Welcome to the Protocol, Coindesk’s weekly wrapping of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I am Margaux Nijkerk, Ethereum Protocol Reporter on Coindesk’s Tech Team.

In this number:

• Ethereum activates ‘Pectra’ upgrade and raises Max Stake to 2,048 ETH
• Bitcoin developers are planning removal
• Sam Altmans World Crypto Project is launched in the US with eye scan bullets in 6 cities
• Aztec’s privacy Rollup hits the test net in the middle of the growing demand

Network news

Pectra finally goes live at Ethereum: Ethereum activated its long -awaited “Pectra” upgrade on Wednesday, marking Blockchain’s most significant overhaul since the merger in 2022. The update aims to streamline efforts, improve the functionality of the wallet and improve overall efficiency. It arrives as Ethereum claims with increasing competition and internal debates about its direction. A key element of the upgrade involves increasing the amount of ETH, which can be spelled from 32 to 2,048. This change can help speed up and streamline operations for stakes, the large network of businesses and individuals that help keep the Ethereum network fluid. Previously required efforts in scale setup of multiple validators; Now stacking can consolidate up to this amount under a single knot. – Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

Bitcoin Core Devs to remove up_return border, trigger debate: The debate over Bitcoin’s OP_RETurn is heated as developers of Bitcoin Core – the most popular nodes software – said they are planning to scrape up_return completely in the next release. The OP_RETurn border is an 80-byte cap on the amount of arbitrary data that can be embedded in a Bitcoin transaction using a special, accurate output field. The debate was centered on whether the lifting of the 80-byte up_return boundary promotes transparency and simplifies data usage on Bitcoin or whether it opens the door to abuse, spam and a shift away from Bitcoin’s financial focus. – Sam Reynolds Read more.

Worldcoin is coming to 6 US cities: Sam Altman’s blockchain project, World, is launched in the USA and said it intends to roll 7,500 eye-scanning “Orbs” in cities across the country by the end of the year. The world’s bullet chrome, bowling ball-shaped devices scanning a person’s eyeballs to confirm their identity-will originally be available to Americans in six “key innovation nodes”, the company said: Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville and San Francisco. Those who decide to take the plunge and look into the ORB get access to the World app and receive an air from the world’s WLD Token. By the end of the year, the project aims to get enough bullets spread across the United States to give 180 million Americans, more than half the population, access to the world’s network. And Cheyenne Ligon and Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

After 8 years Aztec Testnet is LIVE: Aztec, a LAG-2 rollup that focused on privacy, shared that its test network has finally gone live. The message comes as a wave of new privacy -focused solutions begins to capture the interests of large institutions that need confidentiality with large transaction batches. The team behind Aztec said they have been working on the product for over 8 years, which brought advanced technology one step closer to mainnet. – Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

In other news

• Movement laboratories, the development company for the Movement Network, have redirected to “movement industries” and cut bands with co-founder Rushi Manche after controversy around non-revealed moving token offering. The message came via the company’s X account early Tuesday and stated that “Movement Labs has completed Rushi Manches employment and all connections to the company with effect.” The decision follows a Coindesk report that first revealed secret agreements between moving units and market producers during the project’s token launch. – Shaurya Malwa Read more.
• The price of gold has risen nearly 29% this year and broke solidly at 3.8% gain in Bitcoin (BTC). Still, it couldn’t deter investors who are eager to add the biggest cryptocurrency to their portfolios. Blackrock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF (Ibit) has attracted a net $ 6.96 billion in influx since the beginning of the year, the sixth largest amount of all stockplaced funds, according to Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas. SPDR GOLD TRUST (GLD), the world’s largest physically hilly Gold ETF, slipped to number seven position Monday with net flow of $ 6.5 billion. Ibits better final indicates the institutions’ sustained confidence in Bitcoin’s long -term prospects despite the relatively gentle price performance. – Omrar Godbole Read more.

Legislative and politics

• Democrats in the US Representative House derailed what was supposed to be a joint consultation on cryptopolitan efforts on Tuesday, and insisted that President Donald Trump’s personal crypto relationship was too urgent to allow other discussion on the rules of introducing industry. – Jesse Hamilton Read more.
• New Hampshire has become the first state to allow the investment of its public funds to crypto assets with its governor signing the new law Tuesday. The state struck a number of others to the punches this year, as what had started as an increase in the state’s legislature had run into roadblocks in recent weeks. Since the first to give his cashier permission to create such a reserve, New Hampshire could well beat the US government in forming a stock. – Jesse Hamilton Read more.

Calendar

• 14.-16. May: Consensus, Toronto
• 19.-23. May: Solana Accelerate, New York City
• 20. To 22 May: Avalanche Summit, London
• 27-29. May: Bitcoin 2025, Las Vegas
• 27-29. May: Ethprague, Prague
• June 8-22: Berlin Blockchain Week, Berlin
• June 30. July: ETHCC, Cannes
• 22-28. September: Korea Blockchain Week, Seoul
• 1-2 October: Token2049, Singapore
• 11-13. December: Solana Breakpoint, Abu Dhabi