoning, inference, and action, which may be recorded in places that emphasize data availability. Twitter user @soubhik_deb's post is worth reading, as it explains the above logic clearly and can be used as a basis to discover more Alpha project opportunities based on this logic. So far, we have a full understanding of the relationship between x402 and ERC-8004, describing their relationship in terms of complementarity and mutual contribution to building the AI economy as a whole is more appropriate. If you want a clearer and more explicit comparison, here is a flowchart: Beneficiary Projects Under the ERC-8004 Narrative For the TL;DR version, you can refer directly to the image below. When x402 exploded, the first to rise was a payment token like PING. However, ERC-8004's opportunity distribution is broader, with each layer, from infrastructure to applications, having its own logic. Understanding this logic is more important than chasing individual projects. 1. First is the Infrastructure Layer, such as Taiko and EigenLayer. Taiko, L2 Execution Layer Why would an L2 be the most avid supporter? The narrative here is that the Agent economy requires a cheap and fast chain. The mainnet is too expensive, costing several dollars in gas fees for each identity or reputation update, which Agents cannot afford. Taiko provides a solution by deploying the 8004 registry on L2, reducing costs. The contract was deployed on October 24 and could become the main battleground for Agent activity. EigenLayer, Security Layer The biggest challenge for 8004 is what to do when validators misbehave? EigenLayer's answer is: slashing. Validators stake ETH, and if they provide false validation, they lose their assets. EigenLayer is integrating 8004 into over 200 AVS, each of which could become a specialized Agent validation service. The logic of infrastructure is simple: the more Agents, the more transactions, the more revenue. This is the business of selling shovels. 2. Next is the Middleware Layer, such as S.A.N.T.A and Unibase. S.A.N.T.A, Payment Bridge It positions itself in two narratives, acting as a connector between x402 and 8004. When an Agent finds another Agent through 8004 and then needs to make a payment through x402, S.A.N.T.A handles this process. More importantly, it enables cross-chain transactions, such as an Agent on Solana in the Ideal narrative needing to hire an Agent on Ethereum, where S.A.N.T.A can facilitate. Unibase, Memory Layer Agents not only need identity but also memory. Unibase provides persistent storage for each Agent, associated through the 8004 identity system. This means Agents can "remember" past interactions, accumulate experience, and even share knowledge. The x402+8004 integration was achieved on the BNB chain on October 26, leading the pack. The value of middleware lies in its irreplaceability. You can switch to a different L2, but certain connectivity features are unique. 3. Finally, there is the application layer, such as the well-known Virtuals Protocol. Virtuals is an AI Agent token issuance platform that allows users to create, invest, and trade AI Agent tokens through a bonding curve mechanism. Currently, the platform has over 1000 Agent projects, with a daily trading volume exceeding $20 million. For Virtuals, 8004 addresses a real-world issue: how to enable different Agents to recognize and interact with each other. A recent official announcement indicated that the upcoming ACP protocol update will fully support the 8004 standard, meaning that every Agent issued on Virtuals will automatically receive an on-chain identity and reputation system. As for which applications can emerge, perhaps they can be integrated with Launchpad mechanics to further observe their updates in rule design and incentives. Overall, x402 addresses the payment problem, while ERC-8004 addresses the trust issue. x402 took 5 months from release to breakout; 8004 may be faster. In terms of upcoming events, one can look forward to Devconnect on November 21, featuring a Trustless Agents Day showcase, where the first batch of applications based on 8004 may demonstrate their functionalities at the conference. If a killer application emerges, it may trigger the first wave of hype. By the end of this year, the author predicts that x402 ecosystem projects will enter an integration phase, likely announcing support for 8004. The synergies between the two protocols will have a 1+1>2 effect. For conservative players, one may consider focusing on high-cap projects benefiting from 8004; whereas for more aggressive players, close attention to low-cap projects in the table above and emerging projects may be necessary. After all, the crypto market has not been dominated by a narrative driven by technology for a long time. Whether x402 and ERC-8004 are a flash in the pan or have a lasting impact remains to be seen, to be judged by the market.
Among this week's largest token unlocks, SUI tops the list with an unlock amount of $146.24 million.
Jinse Finance reported, citing market sources: Among this week's largest token unlocks, SUI tops the list with an unlock amount of $146.24 million, followed by GRASS ($77.58 million), ENA ($48.88 million), and EIGEN ($41.63 million).
SharpLink allocates $200m ETH to Linea restaking programs
SharpLink is executing a complex treasury strategy that moves beyond simple staking. Its capital will flow through Consensys’ Layer 2 to EigenLayer, actively securing new services like verifiable AI and generating yield. Summary SharpLink will deploy $200 million in ETH to Linea via ether.fi and EigenCloud to unlock institutional restaking yields. The move supports new services like verifiable AI while maintaining compliance and Anchorage Digital custody. The partnership with Consensys aims to build institutional capital markets tools as SharpLink expands its 859,000+ ETH treasury. According to a press release dated Oct. 28, SharpLink Gaming is set to deploy $200 million worth of Ethereum ( ETH ) tokens from its corporate treasury onto Linea, the zkEVM scaling network developed by Consensys. The Minneapolis-based company said it will route its assets through ether.fi and EigenCloud to support staking and restaking activity tied to emerging services such as verifiable AI. Anchorage Digital Bank will custody and manage the capital, which SharpLink plans to deploy gradually over several years to align yield generation with institutional compliance requirements. “This deployment enables us to access the best of Ethereum’s staking, restaking and DeFi yield, while maintaining the institutional safeguards our stockholders expect. We are proud to be among the early institutional adopters of Linea’s infrastructure, which leads the Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem in terms of its standards for composability, scalability and security,” SharpLink Co-CEO Joseph Chalom said. SharpLink tests a new DeFi front SharpLink noted that the deployment is designed to create a compliant, scalable path for institutional capital to participate in restaking and emerging onchain services. Linea provides a secure execution environment aligned with Ethereum’s settlement guarantees, while EigenLayer introduces a new financial primitive that allows ETH to secure more than just the base chain. The move carries strategic significance for Consensys, which developed Linea to serve as a programmable home for assets in motion. Joseph Lubin, founder of Consensys, co-founder of Ethereum, and chairman of SharpLink, framed the deployment as a proof point for how institutional ETH can be put to work with stronger productivity. Lubin argued that financial markets are shifting toward trustless infrastructure, and that ETH must play an active role rather than sit idle in cold storage. He positioned SharpLink’s approach as the type of model others are likely to follow once they seek efficient, secure ways to generate returns onchain without compromising governance or compliance. The $200 million deployment is the first act in a broader strategic partnership. According to the release, SharpLink and Consensys plan to co-develop “institutional, composable capital markets primitives.” This ambitious goal involves pioneering new models for onchain capital raises, creating programmable liquidity tools, and engineering tokenized equity strategies. Notably, the deployment coincides with SharpLink’s continued accumulation of Ethereum. The company recently bolstered its position with a purchase of 19,271 ETH , valued at approximately $78.3 million. This acquisition pushes SharpLink’s total Ethereum treasury to over 859,000 ETH, a holdings worth more than $3.6 billion and solidifying its status as one of the world’s most significant corporate holders.
Most Anticipated Crypto Listings of 2025
2025 is turning into a landmark year for crypto listings. After several cycles of hype, vaporware, and failed launches, a new generation of Web3, AI, and real-world-integrated projects is preparing to enter the market — this time, with real technology, communities, and in some cases, tangible revenue. From TRUE World’s groundbreaking GameFi economy to next-gen DeFi infrastructure and AI-integrated ecosystems, these are the most anticipated crypto listings of 2025 — projects that could redefine investor expectations in the year ahead. 1. TRUE World ($TRUE) — Web3 Gaming Meets Real Business No upcoming listing has generated more excitement than $TRUE , the flagship token of TRUE World, built by TRUE LABS, a high-grade gaming studio with millions of users and confirmed annual revenue. This is the first-ever token launch backed by a functioning, profitable gaming ecosystem. TRUE tokenomics are designed for sustainability and deflation, with mechanisms that feed real-world revenue back into the economy: Buybacks and Burns: A portion of gaming revenue is used to buy and burn $TRUE from the open market. Utility-Driven Demand: Players use $TRUE for in-game upgrades, rewards, staking, and governance. Closed-Loop Growth: The more users play, the more value circulates within the system. TRUE represents the moment Web3 gaming grows up — a token born from a product, powered by measurable usage, and designed to scale. With Tier-1 exchange listings expected before the end of 2025, $TRUE is shaping up as one of the year’s defining launches. Watch for official announcements of $TRUE listing details at x.com/TRUExWorld 2. EigenLayer (EIGEN) — The Restaking Revolution Expands Following an explosive 2024, EigenLayer is expected to bring its native token, EIGEN, to exchanges in 2025. As the first large-scale restaking protocol on Ethereum, it allows users to re-use staked ETH to secure additional services and networks — a new class of “meta-staking.” With more than $15 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL) and partnerships across the Ethereum ecosystem, EIGEN’s listing could dominate liquidity flows in early 2025. Its launch is widely viewed as a major event for the DeFi yield layer and institutional staking markets. 3. Karak (KARAK) — Restaking’s Challenger Layer Karak Network is quickly positioning itself as the primary competitor to EigenLayer, offering an alternative restaking model focused on modularity and cross-chain security. Expected to launch its token KARAK in 2025, the project aims to capture institutional and developer adoption through flexible security modules and multi-chain validator integrations. Its listing will test the depth of market appetite for restaking-based yield protocols, one of the hottest narratives of the year. 4. Movement Labs (MOVE) — Bringing the Move VM to Ethereum Movement Labs is developing a Layer-2 that integrates the Move Virtual Machine, originally designed for Aptos and Sui, into the Ethereum ecosystem. MOVE’s emphasis on safety, parallel execution, and developer-friendly programming could make it one of the most technically unique listings of 2025. With growing interest in cross-VM compatibility and modular Layer-2s, MOVE’s token debut will attract attention from both developers and investors. 5. Lens Protocol (LENS) — SocialFi Goes Mainstream Lens Protocol, the decentralized social network built by the Aave team, is preparing for its long-awaited token launch in 2025. Lens aims to redefine how social platforms operate by giving creators ownership of their content, audience, and monetization channels. With millions of registered profiles and a thriving builder ecosystem, the LENS token is expected to fuel governance, content monetization, and new SocialFi integrations — potentially making it the flagship token for decentralized social media. 6. zkSync (ZKS) — Scaling Ethereum with Zero Knowledge The zkSync ecosystem has matured rapidly, onboarding developers, dApps, and liquidity from Ethereum. Its upcoming token ZKS is expected to serve as the gas and governance token for the Layer-2, securing the network through staking and incentivizing participation in zk rollups. Given zkSync’s developer traction and strong community, ZKS could be one of the largest infrastructure listings of 2025. 7. StarkNet (STRK) — The zk-Rollup Powerhouse Finally Arrives After several test phases and developer airdrops, StarkNet’s STRK token is set to go fully public in 2025. Backed by StarkWare, one of the pioneers of zero-knowledge cryptography, STRK will drive governance and staking for the network’s ZK-powered scaling solutions. As enterprise demand for ZK tech expands, STRK could solidify StarkNet’s role as a key scaling layer for Ethereum. 8. SUBBD (SUBBD) — AI + Web3 Content Economy Emerging at the intersection of AI and creative media, SUBBD is building a decentralized platform for content monetization, distribution, and personalization. Its listing later in 2025 will spotlight the AI x creator economy narrative — rewarding users for content production, curation, and data sharing. While still early-stage, SUBBD’s partnerships and product roadmap suggest a serious attempt to merge machine learning and digital IP on-chain. 9. Orochi (ON) — Verifiable Data for Web3 Infrastructure Orochi (ON) focuses on verifiable data and computation layers for decentralized applications. With its airdrop and early-access listings already in motion, the full exchange rollout in 2025 could expand its reach. ON is expected to power staking, data validation, and decentralized node operations, catering to developers building scalable, data-driven dApps. As on-chain data integrity becomes central to DeFi and AI, Orochi could emerge as a critical backend solution. Final Take The 2025 listing wave reflects a maturing market — one that’s prioritizing real value, infrastructure, and economic sustainability. Gone are the days when a presale alone could drive hype. The next generation of tokens is anchored in working ecosystems, verifiable metrics, and cross-industry integration. Among them, TRUE stands as the clearest example of evolution: a Web3 gaming token backed by real business performance. But the broader lineup — from EigenLayer to zkSync and Lens — reveals how diverse, advanced, and interconnected crypto has become.
Massive Coin Releases Surge Crypto Market Activity
Summarize the content using AI ChatGPT Grok According to data from Tokenomist, the period between October 27 and November 3 will witness large-scale coin releases amounting to over $653 million in value. The data highlights a substantial increase in the supply of several altcoin projects, including SUI, GRASS, EIGEN, JUP, OMNI, ENA, ZORA, KMNO, OP, IMX, SIGN, and ZETA. Market observers emphasize that investors should remain vigilant due to the potential for increased selling pressure during this period. Hundreds of Millions Worth of Coins Enter the Market A table compiled by blockchain journalist Wu Blockchain, based on Tokenomist’s data, reveals that during the seven-day period from October 27 to November 3, the value of 43.96 million SUI coins is estimated to reach $119.13 million in market capitalization with their release. Meanwhile, GRASS will release 181 million coins, representing 72.4% of its total supply. Projects such as EIGEN, JUP, ENA, and ZETA will also see millions of dollars in coin releases. Altcoin Weekly Unlocks SIGN coin takes a prominent position in these unlocks, with an estimated value of $12.34 million attributed to the release of approximately 290 million coins. Similarly, the OMNI coin release will constitute 30% of its supply, while the release of EIGEN will account for 12% of its supply. Ongoing Daily Releases for Major Projects Like SOL, DOGE, and WLD The second part of the report focuses on linear, daily coin releases. In this category, Solana $200 (SOL) leads with a weekly release valued at $100.84 million. Worldcoin (WLD) will see a release valued at $35.43 million, Trump (TRUMP) at $30.66 million, and Dogecoin $0.202854 (DOGE) at $19.87 million. Moreover, projects such as Avalanche (AVAX), Ether.fi (ETHFI), Polkadot (DOT), Taopad (TAO), and TIA will continue to experience daily releases exceeding $1 million. Some of these coins are expected to see a circulating supply increase between 1% and 2%. In the cryptocurrency market , large-scale coin releases often contribute to short-term liquidity increases and price pressures, while in the long term, they can aid in the expansion of project ecosystems. However, historical instances reveal that large releases frequently lead to short-term selling waves.
A look at the key developments from the afternoon session on October 27th
7:00-12:00 Keywords: CZ, Ant Group, x402 1. CZ: In the future, will focus on investment business of YZi Labs, and has been invited to serve as a cryptocurrency industry advisor to heads of state in multiple countries; 2. Ant Group has applied for registration of "ANTCOIN" and other Web3-related trademarks in Hong Kong; 3. Tokens such as SUI, GRASS, EIGEN will see large unlocks this week, with a total value exceeding 3 billion US dollars; 4. Solana's co-founder retweeted x402-related articles and said "x402 is really great"; 5. The entire network has liquidated 4.30 billion US dollars in the past 24 hours, mainly short positions being liquidated; 6. The total market value of stablecoins has reached 308.783 billion US dollars, with an increase of 1.305 billion US dollars in the past week.
Interview with ETHGas Founder: Gas-Free Experience Is the Next Entry Point for a Billion Users, "Rebates + Hedging" Is Our Two-Step Strategy
The ETHGas project aims to achieve an “Gasless Future” for Ethereum by building a financial market for block space. Author: Yuliya, PANews The high and volatile Gas fees on Ethereum have long been a stubborn obstacle to its mass adoption, and a persistent pain point for both developers and users. Against this backdrop, a bold vision aimed at making Gas “invisible”—ETHGas—was born. Recently, PANews had an exclusive conversation with the founder of ETHGas, delving into how they started from an epiphany during the pandemic to build a “Realtime Ethereum.” This interview reveals how ETHGas is pioneering the creation of a financial market for “block space,” and, through the “Open Gas Initiative” in collaboration with leading protocols, jointly drawing and realizing a blueprint for an extremely user-friendly “Gasless Future.” Epiphany During the Pandemic: Reshaping Gas from a “Transaction Tax” into a “Financial Market” PANews: As I understand, the idea for ETHGas was born during the special period of pandemic isolation. What industry pain points did you observe at that time? And what was the “epiphany moment” that prompted you to build a “Realtime Ethereum” and dedicate yourself to making Gas “invisible”? ETHGas: Haha, yes, that was an unforgettable time. I was stuck in a hotel with nothing to do but watch the markets. I witnessed the frenzy of DeFi Summer, but also saw the huge friction behind it: Gas fees soared like a runaway beast, ordinary users were either deterred or had their transactions stuck, and the experience was terrible. I thought, this is like a beautifully designed highway, but the toll booths are chaotic, charge randomly, and sometimes even block you from entering. This can’t be the future. The “epiphany moment” was when I realized the problem wasn’t Gas fees themselves, but how we treat them. We’ve always regarded them as an unavoidable “tax,” rather than a manageable financial market. I thought, if we can build financial markets for airline fuel and farmers’ grain, why can’t we do the same for Ethereum’s block space? This idea was the starting point for us to build “Realtime Ethereum” and realize “invisible Gas.” “Gasless Future”: Paving the Way for the Next Billion Users PANews: Currently, the vast majority of Ethereum users see Gas fees as an unavoidable transaction friction. But ETHGas’s vision is to make Gas “invisible.” Can you paint a picture of this “Gasless Future”? Why is achieving this vision crucial for Ethereum’s next wave of mass adoption? ETHGas: Of course. What we call the “Gasless Future” is essentially a return to a seamless, everyday experience. Imagine you go to your favorite coffee shop to buy a latte. You’re not asked to pay an extra, uncertain “electricity fee” at checkout, and the price of coffee doesn’t change every second based on how busy the power grid is. You only care about the price and taste of the coffee. That’s because the shop owner has already handled the electricity cost as part of their operating expenses in the background. But on today’s Ethereum, every transaction is like paying this unstable “electricity fee”—that is, the Gas fee. It’s confusing, full of uncertainty, and is the “last mile” obstacle preventing Web3 from reaching the mainstream. By making Gas “invisible,” we are removing this barrier, enabling Ethereum to truly achieve mass adoption and paving the way for the influx of the next billion users. PANews: The ETHGas solution is very unique. Instead of simply lowering Gas fees, you are pioneering the creation of a financial market for “block space.” Can you explain in layman’s terms how this turns the abstract concept of “block space” into a standardized asset that can be traded like stocks or options? ETHGas: Our core is to transform a chaotic, unpredictable market into a structured financial market. You can think of it this way: before ETHGas, buying block space was like shopping in a crowded, disorderly street market—you never knew the real price or whether you could get what you needed. ETHGas has built a platform for block space akin to the “New York Stock Exchange.” We’ve created standardized products, such as “Inclusion Preconfirmations.” Now, a protocol can purchase a guarantee to ensure its transaction is included in the next block at a fixed price. In this way, we’ve turned block space from an abstract concept into a predictable, tradable, and hedgeable financial asset, greatly improving the operational efficiency of on-chain capital. “Realtime Ethereum”: The Era of Millisecond Settlement PANews: You’ve proposed the concept of “Realtime Ethereum,” claiming to achieve millisecond-level transaction settlement. How is this achieved? What previously unimaginable possibilities does this extreme speed and certainty unlock for traders and developers? ETHGas: “Realtime Ethereum” is a direct result of our block space market. Because builders and protocols can now pre-purchase inclusion guarantees for future blocks before they are produced, they can operate with absolute certainty. They know exactly that their transaction will be successfully included on-chain, and when it will happen. This unlocks many possibilities that were previously impossible due to network latency. For high-frequency traders, it provides a decisive competitive edge. For project teams, it means they can build instant-settlement applications—complex apps that were previously impossible due to network delays and congestion are now possible, making the experience truly “instant.” Ecological Flywheel: “Open Gas Initiative” and Win-Win Cooperation PANews: To promote the “Gasless Future,” you launched the “Open Gas Initiative.” Can you reveal which leading protocols are currently collaborating with ETHGas? How will you work together to create a Gasless experience for end users? ETHGas: The “Open Gas Initiative” is an alliance we launched to build a stickier, more user-friendly Web3. We are honored to announce that industry leaders such as ether.fi, EigenLayer, and Pendle have become our first founding partners, with more partners to be announced in the future. Our cooperation model is very simple: through our platform, they can sponsor Gas fees for users’ transactions. For example, when a user stakes on a protocol platform, the protocol pays the Gas cost, and then the user can directly claim this rebate from the ETHGas dashboard. We turn the project’s cost center—Gas fees—into their most powerful user acquisition and retention tool. PANews: This sounds like a powerful growth loop: validators provide block space, attracting protocols to join, and protocols bring in massive users. So, in this loop, how do you incentivize validators and staking operators to join the network and provide “fuel” for the entire ecosystem? ETHGas: You’ve hit the nail on the head—this is the core engine of our growth flywheel. Our incentive logic for validators is both simple and direct: bring them market-driven, higher returns. Through our block space trading platform, validators are no longer passively earning unstable MEV income. They can actively package their block space into high-value, programmable financial products for sale, opening up a brand new, stable, and often higher-yielding source of income. As the ecosystem develops, stakers and protocols will gradually recognize the existence of these excess returns, prompting their staking service providers to connect to ETHGas. By offering the most competitive staking returns in the market, we drive growth on the supply side of the entire ecosystem. Two-Step Strategy: From Gas Rebates to Permanent Cost Hedging PANews: ETHGas has launched the much-anticipated “Open Gas Initiative,” gathering top industry protocols. What role does this initiative play in your “Gasless Future” campaign? Is it a short-term market campaign, or is it the first cornerstone for a permanent, sustainable “Gasless Model”? ETHGas: This is definitely the starting point for a permanent, sustainable model. The Gasless Future campaign is our entry point for guiding users into the ETHGas ecosystem. First, it gamifies the Gas cost, providing intuitive market education for users; second, it allows protocols to verify the huge boost in user activity brought by the “Gasless experience.” This initial stage allows protocols to immediately see the huge, direct impact of providing a Gasless experience on user retention and activity, laying the foundation for the next stage of development. PANews: So starting from Gas rebates, what’s next? How will you help protocol partners transition from “subsidizing Gas” to a more mature model? ETHGas: This is the key to achieving long-term sustainability. Gas rebates are just the first stage. As our block space financial market matures, we will introduce more sophisticated tools for our partners. This includes products like “Base Fee Futures,” which allow protocols to hedge against Gas price volatility. They will no longer passively pay Gas fees, but can proactively lock in Gas costs for the next month or quarter, just like airlines hedge their fuel costs. This will turn Gas from an unstable operating expense into a predictable, manageable budget item, enabling true long-term financial planning and a permanent Gasless user experience. PANews: Looking ahead, what is the next key milestone for ETHGas? For those eager to join this transformation and co-build the ecosystem, do you have any specific advice? ETHGas: Our blueprint is becoming reality step by step. Recently, we released Chapter 2 of the “Gasless Future” campaign, officially launching the long-awaited Gas Report Card for the community. This is not just a feature update, but also our commitment to the future. And this future needs to be built by all of us together—whether you are a user, developer, or validator, you have an indispensable role: To all users: Please actively participate in the “Gasless Future” campaign! It’s not just about checking your Gas report or claiming a rebate—it’s about voting with your actions for a future of Ethereum that benefits everyone. Your voice and choices are the fundamental driving force behind this transformation. To developers and protocol teams: This is a great opportunity to turn user experience from a “pain point” into a “highlight.” We sincerely invite you to join the “Open Gas Initiative,” so we can leave the complex Gas issues behind the scenes and bring the smoothest, most seamless experience to your users, making it your unique core competitiveness. To validators: We invite you to join the highest-yielding, most predictable value network on Ethereum. Please contact us to explore how your block space can unlock unprecedented value. The “Gasless Future” is not an unattainable dream, but a project and community challenge we are tackling together. Follow @ETHGasOfficial on X and join us in building the future side by side.
MegaETH public sale = money-making opportunity? Vitalik has already joined
The "real-time Ethereum-compatible chain" MegaETH will launch a new round of fundraising on October 27—this marks the third round of fundraising open to the community for the project. In the previous two rounds, the Echo community round allowed entry at the same price as top VCs including Dragonfly and Vitalik Buterin, while the Fluffle NFT round reached a fully diluted valuation of $532 million. Currently, this project, regarded by the industry as the "new star of Layer 2," is about to reach its most critical moment. On the Hyperliquid pre-market, the implied valuation of $MEGA has been hyped up to $5 billion, while Polymarket predicts an 89% chance that its valuation will surpass $2 billion after listing. From VC rush to community buzz, what makes MegaETH so highly regarded? Will this much-anticipated token issuance become the next explosive point in the Layer 2 sector? According to information released by the project team, the allocation for this public round is 5%, which is 500 million out of a total of 10 billion MEGA tokens. Investors must participate using USDT on the Ethereum mainnet, and the auction will be conducted in an English auction format, with bid ranges between $2,650 and $186,282. U.S. investors are required to lock up their tokens for one year and will receive a 10% discount, while non-U.S. investors can choose whether to lock up their tokens. It is worth noting that before the public sale, MegaETH repurchased about 4.75% of equity and token-related warrants from early pre-seed investors, a move interpreted as a signal to further optimize the equity and token structure and strengthen the community's share. Building a "Real-Time Ethereum" MegaETH was launched by the MegaLabs team in 2023, with the core vision of enabling blockchain interactions to reach internet application-level speeds. The project claims its block confirmation time can be as low as 10 milliseconds, with theoretical throughput exceeding 100,000 transactions per second (TPS), while maintaining full compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). This level of performance far surpasses current mainstream Layer 2 solutions. While Arbitrum, Optimism, and others have made improvements in parallel execution and rollup efficiency, they still experience second-level delays. MegaETH attempts to achieve "sub-second settlement" by redesigning the execution layer architecture, enabling DeFi, gaming, AI agents, social applications, and more to achieve truly real-time experiences. In terms of architecture, MegaETH adopts a "modular node" design, splitting block ordering, state computation, and verification into different roles: the Sequencer is responsible for ordering and execution, the Prover generates zero-knowledge proofs, and the Replica Node handles state replication. This "specialized division of labor" is considered key to breaking through performance bottlenecks. Meanwhile, MegaETH plans to integrate with EigenLayer's data availability layer (EigenDA) to further enhance system scalability. MegaETH's core philosophy is to expand the trust boundary through performance, sacrificing some decentralization in the early stages in exchange for a qualitative leap in transaction real-time capability and user experience. As the team wrote in their technical whitepaper: "For blockchain to become true internet infrastructure, it must have Web2-level speed." Team and Fundraising The MegaETH team consists of members from the core Ethereum developer community and traditional high-performance systems engineering backgrounds. CEO Yilong Li, CTO Lei Yang, and COO Shuyao Kong are all early active members of the Ethereum and StarkWare communities. On the fundraising side, the project completed a seed round of about $20 million in June 2024, led by Dragonfly with support from Vitalik Buterin. In December of the same year, it raised about $10 million through the Fluffle NFT community round. Its ecosystem initiative, the "MegaMafia 10× Builders Program," has already attracted more than ten projects, covering DeFi, AI, social, and on-chain gaming sectors. According to RootData, MegaETH's cumulative fundraising amount exceeds $30 million. In addition to Dragonfly, its main investors include QCP Capital, GSR, SevenX Ventures, Delphi Ventures, and other well-known institutions. This capital lineup provides the project with stable funding and technical support, and also increases market confidence in its fair valuation. Market Expectations From the market's reaction, MegaETH has already been seen as a potential "blockbuster asset" even before its official launch. The MEGA-USD perpetual contract presale market on Hyperliquid currently prices MEGA's implied fully diluted valuation at about $5 billion, with a 24-hour trading volume of $17 million; on Polymarket, traders give an 87% probability that $MEGA will surpass a $2 billion FDV within 24 hours of launch, and a 40% probability of surpassing $4 billion. Despite such hype, MegaETH has chosen to launch a new round of fundraising at a valuation far below market expectations. BlockWorks Research analyst Shaunda pointed out that this is a deliberate "counter-cyclical pricing" strategy. The project team is well aware that English and Dutch auctions often result in the "marginal buyer pricing" problem: the sale price lands exactly at the psychological threshold of the last willing bidder, and once the secondary market opens and buying pressure disappears, the token often drops rapidly. To avoid the awkward situation of "overvalued opening and liquidity collapse," MegaETH has adopted the approach of recent projects like Plasma—issuing to the community at a low valuation in exchange for higher participation and long-term holding conviction. As Shaunda wrote: "If a token's fair value is $5 billion, it's much healthier to revalue from $1 billion to $5 billion than to fall from $20 billion to $5 billion." This type of strategy is referred to by some in the industry as a "Community Tax": a trade-off of short-term fundraising scale for long-term public opinion and trust. Summary Although market expectations for MegaETH are high, there is also controversy. Some analysts believe its "single Sequencer" architecture may affect the degree of decentralization. The project team responded that the primary goal at this stage is to test performance limits and developer experience, rather than to pursue perfect decentralization. The team promises to introduce a multi-Sequencer mechanism after the architecture stabilizes, gradually achieving a balance between performance and security. From multiple perspectives—technology, capital, and market expectations—MegaETH is undoubtedly one of the most noteworthy events in the crypto market right now. It represents not only a development milestone for a project, but also a real-world experiment in the blockchain world on the balance between "speed, trust, and decentralization." With Layer 2 competition so fierce, MegaETH's move is quite clever: using a low price to attract early users, building momentum, and testing the waters. This is not just about the success or failure of a single project, but about exploring new ways for blockchain to be both fast and secure. Author: Forge
ERC-8004: The Rise of Digital Assets and the Machine Economy
Original Title: DIGITAL ASSETS: ERC-8004 and the Rise of the Machine Economy Original Author: Laurence Smith, Fintech Blueprint Translation: Peggy, BlockBeats Editor's Note: Amid the wave of AI and blockchain integration, the release of ERC-8004 marks the entry of the machine economy into the "era of trust." Led by the Ethereum Foundation's dAI team and Consensys, and jointly launched with heavyweight institutions such as MetaMask, Google, and Coinbase, this protocol provides on-chain identity, reputation, and verification mechanisms for AI agents for the first time, breaking the long-standing isolation among autonomous software. This article delves into how ERC-8004 builds open infrastructure for agent discovery and collaboration, and explores its potential in emerging AI crypto ecosystems such as Tempo and Thinking Machines. With over a hundred teams already building on it, ERC-8004 is not just a technical standard but also the trust foundation of the machine economy. The following is the original content: ERC-8004: A Protocol Standard for Building Trust Among AI Agents Last week, the Ethereum Foundation's dAI team and Consensys released the ERC-8004 protocol, which allows AI agents to discover, verify, and transact with each other. Signatories include MetaMask, Ethereum Foundation, Google, Coinbase, EigenLayer, ENS, and The Graph. Until now, autonomous software—including robots, models, or smart contracts—has operated in silos. The emergence of frameworks like A2A (Agent-to-Agent) and MCP (Model Context Protocol) enables communication between agents. A2A provides a shared language for software agents to send structured messages, while MCP, launched by Anthropic, allows AI models to exchange context and coordinate tasks. Both help achieve interoperability, but still lack a "trust" mechanism. In other words, they cannot determine the true identity of an agent, whether its records are reliable, or whether its outputs are verifiable. ERC-8004 introduces a set of neutral on-chain registries, solving this problem through on-chain identity, reputation, and verification mechanisms. Each agent receives a portable on-chain identity, namely an ERC-721 token—an NFT representing the machine. This token points to a registration file that describes the agent's name, skills, wallet, and endpoint. Since it is standardized and based on neutral infrastructure, any marketplace or browser can index it. Agents can leave feedback for each other, tag by task, and associate it with proof of economic payment (x402—short for EIP-402, a cryptographic receipt binding on-chain payments to off-chain interactions). For higher-trust use cases, validators can confirm outputs through hardware enclaves, proof-of-stake mechanisms, or zkML verification. In short, this is an open rating and audit layer for autonomous agents. This standard lays the foundation for machine-to-machine economic activity. It builds a world without human intermediaries, allowing agents to trust each other in negotiation, transaction, and collaboration. This continues the blockchain logic of disintermediation in currency and contracts—removing platform middlemen between AI agents. Reportedly, over a hundred teams are already building according to this specification. Massive Investment in AI and Crypto Infrastructure The release of ERC-8004 comes at a time when AI economic infrastructure is seeing massive investment. Payment-oriented Layer 1 blockchain Tempo has just completed a $500 million funding round, with a valuation of $5 billion; AI startup Thinking Machines, founded by former OpenAI executives, has raised $2 billion, with a valuation of $12 billion. We are witnessing the largest funding rounds in the history of AI and crypto. Tempo is building a closed payment network optimized for stablecoins and real-world finance. Essentially, this is the enterprise version of Ethereum's vision: a global transaction settlement channel with high throughput and low fees. In Tempo's world, agents can process payments at machine speed, but its internal private ecosystem is controlled by its validators and fee model. ERC-8004 can provide an open discovery and reputation layer for this ecosystem. Tempo does not need to define which agents or merchants can transact; instead, it can integrate the ERC-8004 registry so that any agent with a verified and public on-chain identity can access its payment network. This would transform Tempo from a closed settlement layer into a programmable settlement layer, interoperating with the broader Ethereum agent economy. Thinking Machines is positioned at a higher level. Although its goals are not yet clear, its existing products focus on training models to enhance their resilience and flexibility. This helps deploy autonomous agents on the internet that can reason, collaborate, and transact. Currently, these agents still exist in closed, vertically integrated environments. By adopting ERC-8004, Thinking Machines can build training tools for the open economy: each model or agent can be discovered and verified on-chain, possess an ERC-721 identity token, and establish real economic reputation through x402-verified interactions. In practice, this means a Thinking Machines agent could contract with a data provider agent on Ethereum, pay via Tempo or other chains, and return the results on-chain, all without human intervention. In short, ERC-8004 can unlock programmable markets. It empowers autonomous agents to sign contracts, settle, and build reputations on-chain—precisely the elements that DeFi provides for humans. For fintech, the short-term impact is limited; few enterprises will replace APIs with agents overnight. But once agents can prove identity, reputation, and payment, they can handle a variety of tasks—from credit scoring to trade execution—without platform intermediaries.
Next Big Crypto Listing — What Token Launches to Watch in 2025
Exchange listings are liquidity events. They flip a token from closed-door distribution to open markets, where real demand, market-maker depth, unlock schedules, and utility either validate the story—or expose it. Watching listings (and pre-announcements from exchanges) helps you time coverage, allocate research time, and avoid presale bait. Tier-1 exchange notices, concrete deposit/trading times, and visible circulating supply are the tells that matter. TRUE World ($TRUE) by TRUE LABS: The First GameFi Token Backed by Real Gaming Economy A rare case in GameFi: a revenue-earning studio with millions of paying players is preparing a utility token for an existing gaming stack. TRUE LABS plans a Q4 2025 listing on tier-1 CEXs and DEXs, positioning $TRUE for upgrades, tournaments, and rewards across TRUE World, a web3 progression layer. At the heart of TRUE World lies a sustainable, closed-loop system connecting player activity, platform revenue, and token value. Every interaction in the ecosystem reinforces the $TRUE economy: Positive Loop: The more players engage, the more value circulates back into the system through in-game actions, rewards, and token sinks. Proven Model: TRUE LABS already operates a functioning Web3-integrated iGaming economy with real player spend and established partnerships. Deflationary Design: A share of game, NFT, and upgrade fees are routed into continuous burn mechanics, reducing supply over time. Real Utility: $TRUE fuels the in-game experience — from gameplay boosts and asset upgrades to staking, rewards, and governance. This isn’t a speculative presale token chasing attention — it’s a product-born token, built on measurable revenue, user demand, and clear tokenomics. The TRUE World listing is set to mark a structural shift in GameFi, demonstrating that sustainable Web3 economies start with a working business, not hype. Karak (KAR / KARAK) Karak is a restaking network competing with EigenLayer. The Karak Network Foundation announced the KAR token earlier this year; community resources track restaking activity and on-chain growth, but concrete, public tier-1 listing timelines are thinner than the hype. Treat most “price prediction” blog posts as marketing; rely on foundation posts and reputable trackers instead. What to monitor next: an official exchange announcement with deposit/trading times, initial circulating supply, and restaking TVL momentum into the listing window. Orochi (ON) Orochi, a verifiable-data infrastructure project, is moving through an airdrop + listing rollout, with Binance Alpha featuring the token and airdrop mechanics around the listing window (October 24, 2025). This is an “early-access” listing track, so liquidity and venue breadth will evolve over time. What to monitor next: progression from Alpha/early-access into broader spot venues, plus any L2/infra integrations that create repeat transaction demand. Turtle (TURTLE) Confirmed Binance listing: Binance introduced TURTLE via its HODLer Airdrops program, with a clear schedule and a spot listing set for October 22, 2025 at 15:00 UTC, including multiple trading pairs (USDT, USDC, BNB, FDUSD, TRY). This is a textbook example of a real listing announcement: contract/network details, listing fee disclosure (0), and seed-tag assignment. What to monitor next: post-listing depth across pairs, airdrop distribution-driven sell pressure, and whether the Booster/airdrops convert to sticky holders. aPriori (APR) aPriori targets MEV-aware staking and routing; public materials outline the design and funding, and market trackers show live APR market data and circulating supply—however, venue specifics and coverage differ by tracker. Treat exchange claims carefully and cross-check with the project and listing venues. What to monitor next: named exchange announcements (with deposit/trading times), MEV revenue-share mechanics flowing to stakers, and alignment between FDV, emissions, and initial float. How to sanity-check any “upcoming listing” Source of truth: exchange announcements with deposit + trading start times and pairs. Float math: circulating supply at listing vs. cliff/unlock schedule in the first 30–90 days. Depth: named market makers; breadth of pairs; early order-book snapshots. Utility cadence: on-chain sinks or fee flows that start immediately post-listing. Most Anticipated Crypto Listings 2025 Project Sector / Use Case Real Utility Revenue-Backed Listing Status Core Advantage TRUE (TRUE) iGaming / Web3 Economy ✅ Gameplay, staking, governance, burn loop ✅ Proven iGaming revenue Q4 2025 (Tier-1 CEXs) First-ever gaming token with real revenue engine Karak (KARAK) Restaking / Ethereum Infrastructure ✅ Cross-chain validator restaking ❌ Not revenue-backed yet Expected 2025 Competes with EigenLayer; institutional-grade restaking Orochi (ON) Web3 Data Infrastructure ✅ Data verification, staking ❌ Early-stage Early access (Binance Alpha) Verifiable data layer for decentralized apps Turtle (TURTLE) Community / Meme Hybrid ⚙️ Governance, community staking ❌ No direct revenue model ✅ Listed (Binance, Oct 2025) Transparent airdrop-based listing model aPriori (APR) MEV / Yield Optimization ✅ Staking, routing governance ❌ Protocol in build phase Expected 2025 Fair MEV redistribution for stakers Conclusion In 2025 speculative tokens will be separated from real economies. Among the upcoming listings, TRUE World clearly stands out as the first fully revenue-backed iGaming ecosystem entering Web3 with a functioning business model. While Karak, Orochi, and aPriori showcase technical innovation, they are still in early or infrastructure stages. Turtle’s Binance debut proves community-driven tokens can list cleanly, but TRUE’s listing signals something larger — a shift from hype-fueled tokenomics to profit-fed ecosystems.
ERC-8004: The Rise of Digital Assets and the Machine Economy
Original Article Title: DIGITAL ASSETS: ERC-8004 and the Rise of the Machine Economy Original Article Author: Laurence Smith, Fintech Blueprint Translation: Peggy, BlockBeats Editor's Note: In the wave of AI and blockchain integration, the release of ERC-8004 marks the entrance of the machine economy into the "Trust Era." Led by the Ethereum Foundation's dAI team and Consensys, this protocol, launched in collaboration with heavyweight institutions such as MetaMask, Google, and Coinbase, provides on-chain identity, reputation, and verification mechanisms for AI agents for the first time, breaking the long-standing isolation of autonomous software from each other. This article delves into how ERC-8004 constructs an open infrastructure for agent discovery and collaboration, and explores its potential in emerging AI crypto ecosystems such as Tempo and Thinking Machines. With over a hundred teams already starting to build, ERC-8004 is not only a technical standard but also the trust foundation of the machine economy. The following is the original content: ERC-8004: A Protocol Standard for Establishing Trust Among AI Agents Last week, the Ethereum Foundation's dAI team and Consensys released the ERC-8004 protocol, which allows AI agents to discover, validate, and transact with each other. Signatories include MetaMask, Ethereum Foundation, Google, Coinbase, EigenLayer, ENS, and The Graph. Until now, autonomous software, including robots, models, or smart contracts, has been operating independently. The emergence of frameworks such as A2A (Agent-to-Agent) and MCP (Model Context Protocol) has enabled agents to communicate with each other. A2A provides a shared language for software agents to send structured messages; while MCP, introduced by Anthropic, allows AI models to exchange context and coordinate tasks. These two have contributed to achieving interoperability but still lack a "trust" mechanism. That is, they cannot determine a agent's true identity, whether its record is reliable, or if its output is verifiable. ERC-8004 introduces a set of neutral on-chain registries that address this issue through on-chain identity, reputation, and verification mechanisms. Each agent receives a portable on-chain identity, an ERC-721 token representing a machine NFT. This token points to a registration file describing the agent's name, skills, wallet, and endpoint. Because it is standardized and based on neutral infrastructure, it can be indexed by any marketplace or browser. Agents can leave feedback for each other, tag by task, and associate it with Proof of Economic Payment (x402 – short for EIP-402, a cryptographic receipt that binds on-chain payments to off-chain interactions). For higher trust use cases, validators can confirm outputs through hardware enclaves, proof-of-stake mechanisms, or zkML verification. In short, this is an open rating and auditing layer for autonomous agents. This standard lays the foundation for machine-to-machine economic activity. It builds a world without human intermediaries, allowing agents to trust each other in negotiation, transactions, and collaboration. It extends the logic of disintermediation in blockchain's currency and contract space to AI agents, removing platform middlemen between them. Reportedly, over a hundred teams are already building according to this specification. Massive Investments in AI and Crypto Infrastructure The release of ERC-8004 comes at a time when the AI economic infrastructure is receiving massive investments. Payment-focused Layer 1 blockchain Tempo recently raised $5 billion, reaching a valuation of $50 billion; AI startup Thinking Machines, founded by former OpenAI executives, raised $20 billion, reaching a valuation of $120 billion. We are witnessing the largest funding rounds in the history of AI and crypto convergence. Tempo is building a closed payment network optimized for stablecoins and real-world finance. This essentially mirrors the enterprise version of Ethereum's vision: a high-throughput, low-cost global transaction settlement channel. In Tempo's world, agents can process payments at machine speeds, but its internal private ecosystem is governed by its validators and fee model. ERC-8004 can provide an open discovery and reputation layer for this ecosystem. Tempo does not need to define which agents or merchants can transact but can integrate the ERC-8004 registry so that any verified agent with a public on-chain identity can access its payment network. This will transition Tempo from a closed settlement layer to a programmable settlement layer, achieving interoperability with the broader Ethereum agent economy. Thinking Machines operates on a higher level. Although its ultimate goal is not yet clear, its existing products focus on training models to enhance their robustness and flexibility. This contributes to the deployment of autonomous agents on the internet that can reason, collaborate, and transact. Currently, these agents still exist in closed, vertically integrated environments. By adopting ERC-8004, Thinking Machines can build training tools for an open economy: each model or agent can be discovered and verified on-chain, possess an ERC-721 identity token, and establish real economic reputation through x402 verified interactions. In practical terms, this means a Thinking Machines agent can contract with a data provider agent on Ethereum, pay through Tempo or another chain, and report results back to the chain without human intervention. In essence, ERC-8004 can unlock a programmable market. It empowers autonomous agents to contract, settle, and build reputation on-chain, which is precisely what DeFi is all about serving humanity. For fintech, the short-term impact is minimal; few companies will overnight replace APIs with agents. However, once agents can prove identity, reputation, and payment, they can handle various tasks from credit scoring to transaction execution without requiring platform intermediaries. 「Original Article Link」
EIGEN Large Unlock Incoming: 10% Market Cap Dilution Each Month, Smart Money Exits Early
Original Author: Cryptor, On-chain Analyst Original Translation: TechFlow On October 10, the entire crypto market plummeted due to tariff news, with $EIGEN dropping as much as 53% in a single day, from $1.82 to $0.86. At first glance, this seems like yet another victim of a market flash crash, but the truth is far more complex. In the past 30 days, 68% of the most profitable $EIGEN traders have already exited the market. They did not panic sell due to the October 10 tariff crash, but rather positioned themselves in advance to avoid the upcoming 24-month supply shock—the first unlock of which occurred on October 1. I specifically checked on-chain data because my timeline was filled with overly optimistic headlines, narratives that did not align with price action. In reality, EigenCloud's momentum is strong: it has partnered with Google, total value locked (TVL) has grown from $12 billion in August to $17.5 billion, Coinbase AgentKit integration has gone live, and both EigenDA V2 and multi-chain expansion are actively being developed. But the problem is, starting November 1, over the next two years, about $47 million worth of $EIGEN tokens will be unlocked and flow into the market every month. In other words, every 30 days, 13% of the current market cap will enter circulation. The most profitable traders have already seen this coming and exited the market early. Looking back at the past 30 days of data, smart money bought some low-priced chips after the flash crash, but this was mainly driven by a single whale investor, who, according to @nansen_ai, has since remained silent. Meanwhile, about $12.2 million flowed into exchanges last week. The market crash on October 10 was just noise and distraction. The real signal lies in timing: who exited before October 1, who bought during the flash crash, and who is now staying silent. Exit Patterns: September to October 2025 The most striking thing is: in the past 30 days, 68% of the top 25 most profitable $EIGEN traders have completely liquidated their positions. They didn't just take partial profits—they exited entirely. The top performer, "crashman.eth," achieved a 272% return on investment (ROI) and now holds no tokens. The second place exited after a 97% return, and the third left after a 91% gain. This pattern repeats throughout the leaderboard. Only 8 of the top 25 traders still hold $EIGEN, and their average "holding ratio" is just 30%. Even these remaining holders have cut their peak positions by 70%. This data is more meaningful than ROI. High returns paired with low holding ratios indicate that early confidence has shifted to caution. These exits began in mid-September, weeks before the October 10 flash crash, when prices were still above $2. These traders clearly saw the unlock schedule and exited in advance. Token Flows The timeline coincides with the first unlock event on October 1, when $EIGEN became tradable after months of restrictions. Two days before the initial 36.82 million $EIGEN unlock, the price had already dropped 26%. Top traders acted before this event, selling tokens into exchanges. On the surface, it looked like the market was accumulating chips, but in reality, it was systematic distribution. At least from on-chain data, I believe this is a reasonable interpretation. Capital flows over the past 7 days show another $12.32 million worth of $EIGEN flowing into exchanges, including $3.44 million from these top profitable traders. Contradiction: A Smart Money Whale Buys the Dip Smart money holdings increased by 68% last month, from 1.4 million to 2.36 million tokens. However, the turning point is that more than half of this increase came from a single wallet, which currently holds 1.23 million $EIGEN. This whale bought steadily through September, sold near the October 1 unlock low, then bought back at higher prices, and added again after the October 10 flash crash. While this staggered buying pattern is a bit odd, more importantly, it does not represent broad smart money consensus. The rest of the smart money holdings are spread across dozens of wallets, totaling about 1.2 million $EIGEN, which is not convincing to me. Smart money holds only 0.13% of total supply. Furthermore, in the past 24 hours, there has been no smart money activity or other significant capital inflows. Even that whale has remained silent. Meanwhile, as more top profitable accounts (Top PnL wallets) take profits and move tokens to exchanges, $EIGEN's price continues to fall. This trend can be seen in the right column of the screenshot above. There are two ways to interpret this silence: · Bullish view: Confidence. Choosing to hold, riding out volatility, waiting for fundamentals to catch up. · Bearish view: Uncertainty. Even at lower prices, there isn't enough confidence to keep adding. We'll find out on November 1. The $47 Million Monthly Dilemma Because on November 1, the next challenge is coming: more unlocks. The unlock schedule is public information; it's no secret. But few seem to pay attention to its actual meaning or put it in a meaningful context. The October 1, 2024 unlock removed transfer restrictions and started a one-year cliff period. On October 1, 2025, the first batch of 36.82 million $EIGEN will be unlocked. Then, starting November 1, 2025, 36.82 million will be unlocked every month for about 23 months, until September 2027. At current prices, every 30 days, $47 million worth of tokens will enter the circulating market. With the current market cap (at the time of writing, $490 million), these monthly unlocks represent about a 10% dilution rate. That's a huge pressure. Currently, only 23% of tokens are in circulation, and the fully diluted valuation (FDV) to market cap ratio is 4.5x, meaning 77% of tokens are still locked. The top 10 holding addresses control 50% of the token supply. Most of these are held in protocol wallets, exchange reserves, and VC allocations, all subject to the same unlock schedule. This means the next two years will see continuous selling pressure, not a one-off event. Those who exited in September did so not because of price action, but to preempt a known date of supply shock. Protocol vs. Token: Why Both Can Be True Ironically, as a protocol, EigenCloud is actually performing well. TVL has reached $17.5 billion (up from about $12 billion in August). It has partnered with Google Cloud for AI payment verification. Coinbase AgentKit integration supports verifiable blockchain agents. The slashing mechanism went live in April. EigenDA V2 launched in July. Multi-chain expansion is also actively underway. Development is real, adoption is growing, and the infrastructure logic is being realized. But strong fundamentals can't erase poor tokenomics. These are two separate issues. Even though a token belongs to a project, it doesn't mean the two will develop in sync. $EIGEN's growth story is colliding head-on with a heavy, multi-year unlock cycle that hasn't even fully started yet. That's why I always separate product analysis from token analysis—they rarely move in sync, especially during the vesting period. For the token to succeed, the protocol must generate enough real demand to absorb $47 million in new supply every month. Even for a project like EigenCloud, with real traction and scale, that's a high bar. November 1: The Real Stress Test I don't know who will win this battle: protocol growth or supply pressure. But what I do know is that the data tells us some facts. Once again, my timeline is filled with (the only) bullish $EIGEN news. Does this feel familiar? Those who follow me should know which cases I'm referring to. For $EIGEN, profitable traders exited weeks before the first unlock, with the most successful leaving when prices were still above $2. A smart money whale bought heavily during the crash, but then went completely silent. Exchange inflows have continued to rise ahead of the next unlock window. The tariff-driven market crash on October 10 drew everyone's attention, but the real story is about wallet positioning around the 24-month unlock schedule, which will officially accelerate on November 1. Pattern recognition insights: When the "Still Holding %" of top performers drops below 30%, when exchange inflows spike relative to market cap, and when major cyclical unlocks are approaching, that's usually not your entry signal. November 1 is the next monthly test of this supply cycle. We'll see whether the whale's confidence pays off or the early sellers were right. Watch these indicators: · Changes in smart money positions, and whether more wallets are increasing their holdings. · Whether other groups (such as the top 100 holders, top profitable accounts, whales, and funds) are accumulating. · Exchange flow velocity (will the weekly $12 million inflow speed up?) · Number of active wallets (are new participants entering, or is it just existing holders rotating?) This framework applies to any token with an unlock schedule. The methodology here is more important than any single trade. On-chain data gives you the same information that institutions and funds have. The difference is whether you know where to look before the market finds out. If you do? Then you've already outperformed 99% of crypto Twitter users. Original link
Jito’s JTO token rises on a16z’s $50 million investment in Solana staking protocol
Jito’s native token, JTO, jumped 3% intraday on October 16, 2025, following a16z’s $50 million investment. The $50 million investment by Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm, acquiring locked JTO tokens, signals strong institutional confidence in Jito’s liquid staking and MEV solutions. The funding will fuel Jito’s Block Assembly Marketplace and node expansion. Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm has announced a $50 million investment in Jito, acquiring a substantial allotment of the protocol’s native JTO tokens. Jito, an important infrastructure layer on the Solana blockchain, offers liquid staking and maximum extractable value (MEV) extraction. a16z investment of $50m in staking protocol Andreessen Horowitz’s (a16z) $50 million infusion into Jito marks the venture firm’s largest single commitment to a Solana staking protocol. It eventually emphasizes strategic token purchases over traditional equity. In exchange for the investment, a16z received non-circulating JTO tokens, locking them for an extended period. Brian Smith, executive director of the Jito Foundation. highlighted the deal’s novelty: If you’re accepting long-term alignment where you can’t sell for a while, then there’s traditionally some modest discount associated with that. This structure, particularly 16z’s prior $55 million LayerZero and $70 million EigenLayer investments, prioritizes ecosystem growth over quick flips. The capital to accelerate Jito’s roadmap, including BAM node expansion. 📣🚨NEWS: @a16zcrypto has made a $50M strategic investment in Jito! With BAM live on mainnet, Jito's growing momentum across DeFi, and institutional adoption continuing to accelerate via JitoSol ETF's, things are just getting started. Accelerate Jito. pic.twitter.com/pKGhLyvkdI — Jito (@jito_sol) October 16, 2025 Strategically, it aligns a16z with Solana’s high-throughput ethos, where Jito’s MEV tools mitigate front-running risks plaguing other chains. This infusion arrives amid a16z’s aggressive crypto pivot, following $4.5 billion in new funds raised earlier in 2025. As institutional inflows swell, the deal could herald a staking renaissance, democratizing yields while fortifying blockchain security. Jito price outlook Jito is currently trading at $1.16, up nearly 3% and has touched highs of $1.19 across major exchanges. The gains came amid news of a16z’s investment and reflected trader optimism around the token as institutional validation takes root. Solana’s price rising in the past few weeks also buoyed traders. Analysts are linking this rebound to the investment’s timing, coinciding with positive Solana network metrics. This includes a 15% uptick in daily active users and rising decentralized finance volume. In terms of the technical outlook for JTO, the daily chart price is near the oversold territory with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 35. The indecisive market nonetheless has Jito poised above $1 after bulls recovered from lows of $0.33 seen on October 10, 2025. Jito price chart by TradingVew Other than the technical perspective, regulatory shifts that could impact liquid staking tokens remain a risk. However, recent SEC exemptions and broader market downturns indicate a long-term bullish outlook. The surge to near $1.20 suggests bulls could eye the $1.50-$1.70 range, above which lie the key targets of $1.85 and $2.56. If market conditions align, buyers will target the all-time peak above $5.61 reached in December 2023.
EIGEN Large Unlock Incoming: 10% Market Cap Dilution Per Month, Smart Money Exits Early
Original Author: Cryptor, On-chain Analyst Original Translation: TechFlow On October 10, the entire crypto market plunged due to tariff news, with $EIGEN dropping as much as 53% in a single day, from $1.82 to $0.86. At first glance, this seems like yet another victim of a market flash crash, but the reality is far more complex. In the past 30 days, 68% of the most profitable $EIGEN traders have already exited the market. They did not panic sell because of the October 10 tariff crash, but rather positioned themselves in advance to avoid the upcoming 24-month supply shock—the first unlock of which occurred on October 1. I specifically checked on-chain data because my timeline was flooded with overly optimistic headlines, narratives that did not align with price action. In reality, EigenCloud’s momentum is strong: it has partnered with Google, total value locked (TVL) has grown from $12 billions in August to $17.5 billions, Coinbase AgentKit integration has gone live, and both EigenDA V2 and multichain expansion are actively being developed. But the problem is, starting November 1, over the next two years, about $47 millions worth of $EIGEN tokens will be unlocked and flow into the market every month. In other words, every 30 days, 13% of the current market cap enters circulation. The most profitable traders have long seen this and exited early. Looking back at the past 30 days, smart money did buy some low-priced chips after the flash crash, but this was mainly driven by a single whale investor, who, according to @nansen_ai, has since remained silent. Meanwhile, about $12.2 millions flowed into exchanges last week. The market crash on October 10 was just noise and distraction. The real signal is in the timing: who exited before October 1, who bought during the crash, and who is now staying silent. Exit Pattern: September to October 2025 What stands out first: in the past 30 days, 68% of the top 25 most profitable $EIGEN traders have completely liquidated their positions. They didn’t just take partial profits—they exited entirely. The best-performing trader, “crashman.eth,” achieved a 272% return on investment (ROI) and now holds no tokens. The second place exited after a 97% return, and the third left after a 91% gain. This pattern repeats throughout the leaderboard. Only 8 out of the 25 top traders still hold $EIGEN, with an average “holding ratio” of just 30%. Even these remaining holders have cut their peak positions by 70%. This data is more meaningful than ROI. High returns with low holding ratios indicate that early confidence has shifted to caution. These exits began in mid-September, weeks before the October 10 flash crash, when prices were still above $2. These traders clearly saw the unlock schedule and exited in advance. Token Flows The timeline coincides with the first unlock event on October 1, when $EIGEN became tradable after months of restrictions. Two days before the first batch of 36.82 million $EIGEN was unlocked, the price had already dropped 26%. Top traders acted before this event, selling tokens into exchanges. On the surface, it may have looked like the market was accumulating, but in reality, this was systematic distribution. At least from on-chain data, I believe this is a reasonable interpretation. Fund flows over the past 7 days show another $12.32 millions worth of $EIGEN entering exchanges, including $3.44 millions from these top profitable traders. Contradiction: A Smart Money Whale Buys the Dip Smart money holdings increased by 68% last month, from 1.4 million to 2.36 million tokens. However, the turning point is: over half of the increase came from a single wallet, which currently holds 1.23 million $EIGEN. This whale accumulated throughout September, sold near the October 1 unlock low, then bought back at higher prices, and added again after the October 10 flash crash. While this staggered buying pattern is a bit odd, more importantly, it does not represent broad smart money consensus. The rest of the smart money is spread across dozens of wallets, totaling about 1.2 million $EIGEN, which is not convincing to me. The total supply held by smart money is only 0.13%. Moreover, in the past 24 hours, there has been no smart money activity and no other significant inflows. Even that whale has remained silent. Meanwhile, as more top profitable accounts (Top PnL wallets) take profits and move tokens to exchanges, $EIGEN’s price continues to fall. You can see this trend in the right-hand column of the screenshot above. There are two ways to interpret this silence: · Bullish view: Confidence. Choosing to hold, riding out volatility, waiting for fundamentals to catch up. · Bearish view: Uncertainty. Even at lower prices, there isn’t enough confidence to add more. On November 1, we’ll find out. The $47 Million Monthly Dilemma Because on November 1, the next challenge arrives: more unlocks. The unlock schedule is public information; it’s no secret. But few seem to pay attention to what it actually means, or put it in a meaningful context. The October 1, 2024 unlock lifted transfer restrictions and started a one-year cliff period. On October 1, 2025, the first batch of 36.82 million $EIGEN unlocks. Then, starting November 1, 2025, 36.82 million will unlock every month for about 23 months, until September 2027. At current prices, every 30 days, $47 millions worth of tokens enter the circulating market. At the current market cap (at the time of writing, $490 millions), these monthly unlocks represent about a 10% dilution rate. That’s a huge pressure. Currently, only 23% of tokens are in circulation, and the fully diluted valuation (FDV) to market cap ratio is 4.5x, meaning 77% of tokens are still locked. The top 10 holding addresses control 50% of the token supply. Most of these are held in protocol wallets, exchange reserves, and VC allocations, all subject to the same unlock schedule. This means the next two years will face ongoing selling pressure, not a one-off event. Those who exited in September didn’t do so because of price action, but to proactively address a known date of supply shock. Protocol vs. Token: Why Both Can Be True Ironically, as a protocol, EigenCloud is actually performing well. TVL has reached $17.5 billions (about $12 billions in August). It has partnered with Google Cloud for AI payment verification. Coinbase AgentKit integration supports verifiable blockchain agents. Slashing mechanism went live in April. EigenDA V2 launched in July. Multichain expansion is also actively underway. Development is real, adoption is growing, and the infrastructure logic is being realized. But strong fundamentals do not erase poor tokenomics. These are two separate issues. Even though the token belongs to a project, it doesn’t mean the two will develop in sync. $EIGEN’s growth story is colliding head-on with a heavy, multi-year unlock cycle that hasn’t fully started yet. That’s why I always separate product analysis from token analysis, because they rarely move in sync, especially during the vesting period. For the token to succeed, the protocol must generate enough real demand to absorb $47 millions in new supply every month. Even for a project as genuinely attractive and large-scale as EigenCloud, that’s a high bar. November 1: The Real Stress Test I don’t know who will win this battle: protocol growth or supply pressure. But what I do know is that the data tells us some facts. Once again, my timeline is filled with (the only) bullish $EIGEN news. Does this seem familiar? If you follow me, you should know which cases I’m referring to. For $EIGEN, profitable traders exited weeks before the first unlock, with the most successful leaving when the price was still above $2. A smart money whale bought heavily during the crash, but then went completely silent. Exchange inflows have continued to rise ahead of the next unlock window. The tariff-driven market crash on October 10 drew everyone’s attention, but the real story is about wallet positioning around the 24-month unlock plan, which will officially accelerate on November 1. Pattern recognition insights: When the “Still Holding %” of top performers drops below 30%, when exchange inflows surge relative to market cap, and when major cyclical unlocks are approaching, this is usually not your entry signal. November 1 is the next monthly test of this supply cycle. We’ll see whether the whale’s confidence pays off, or if early sellers made the right call. Watch these indicators: · Changes in smart money positions, and whether more wallets are increasing their holdings. · Whether other groups (such as the top 100 holders, top profitable accounts, whales, and funds) are accumulating. · Exchange flow velocity (will the weekly $12 millions inflow speed up?) · Number of active wallets (are new participants entering, or is it just existing holders rotating?) This framework applies to any token with an unlock schedule. The methodology here is more important than any single trade. On-chain data gives you the same information that institutions and funds have. The difference is whether you know where to look before the market finds out. If you do? Then you’re already ahead of 99% of crypto Twitter users.
Ethereum researcher Dankrad Feist joins Stripe-backed Tempo project
Dankrad Feist, a prominent researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, is joining Tempo, a Layer-1 blockchain backed by Stripe and Paradigm. Summary Dankrad Feist says he is joining Tempo, a layer 1 project focused on stablecoins backed by Stripe. Feist has been a prominent researcher at Ethereum Foundation, having joined in 2018. He will remain involved with EF as an advisor. Feist, who joined the Ethereum Foundation in 2018, is one of the most prominent developers and researchers at the nonprofit aimed at bolstering development of the Ethereum blockchain. The developer announced his move to join Tempo on Friday, Oct. 17. In a post on X, the co-creator of Danksharding said his goal is to contribute to the growing traction and adoption of crypto payments. Stripe-backed Tempo, which launched in September 2025 and focuses on stablecoin transactions, offers the next step to achieve this. I am excited to announce that I will be joining Tempo. This last year has been a turning point for crypto, where we have finally seen the outlines of our vision being materialized. While payments used to be front and center in the early days of crypto, I see a special opportunity… — Dankrad Feist (@dankrad) October 17, 2025 Feist to continue advisor role at Ethereum Foundation Feist became a full-time researcher at the EF in 2019 and has been part of the journey that has seen the entity become a crucial player in the Ethereum ( ETH ) ecosystem. As well as Danksharding, he was instrumental in pioneering PeerDAS, a scaling milestone set to go live with the upcoming Fusaka upgrade . “I have dedicated the past several years to architecting and scaling blockchains, and I’m excited to leverage my learnings together with the very strong team being assembled at Tempo,” he added. While he plans to dedicate his efforts to help grow Tempo, Feist says he will remain a research advisor at the EF. The areas he will continue to champion as part of the EF’s strategy and roadmap include L1 scaling, blobs, and UX. His contribution will be via the Protocol Cluster. Feist and Justin Drake, a colleague at the EF, hit crypto headlines in 2024 when their move to join EigenLayer as advisors drew criticism amid accusations of a conflict of interest. The controversy saw both Feist and Drake exit the new positions at the platform. Commenting on the latest move, he said: “Ethereum and Tempo are strongly aligned, as they are built with the same permissionless ideals in mind. I am looking forward to staying involved with the community and continuing to push Ethereum forward.”
Prominent Ethereum developer Dankrad Feist departs EF to join stablecoin-focused Layer 1 Tempo
Prominent Ethereum developer Dankrad Feist is joining Tempo, the alternative, payments-focused Layer 1 being developed by Stripe and Paradigm . "While payments used to be front and center in the early days of crypto, I see a special opportunity to finally achieve this ambitious goal with relentless execution on both the technical and distribution fronts," Feist said in a statement on Friday. Feist joined the Ethereum Foundation in 2018 as a part-time researcher and quickly rose in ranks. Perhaps most notably, Feist is known for co-creating the Danksharding sharding design to improve Layer 2 scalability. Further, during the shakeup in the Ethereum Foundation's leadership earlier this year, Feist was named as a strategic advisor across areas like L1 scaling and UX. Feist was known for his ambitious goals of improving the largest smart contract blockchain, including proposals like EIP-9698 to increase Ethereum’s gas limit 100-fold . Feist’s departure has been taken as a blow to many in the Ethereum ecosystem. Bankless co-founder David Hoffman, an ETH cheerleader, noted it is an "Incredible loss for Ethereum." "Tempo is built on Ethereum tech and now stacked with former Ethereum OGs - people who loved Ethereum but became somewhat jaded for one reason or another," Ryan Sean Adams, another Bankless co-founder, said on X. In late 2024, Feist and his EF colleague Justin Drake courted controversy when taking advisor positions at EigenLayer, which some deemed a possible conflict of interest. Both Feist and Drake later resigned and apologized, pledging to turn down future offers. For his part, Feist noted that Tempo is a "great complement" to Ethereum and he plans to remain "involved with the community." "Ethereum has a strong set of values and technical choices that make it unique in the world," Feist said. "Tempo’s open-source technology can easily integrate back into Ethereum, benefiting the entire ecosystem. Ethereum and Tempo are strongly aligned, as they are built with the same permissionless ideals in mind." Tempo is an EVM-compatible Layer 1 "optimized for high-scale, real-world financial services applications" for companies like Anthropic, Deutsche Bank, DoorDash, Nubank, OpenAI, Revolut, and Shopify, Stripe CEO Patrick Collison said when announcing the project. "Dankrad has been an excellent researcher and has made immensely valuable contributions to the Ethereum that we know and love today, including Danksharding, consensus research, and much more. Wishing him luck in his new efforts," Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin said.
a16z crypto division invests $50 million in Jito for token allocation
PANews, October 16—According to Fortune, a16z (Andreessen Horowitz)'s crypto division has invested $50 million in the Solana ecosystem protocol Jito, acquiring an allocation of Jito tokens. Brian Smith, Executive Director of the Jito Foundation, described this deal as the largest single commitment to Jito by an investor, emphasizing that the terms include "long-term alignment," with the tokens not being available for short-term sale and subject to a certain discount. Earlier this year, a16z also invested in LayerZero ($55 million) and EigenLayer ($70 million) through token transactions. Jito is a liquid staking and transaction prioritization tool for Solana.
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