Welcome to the protocol, Coindesk’s weekly wrapping of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I am Margaux Nijkerk, a reporter in Coindesk.
In this number:
- Ethereum is facing Validator bottleneck with 2.5 m ETH Awaiting output
- Is Ethereums Defi -Ferge on L2S? Liquidity, Innovation may say yes
- Ethereum Foundation starts new AI -Team to support agent payments
- American Express introduces blockchain-based ‘travel stamps’
Network news
Ethereum Validator exit cows are facing bottlenecks: Ethereum’s proof-of-stake system is facing its biggest test yet. From mid -September, approx. 2.5 million eth-to a value of approx. $ 11.25 billion to leave the validator set, according to Validator-Ko-Dashboards. Backlog pushed starting events for more than 46 days on September 14, the longest in Ethereum’s short bet story, dashboards show. The last peak, in August, set the exit queue in 18 days. The initial spark came on September 9, when Kiln, a major infrastructure provider, chose to leave all its validators as a security measure. The move, which was triggered by recent security events, including the NPM supply chain’s attack and the Swissborg violation, pushed about 1.6 million ETH into the queue at once. Although he is not related to Ethereum’s insert protocol, Hack’s confidence rattled enough that oven could hit the break and highlight how events in the wider crypto ecosystem can cascade to Ethereum’s Validatordynamics. In a blog post from the poor supplier, senior analyst Benjamin Thalman noted that the current exit queue structure is not just about security. After ETH has collected more than 160% since April, some stakes simply make profits. Others, especially institutional players, move their portfolio’s exposure. At the same time, the number of validators entering the Ethereum staple system has increased steadily. Ethereum’s churn boundary, which is a protocol protection that caps, how many validators that can come in or exit over a specific period are currently limited to 256 ETH per day. Epoch (about 6.4 minutes)that limits how quickly validators can join or leave the network. The churn border is intended to keep the network stable. With more than 2.5 m ETH stood up, stackers on September 16 face 44 days before even reaching the cooling step. – Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
Does L2 Defi Eat at Ethereums L1 Defi ?: Ethereum is in the middle of a paradox. Even when ether hit record heights at the end of August, decentralized financing (Defi) Activity at Ethereum’s Lag-1 (L1) Looks muted compared to its peak at the end of 2021. Fees collected on Mainnet in August were only $ 44 million, a 44% fall from the previous month. Meanwhile LAG-2 (L2) Network like arbitum and base blooms, with $ 20 billion and $ 15 billion in the total value locked (Tvl) respectively. This divergence raises a crucial question: L2’s cannibalizing Ethereum’s defi activity, or does the ecosystem develop into a multi-layer financial architecture? AJ Warner, the main strategy officer for offchain labs, the developer company behind Layer-2 Arbitum, claims that Metrics is more nuanced than just LAG-2 Defi tiling at layer 1. In an interview with Coindesk, Warner said that focusing the tv is losing the point, and that ethereum is increasingly acting as Cryptos “global Settement Layer Layer,” a reason “one reason, High-out-offers and institutional and the institution. Products such as Franklin Templeton’s Tokenized Funds or Blackrocks Buidl -Product Launch Directly on Ethereum L1 -activity not fully trapped in Defi -Metrics, but emphasizes Ethereum’s role as the cornerstone of crypto -tofanance. Ethereum like Layer-1 Blockchain is the safe but relatively slow and expensive basic network. LAG-2’s scales networks built on top of it, designed to handle transactions faster and to a fraction of the costs before eventually running an Ethereum for security. Therefore, they have become so appealing to both traders and builders. Metrics like Tvl, the amount of crypto deposited in defi protocols highlights this shift when the activity is moved to L2s, where lower fees and faster confirmations make everyday life defi far more practical. – Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
EF starts decentralized AI -TEAM: Ethereum Foundation (Ef) creates a dedicated artificial intelligence (AI) Group to make Ethereum the settlement and coordination layer for what it calls the “machine economy”, according to researcher Davide Crapis. Crapis, who announced the initiative on X, said the new DAI team will pursue two priorities: To enable AI agents to pay and coordinate without intermediaries and build a decentralized AI stack that avoids dependence on a small number of large companies. He said that Ethereum’s neutrality, verifiable and censorship resistance makes it a natural base layer for intelligent systems. EF is a non-profit organization based in Zug, Switzerland that finances and coordinates the development of Ethereum Blockchain. It does not control the network but plays a catalytic role in supporting researchers, developers and ecosystem projects. Its launch includes financing upgrades such as Ethereum 2.0, zero-knowledge proof and LAG-2 scaling along with community programs such as ECOSYSTEMASTE SUPPORT PROGRAM. The fund also organizes events such as Devcon to promote collaboration and acts as a political spokesman for Blockchain -Reconciliation. In 2025, the EC restructured to deal with Ethereum’s growth and emphasize ecosystem acceleration, founder support and business development. The new DAI team represents a continuation of this shift against specialized devices that address new technologies. – Siamak Masnavi Read more.
American Express Dabbles in Blockchain -Rejsstempler: American Express has introduced Ethereum-based “travel stamps” to create a memorial for travel experiences. The travel experience makers who are technical NFTs (ERC 721 tokens)is embossed and stored on Coinbase’s basic network, said Colin Marlowe, vice president of new partnerships at Amex Digital Labs. The travel stamps that can be collected at any time a traveler uses their cards are not marketable NTF-tokens, Marlowe said, nor do they act as blockchain-based loyalty points-in the least at the moment. “It’s a worthless ERC-721, technically an NFT, but we just don’t notice it as such. We wanted to talk to it in a way that was natural for the travel experience itself, and so we talk about these things as stamps and they are represented as tokens,” Marlowe said in an interview. “As an identifier and representation of history, the stamps could create interesting partnership angles over time. We did not try to sell these or kind of generate any similar revenue in the short term. The angle is to make a travel experience with Amex feel really rich, really different and kind of separating it,” he said. Fireblocks is also involved, supporting Amex as its wallet-as-a-service provider to the passport product, a four-block representative said. The AMEX Travel app also includes a number of tools for travel and Centurion Lounge upgrades, the company says. – – Ian Allison Read more.
In other news
- Blockchain-based assets in the real world (RWA) Specialists Centrifuge and Plume have launched the Anemoy -tokenized Apollo Diversified Credit Fund (Acrdx)Supported by an anchor investment of $ 50 million from Grove, a credit infrastructure protocol within the sky ecosystem. The fund provides blockchain investors exposure to Apollo’s diversified global credit strategy, which spans direct loans, asset-supported lending and staggered credit, a type of wrong price due to market stress and lack of liquidity. ACRDX will be distributed through Plume’s Nest Credit Vaults under Ticker Nacrdx, making the strategy available to institutional investors on chain. By packing Apollo’s portfolio in tokenized form, the fund aims to lower input barriers and increase the transparency of investors seeking exposure to private credit markets, according to a press release. – Ian Allison Read more.
- Google takes a step toward the merger of artificial intelligence (AI) And digital money that rolls a new open source protocol that lets AI applications send and receive payments that include support for stableecoins, digital tokens linked to FIAT currencies such as the US dollar, according to a press release. To incorporate stableecoin rails, Google went with the US-based Crypto Exchange Coinbase, which has developed its own AI-integrated paying infrastructure. The company also worked with the Ethereum Foundation and coordinated with more than 60 other organizations, including Salesforce, American Express and Etsy, to cover traditional financing cases. The move is based on Google’s previous work on establishing a standard for “AI agents.” These digital agents can eventually handle complex tasks, such as negotiations on mortgage loans or shopping for clothing, without direct human input. – Oliver Knight Read more.
Legislative and politics
- Contrary to the claim of the US banking industry, stableecoins do not pose a risk to the financial system, according to Chief Policy Officer at Crypto Exchange Coinbase (COIN)FARYAR Shirzad. Banks claim that they do are myths designed to defend their revenue, he wrote in a blog post. “The central claim – that stableecoins will cause a mass outflow of bank deposits – simply does not stop,” Shirzad wrote. “Recent analysis shows no meaningful connection between stableecoin resolution and payment flights for community banks, and there is no reason to believe that big banks would make worse.” Larger lenders still have the trillion of dollars in the Federal Reserve, and if deposits were really in danger, he claimed, they would compete harder for customer funds by offering higher interest rates rather than parking contains in the central bank. According to Shirzad, the real cause of the banks’ resistance is the payment company. Stableecoins, digital tokens, whose value is linked to a real asset like dollar, offers faster and cheaper ways to move money and threaten an estimated $ 187 billion in annual swipe fees for traditional map networks and banks. He compared the current pushback with previous matches against ATMs and online banking when the established companies warned of systemic dangers, but, he said, ultimately tried to protect anchored profits. – Jesse Hamilton Read more.
- US SEC chairman Paul Atkins said Crypto’s time has come, promising to modernize the US Securities Rule Book and expand “Project Crypto” to bring markets on-chain. When he spoke in Paris on September 10 at the OECD’s initial round table in the global financial markets, Atkins said SEC is shifting away from enforcement -driven decision making and will give clear rules for tokens, custody and trading platforms. “Politics will no longer be determined by ad hoc enforcement measures,” he said, calling the new approach “a golden age for economic innovation on American soil.” Atkins said most tokens are not securities and promised bright line rules to determine when crypto assets will fall under SEC supervision. He said that entrepreneurs must be able to raise capital on-chain without “endless legal uncertainty” and promised a framework for platforms that integrate trade, lending and efforts under one license. Parental rules will also be updated to give investors and intermediaries more opportunities. – Siamak Masnavi Read more.
Calendar
- 22-28. September: Korea Blockchain Week, Seoul
- 1-2 October: Token2049, Singapore
- 13-15 October: Digital Asset Summit, London
- 16.-17. October: European Blockchain Convention, Barcelona
- November 17-22: DevConnect, Buenos Aires
- 11-13. December: Solana Breakpoint, Abu Dhabi
- 10-12. February 2026: Consensus, Hong Kong
- 30 March-A-APR. 2: ETHCC, Cannes
- 5-7 May 2026: Consensus, Miami
