Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wrap-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency technology development. I’m Margaux Nijkerk, a reporter at CoinDesk.
In this issue:
- Ethereum’s Fusaka Upgrade Completes Final Hoodie Test Ahead of Mainnet Launch
- BOB Unveils Bitcoin Vault Liquidation Engine to Power BTC-Backed Stablecoin Lending
- Ledger unveils $179 Nano Gen5, built for identity in an AI-powered world
- Google Claims Quantum Breakthrough To Reignite Bitcoin Forking Debate
Network news
FUSAKA GOES LIVE ON HOODI, THE ETHEREUM MAINNET NEXT: The final dress rehearsal for Ethereum’s upcoming Fusaka upgrade took place on Tuesday as the blockchain prepares for the mainnet hard fork activation. The test, which went live around 18:53 UTC on the Hoodi testnet, involved the release of a series of code changes intended to make Ethereum more scalable and cost-effective. Testnets are copies of a blockchain’s mainnet, providing developers with a safe environment to test major upgrades and fix any issues before going live on the mainnet. Hoodi was the last of three test nets to run through a simulation of Fusaka, with two other successful test upgrades on the Holesky and Sepolia networks. Coming about six months after Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade, Fusaka is introducing changes designed to reduce costs for developers, users and institutions running on the network. Its centerpiece, PeerDAS, lets validators check only segments of data instead of full “blobs,” easing bandwidth requirements and lowering costs for both validators and layer-2 networks. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
BOB UNVEIL’S VAULT LIQUIDATION ENGINE: BOB (“Build on Bitcoin”) unveiled a new framework that allows bitcoin holders to borrow stablecoins against their BTC while keeping them secured on the Bitcoin network. The Bitcoin Vault Liquidation Engine addresses some persistent challenges in bitcoin lending, such as all-or-nothing liquidations and multi-day settlements, founder Alexei Zamyatin told CoinDesk in a Telegram message. A box, in the context of collateral and lending, is a smart contract that securely locks a user’s cryptocurrency as collateral for a loan. It acts as a trustless escrow that automatically manages the security and performs a liquidation (sells the asset) if the value falls too low. Applying this to bitcoin could turn the safest and largest crypto asset into active security, unlocking trillions in BTC liquidity for use in the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem without forcing holders to sell. BOB’s new design supports partial liquidation, meaning that an entire position does not have to be liquidated if it goes underwater; only sufficient collateral is sold to restore the health of the loan. — Jamie Crawley Read more.
LEDGER REBRANDS WALLET AND PRODUCT RANGE: Ledger, the French company known for its crypto hardware wallets, introduced a sweeping update to its product line, positioning itself for what it calls a new “ownership era.” The company unveiled Ledger Nano Gen5, a redesigned version of its signature device, along with Ledger Wallet, a redesigned version of its Ledger Live app, and Ledger Enterprise Multisig, a new platform for institutional asset management. The new Nano is designed to be more than a crypto wallet, the company said. Ledger now calls it a “signer,” positioning the device as not only a place for digital assets, but also for digital identity in an AI-powered world. Ledger’s shift from calling its devices “wallets” to “signers” marks an evolution in how the company envisions what it says is at the heart of security in the next digital age. Ledger Nano Gen5 acts as a secure signing device for everything from crypto transactions to smart contracts and identity verification. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
GOOGLE WEIGHS INTO QUANTUM COMPUTING AND BITCOIN DEBATE: Google said it achieved a verifiable “quantum advantage” with its Willow chip, completing a calculation that would take classical supercomputers thousands of times longer. The reported breakthrough could reignite a debate in the cryptocurrency community about the possible harmful effects that quantum computers could have on Bitcoin, whose operation and security are built on cryptographic methods that quantum computing could potentially challenge. The chip reportedly simulated quantum chaos in just two hours by measuring Out-of-Time-Order Correlators (OTOCs), a key benchmark for tracking the unpredictable behavior of particles. Researchers say the achievement moves quantum computers closer to practical applications, such as Hamiltonian learning, where quantum machines could help model complex molecular structures beyond the reach of today’s tools. For the crypto world, the breakthrough is notable but not alarming. While quantum computing may one day challenge Bitcoin’s cryptographic foundations, most experts say that reality is still a long way off. – Jamie Crawley Read more.
In other news
- Western Union (WU) plans to introduce a stablecoin to its 100 million-user payments network, joining the ranks of traditional financial firms tapping blockchain rails to power global transfers. The company, known for cross-border payments and cash networks among retail customers, plans to roll out the US Dollar Payment Token (USDPT) in the first half of next year, according to a press release. The token will be issued by Anchorage Digital, a federally regulated digital asset bank, using the Solana network, a public blockchain designed for cheap, fast settlements.— Christian Sandor Read more.
- The traditional wealth management and private banking world, much of which is hard-bitten and doubly shy when it comes to investing in cryptocurrency, is once again under increasing pressure to provide digital assets to wealthy clients, especially in crypto hotspots such as Dubai, Switzerland and Singapore. Swiss software firm Avaloq, which serves many private banks and wealth managers, investigated high net worth (HNW) investment attitudes in the UAE (based on surveys of 3,851 investors and 456 wealth professionals conducted in February/March 2025) and found that while demand for digital assets in this region only has a high level of digital asset encryption (39% of our clients), 20% of these crypto investors used a traditional asset manager. Known for its oil-rich, ultra-high-net-worth family offices and a low-tax hub for expatriate workers, the UAE is also fast becoming one of the world’s hottest crypto hubs, with Dubai offering a clear regulatory framework in the form of the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), which has been in place since 2022. These days, the children are these days where their families are the oldest. crypto – for example Trump’s. Against this background, Avaloq’s UAE snapshot found that 63% of investors have switched managers or are considering doing so. The reason is, among other things, because their questions about crypto go unanswered, according to the survey. — Ian Allison Read more.
Legislation and policy
- Some of the most prominent names in the crypto industry are among those footing the bill for a controversial White House ballroom construction that began in recent days with the leveling of the historic East Wing. But even as Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal asks them to explain their connection to the project, they mostly shun the spotlight. CoinDesk asked crypto companies on the long list of Trump’s private sector benefactors to comment on their support and their intentions to respond to the senator’s inquiry, but only a spokesperson for Coinbase responded. Ripple, Tether and Gemini, whose co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss were donors, remained silent, although all received letters from Blumenthal, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. “Coinbase is pleased to support the Trust for the National Mall, a 501(c)(3) partner of the National Park Service, and looks forward to answering the committee’s inquiries,” the firm offered in response. — Jesse Hamilton Read more.
- Prediction market Kalshi filed a federal lawsuit against the New York State Gaming Commission, arguing that the state’s attempts to close certain event-based contracts violate federal law. In a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, Kalshi asked the court to block New York officials from enforcing state gambling laws that the company said do not apply to its operations. Kalshi is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a designated contract market (DCM), which gives the federal agency the right to list and clear derivatives tied to real-world events, including sports outcomes, the filing said. The dispute centers on Kalshi’s latest offering of sporting event contracts, which the company self-certified with the CFTC earlier this year. The contracts allow users to take opposing financial positions on whether a team will win or advance in a tournament, among other outcomes. — Francisco Rodrigues Read more.
Calendar
- 17.-22. November: Devconnect, Buenos Aires
- 11-13 Dec: Solana Breakpoint, Abu Dhabi
- 10.-12. February 2026: Consensus, Hong Kong
- 17.-21. February 2026: EthDenver, Denver
- March 30-Apr. 2, 2026: EthCC, Cannes
- 15-16 Apr. 2026: Paris Blockchain Week, Paris
- 5.-7. May 2026: Consensus, Miami
