Ethereum’s new roadmap and upcoming updates

Concerns around Bitcoin’s energy use however unscientific have continued to draw environmentally conscious investors to the second biggest crypto on the Block which is of course Ethereum.

This is probably a part of why ETH rallied so hard last week.

Fidelity opening its doors to ETH likely contributed and they’re eyeing the crypto space more than ever.

You may also know that Fidelity’s move will inspire other asset managers to follow suit in offering ETH to clients.

Ironically enough Ethereum’s increasing on-chain censorship is likely also making it more appealing to institutional investors, that’s because having a cryptocurrency that is fully compliant AKA controllable is their desire.

Thankfully fighting against on-chain censorship is a part of Ethereum’s new roadmap as explained by Vitalik on Twitter: the Ethereum roadmap contains a new phase called “The Scourge”.

In Vitalik’s own words The Scourge will quote “ensure reliable and fair credibly neutral transaction inclusion”.

The Scourge will also address maximal extractable value or Mev issues on Ethereum to quickly recap the next stage.

In Ethereum’s roadmap is the surge which focuses on scalability AKA making Ethereum faster through the use of zero knowledge roll ups.

Once the surge is complete Ethereum should be able to process over 100 000 transactions per second.

Now the second stage was originally The Verge but it has been bumped down into third place with the scourge taking precedence now.

This makes sense given that on-chain censorship is a more urgent matter than data storage and node size optimization which is the focus of the Verge.

On that note I should point out that Ethereum’s updated roadmap doesn’t contain any dates.

In fact it suggests that all these Ethereum upgrades are being worked on in parallel to that end it contains a little progress bar for each individual milestone in every stage.

In any case The Verge will be followed by The Purge which involves further optimizing data storage and deleting any old or unused data on the Ethereum blockchain.

This is important because the Ethereum blockchain contains lots of dead smart contracts from its early days which bloat its size.

Finally we have the Splurge which includes all future improvements to Ethereum.

The roadmap notes upgrades to the Ethereum virtual machine, changes to the transaction fee, Burns of eip1559 and the introduction of verifiable delay functions as areas of focus of all ethereum’s upcoming stages.

The Scourge and The Purge are arguably the most important that’s because they are intertwined the former concerns the censorship of transactions and the latter concerns the storage of transactions which affects censorship especially in the longer term.

DeFi Lending Platform TrueFi Announces First Default on BUSD Loan

TrueFi announced the first default on its $3.4 million BUSD loan from Blockwater Associates today, vowing to take the matter to court.

On October 10, the decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform TrueFi issued a notice of default to Blockwater Technologies for failing to make a scheduled payment on its $3.4 million BUSD loan. In the past week, the TrueFi credit group had been trying to reach an out-of-court settlement with Blockwater, which would have entailed increasing the borrowing rate and extending maturity.

However, they found that a court-supervised administrative proceeding could provide a more favorable outcome for stakeholders. This is TrueFi’s first and only declared credit default to date. The credit group said it remains vigilant and proactive in current macro conditions.

Many lending platforms have shut down this year because investors has been pulling their money out of cryptocurrency. In the second quarter, there were mass withdrawals which led to the collapse of companies such as Celsius Networks and Voyager Digital.

TrueFi noted that it would stay in talks with Blockwater Technologies’ associates. The goal is to obtain the most optimal outcome for lenders and stakeholders alike. As stated in the official announcement from TrueFi:

“Blockwater has completed 8 payments totalling $645,405 towards loan repayment. $2,967,458 remains due at the time of the default. The Blockwater default does not affect lenders in TrueFi’s USDC, TUSD, USDT stablecoin lending pools, nor any of TrueFi’s capital market portfolios.”

To date, TrueFi has originated $1.7 billion in unsecured loans and have so far collected full repayment on all 136 outstanding loans, amounting to $1.5 billion. In total, these Repayments have generated over $34 million in interest for the lenders.

The TrueFi group said that its loan book is holding up well and they have been actively working to renew loans. Furthermore, they also offer lenders certain protections against default under the TrueFi SAFU program. The TrueFiSAFU oversees a fund specifically set aside to help lenders who are affected by defaults.

Additionally, they offer a staked TRU slashing service “which could appropriate up to 10% of the staked TRU for the benefit of lenders who are affected by a default. This is all under the direction of the DAO.”

Singapore May Soon Ban Crypto Trading: Here’s What You Should Know

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced plans to reduce crypto trading risks and support stablecoins through increased regulation.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) published two consultation papers proposing regulatory frameworks to reduce investors’ risk in crypto trading and support stablecoins for transactions. The measures, which include consumer protection, business conduct rules, and technology risks Reduction are part of the Payment Services Act. Retail investors will not be able to use credit cards or borrow funds for buying cryptocurrencies under the proposed regulations

On October 26, The Monetary Authority of Singapore announced in a press release that they are considering methods to reduce risks for retail investors who trade cryptocurrencies. In addition, they would like to regulate the issuance stablecoins (a type of cryptocurrency) that are pegged to another currency.

Given that cryptocurrencies are integral to the digital asset landscape, the MAS has decided not to ban them. As a result, crypto trading providers like exchanges must make sure they engage in fair business practices and disclose risks adequately.

In order to mitigate risk, the crypto service providers must take measures such as prohibiting retail investors from using credit cards and leverage for crypto trading. They will also need to handle segregation of customers’ assets and complaints. As far as technology risks go, the MAS wants companies to maintain high availability and recoverability of critical systems.

MAS requires stablecoin issuers to publish a white paper which details subjects such as redemption rights. In addition, MAS will regulate stablecoins as a means of exchange in the digital asset domain ecosystem. Its objective is to broadened the regulatory Principles for stabilized coins so that there is an increase in value stability worldwide.

The MAS prefers well-regulated and securely backed stablecoins. Also, banks can issue stablecoins without having to increase their reserve backing or prudential requirements. The deadline for comments on the proposals is December 21st.

Ms Ho Hern Shin, Deputy Managing Director of the MAS, said:

“The two sets of proposed measures mark the next milestone in enhancing Singapore’s regulatory approach to foster an innovative and responsible digital asset ecosystem.”

The recent failure of many cryptocurrency companies based in Singapore has led to a more strict governmental stance on digital assets. The proposed regulations would also prevent users from staking or lending their cryptocurrencies to generate yield.

The recent string of crypto firm failures in Singapore, including Three Arrows Capital, Terraform Labs, Zipmex, Vauld, and Hodlnaut,, has prompted the introduction of a new regulatory framework. Coinbase and Blockchain.com are two firms that have recently received licenses to operate in Singapore.