This week’s edition covers major developments across crypto markets, Ethereum protocol upgrades, regulation, institutional adoption and ecosystem infrastructure. Key stories include Aave winding down low-performing markets, Sberbank preparing a regulated crypto trading platform, India expanding crypto tax reporting, BitMart announcing its shutdown and Tether advancing stablecoin and tokenised gold adoption. We also track Glamsterdam Devnet 8 preparations, new Hegota proposals, client releases, Ethereum standards activity, podcasts, research, upcoming events and community updates.

Catch up on last week's edition here.

This Week at a Glance

• Aave Shuts Low-Performing Markets to Reduce Risk: Aave is winding down six low-performing markets, removing 71 assets across 11 deployments to reduce operational risks while focusing on high-value markets and securities finance.
• Russia's Largest Bank to Launch Crypto Trading by Dec 2026: Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, will launch a regulated crypto trading platform and digital depository by December 2026 under the country's new crypto law.
• Crypto Projects Raised Millions. Why Are They Still Shutting Down?: Fundraising made headlines, but survival proved harder. Discover why crypto projects with millions in backing are still shutting down in 2026.
• Tether's XAU₮ Gets Shariah Certification for Islamic Finance: Tether's gold-backed XAU₮ token receives Shariah certification, opening access to the $3 trillion Islamic finance market with transparent, fully backed digital gold.
• Vitalik Buterin Explains Diamond iO for Ethereum: Vitalik Buterin explores Diamond iO, a new indistinguishability obfuscation design combining attribute-based encryption and fully homomorphic encryption to make private smart contracts and trustless voting on Ethereum more practical.
• Crypto Payments Are Mainstream, but Who's Actually Paying?: Emirates now accepts crypto payments through Crypto.com Pay, but is this true crypto adoption or just instant fiat conversion? Explore the bigger picture.
• Tether Launches USA₮ Stablecoin on Celo Blockchain: Tether's GENIUS Act-compliant USA₮ stablecoin expands to Celo with native gas support, MiniPay integration, fee abstraction, and growing stablecoin adoption.
• India to Ban Bitchat: Jack Dorsey Pushes Back: India has ordered GitHub to restrict Bitchat repositories, triggering a wider debate over national security, privacy and decentralised communication.
• India Issues New Crypto Tax Rules From 2026: India’s new CARF rules expand crypto transaction reporting for exchanges, linking user identities, trades, & wallet transfers to the tax system.
• BitMart Is Shutting Down, Trading Ends August 26: BitMart will end trading on August 26, 2026, as the exchange shuts down operations and its BMX token plunges 46%.
• Ethereum Foundation Adds Security Expert pcaversaccio to Its Board: Ethereum Foundation appoints pcaversaccio to its Board, strengthening its focus on security, privacy and Ethereum’s cypherpunk values.
• Ethereum Institutional Secures Funding From 100+ Ecosystem Supporters: Ethereum Institutional closes its first funding round with backing from over 100 ecosystem participants to accelerate tokenisation, stablecoins and institutional Ethereum adoption.

Ethereum Protocol

All Core Developers (ACD)

• Meeting highlights: ACDE #242 centered on finalizing preparations for the Glamsterdam upgrade, reviewing Devnet 8 readiness, resolving outstanding implementation issues, and discussing new EIPs proposed for the upcoming Hegota fork.
• Key decisions: Client teams confirmed progress toward Devnet 8, aligned on remaining implementation work, and advanced discussions on several Hegota proposals, while outstanding technical issues and API changes were reviewed before moving to the next testing phase.
• Action items: Client teams will complete the remaining Devnet 8 implementation work, resolve pending specification and interoperability issues, continue reviewing Hegota EIPs, and prepare updated implementations ahead of the next ACD/ACDE meetings.

AllCoreDevs - Testing #089

• Meeting highlights: ACDT #89 focused on Glamsterdam Devnet 8 preparations, reviewing Devnet 7 testing results, finalizing Engine API updates, and approving key execution-layer EIPs for the next specification release.
• Key decisions: EIP-8070 Engine API changes, EIP-2780, and EIP-8037 were approved for Devnet 8, while EIP-7997's existing specification was confirmed as correct. The Devnet 8 launch timeline was pushed until repricing analysis is complete.
• Action items: Client teams will complete the CL alpha.13 release, finalize Devnet 8 specifications, implement the approved Engine API changes, and resolve remaining testing and interoperability issues before the next ACDT meeting.

Ethereum Standards Updates

Ethereum standards activity remained steady this week, with six proposals advancing to Review and six new Drafts entering the formal standards process. Glamsterdam devnet 7 continued operating with full participation as client teams refined repricing analysis and prepared for devnet 8 and the public-facing Platåberget testnet. Meanwhile, Hegota’s proposal landscape expanded through eight PFI candidates added to the upgrade’s meta EIP, alongside discussions covering execution-layer testing, networking readiness and post-quantum research.

Contributor activity remained broad across proposal reviews, status transitions, specification cleanup and open pull requests, while EIP-8038 emerged as a key proposal to watch for its effort to improve Ethereum’s gas-cost model and better align fees with actual network resource usage.

Read the full update on EIPsInsight.

Client & Infrastructure Updates

• Execution Layer:

  • Nethermind 1.39.2
  • Geth 1.17.5
  • Erigon 3.5.4
  • Besu 26.7.1
  • Reth 2.4.1
  • EthereumJS 10.1.2

• Consensus Layer:

  • Teku 26.7.1
  • Nimbus 26.7.0
  • Prysm 7.1.8
  • Lodestar 1.45.0
  • Lighthouse 8.2.1

• Latest from Clients:

1. Nethermind: Nethermind advanced Glamsterdam readiness with Devnet 7 support for EIP-7928, alongside eth/71 and EIP-8037 to improve Ethereum's execution efficiency.
2. Erigon: Erigon unveiled Cocoon, enabling private order books with cryptographic proofs that let regulators verify market activity without exposing trade data.

Podcasts

1. Why the Clarity Act's Senate Clock Is Running Out | Laura Shin | Kristin Smith
   The Clarity Act needs 60 votes to clear the Senate before the August 7 recess. Kristin Smith, President of the Solana Policy Institute, lays out the vote count behind that number, why the legislative calendar is tighter than it looks, and which Senate Democrats are still in play.
2. Morpho Just Removed DeFi's Most Important Number | David Hoffman | Paul Frambot
   Every lending protocol in DeFi quietly decides your interest rate for you. Paul Frambot thinks that was always a workaround and Morpho Midnight is his argument for what replaces it. Fixed-rate lending as the only true primitive, pricing trust on-chain, and the one switch Morpho won't flip yet.

Good Reads

• Will India Regulate Crypto? What to Expect From Monsoon Session: India’s 2026 Monsoon Session could mark a turning point for crypto, with Parliament considering an interim SRO framework, stronger oversight and clearer investor protections.
• Why Enterprises Prefer Ethereum Over Private Chains?: Discover why global enterprises are choosing Ethereum over private blockchains, exploring interoperability, security, tokenization, cost efficiency, and real-world institutional adoption.
• What Happens If Every AI Agent Gets Its Own Crypto Wallet?: What happens if every AI agent gets its own crypto wallet? Explore how AI payments, machine-to-machine commerce, stablecoins, and digital ownership could reshape the internet.
• All you need to know about Ethereum Hegota Upgrade: Curated resources by EtherWorld for Hegota Upgrade
• All you need to know about Ethereum Glamsterdam Upgrade: Curated resources by EtherWorld for Glamsterdam Upgrade

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Jobs

• Announcing the Avarch Internship Program: A professional internship program by Avarch offering students real project experience, open-source contributions, expert mentorship & industry-ready portfolio development.

Community Spotlight

11 years ago, Ethereum introduced a new way for the world to build together. Since then, it has grown through countless ideas, EIPs, upgrades, breakthroughs, challenges, & most importantly the people who never stopped believing in an open, decentralized future.

To celebrate Ethereum’s 11th Anniversary, the Avarch team put together a short AI video honoring this incredible journey.

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