Network news
AAVE COMMUNITY SPLIT: Aave’s community members and participants have been sharply divided in recent weeks over control of the protocol’s brand and related assets, intensifying an ongoing dispute over the relationship between the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and Aave Labs, the centralized developer company that builds much of Aave’s technology. The debate has attracted mainstream attention because it touches on a central issue facing many of crypto’s biggest protocols: the tension between decentralized governance and the centralized teams that often drive execution. As protocols scale and trademarks gain value, questions of who ultimately controls these assets, token holders or builders, become harder to ignore. The dispute was sparked by Aave’s integration of CoW Swap, a trade execution tool, which resulted in swap fees flowing to Aave Labs instead of the DAO’s treasury. While Labs argued that the turnover reflected development work at the interface level, critics said the arrangement revealed a deeper problem: who ultimately controls the Aave brand, which has over $33 billion locked into its network. That question has now become central to the debate over ownership of Aave’s trademarks, domains, social accounts and other branded assets. Proponents of DAO control argue that the proposal would align governance rights with those who bear financial risks, limit unilateral control by a private company, and ensure that the Aave token reflects a protocol governed and funded by token holders rather than a single developer. Those who support the lab take the view that taking fire control away from developers could slow development, complicate partnerships, and blur accountability for running and promoting the protocol. The proposal has deeply divided community members, with opponents and supporters offering starkly different visions for Aave’s future. — Margaux Nijkerk and Shaurya Malwa Read more.
ETHEREUS GLAMSTERDAM PREPARATION: Ethereum developers, fresh off last month’s successful Fusaka upgrade, which reduced the cost of nodes, are already busy planning the blockchain’s next big change. Enter “Glamsterdam”. The name is a portmanteau of two simultaneous upgrades taking place on Ethereum’s two core layers. The execution layer, where transaction rules and smart contracts live, will undergo the Amsterdam upgrade, while the consensus layer, which coordinates validators and finalizes blocks, will see an upgrade known as Gloas. At the heart of Glamsterdam is anchored the Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS), formally tracked as EIP-7732. The proposal would bake into Ethereum’s core protocol a rule that separates nodes that build blocks from those that propose them, preventing a single actor from controlling which transactions are included or how they are ordered. Today, this separation relies heavily on off-chain services, known as relays, which introduce trust assumptions and centralization risks. Under ePBS, block builders would collect blocks and cryptographically seal their contents, while proposers would simply choose the highest paying block without being able to see or tamper with what’s inside. The transactions will only be revealed after the block is completed, reducing the opportunities for manipulation and abuse related to MEV or maximum extractable value – the extra profit validators or builders can make by reordering, inserting or censoring transactions. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
BITCOIN AND QUANTUM COVERAGE: Some Bitcoin developers are no longer arguing whether quantum computers will break the network, but are letting onlookers know how long it would take to prepare if it ever did. That shift was crystallized this week by longtime Bitcoin developer Jameson Lopp, who said that while quantum computers are unlikely to threaten Bitcoin anytime soon, any meaningful defensive change could take much longer than many assume. “No, quantum computers will not break Bitcoin in the near future,” Lopp wrote. “We will continue to observe their evolution. Still, it could easily take 5 to 10 years to make thoughtful changes to the protocol (and an unprecedented migration of funds). The discussion matters because bitcoin’s value increasingly depends on long-term trust. As more institutional capital treats bitcoin as a multi-year holding, even remote technical risks can affect allocation decisions and shape how markets price uncertainty, as CoinDesk reported on Saturday. — Shaurya Malwa Read more.
OWNER LAYER GOVERNANCE PROPOSAL: The foundation behind the restaking protocol EigenLayer has proposed a governance change to introduce new incentives to the EIGEN token, focusing on productive network activity and fee generation. Under the plan outlined in a recent blog post, a cornerstone of the proposal is the introduction of a fee model that channels revenue from Actively Validated Services (AVS) rewards and EigenCloud services back to EIGEN holders. AVSs are blockchain-based services that use EigenLayer’s security and rely on staked tokens and operators to keep it running honestly and correctly. The team claims that this change will strengthen the long-term value addition for EIGEN token holders and better align token economics with real use of EigenLayer’s network. “This approach aligns incentives across the ecosystem: stakers and operators supporting active services earn more, ACPs get the capital they need, and EIGEN benefits from improved tokenomics,” according to the blog post. – Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
In other news
- Upexi (UPXI), a Nasdaq-listed crypto-tax company focused on solana, filed to raise as much as $1 billion in a shelf filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The move gives the company the flexibility to raise capital by selling common stock, preferred stock, debt instruments, warrants or shares in one or more offerings over time. Based in Tampa, Florida, Upexi manages a number of consumer brands, including Cure Mushrooms medical products and Lucky Tail pet care. It also manages the fourth largest SOL treasury of any public company with more than 2 million tokens ($248 million) on its balance sheet. — Francesco Rodrigues Read more.
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) praised El Salvador’s stronger-than-expected economic growth in a statement. Notably, the update did not contain earlier IMF suggestions that El Salvador would put its strategy of accumulating bitcoin on hold, something the country — under the leadership of President Nayib Bukele — has continued to do since negotiating an IMF loan package several months ago. Deviating from its normal strategy of adding bitcoin a day, in November El Salvador added more than 1,000 BTC to its national treasury amid steep sales that month. The government has now accumulated nearly 7,500 BTC worth about $660 million at current prices. The IMF noted that negotiations on the sale of the government’s crypto wallet Chivo are “well advanced.” Discussions regarding the Bitcoin project continue, centered on increasing transparency, securing public resources and mitigating risks,” the agency added. Olivier Acuna Read more.
Legislation and policy
- Russia’s central bank laid out a proposed framework that would legalize and regulate cryptocurrency trading for both individuals and institutions, continuing its softening stance toward cryptocurrencies. However, it continues to warn that investing in crypto carries risks, including potential losses. “They are not issued or guaranteed by any jurisdiction and are subject to increased volatility and sanction risks,” the central bank’s press release said. “When deciding to invest in cryptoassets, investors should understand that they assume the risk of potential loss of their funds.” The central bank also said that “digital currencies and stablecoins are recognized as monetary assets; they can be bought and sold, but they cannot be used for domestic payments.” — Olivier Acuna Read more.
- The Council of the European Union, an EU body that amends legislation and obligates national governments to adopt the bloc’s laws, said it backs the European Central Bank’s plan to explore an official digital currency, calling it an evolution of money and a tool for financial inclusion. However, in a post on its website, the Council said the ECB would need to set limits on the total value that can be held in online accounts and digital wallets at any one time to “avoid the digital euro being used as a store of value” to prevent it from having any impact on financial stability. “The holding limits are not just about abstract financial stability,” Edwin Mata, co-founder and CEO of tokenization platform Bricken, told CoinDesk. “They are about preventing the digital euro from competing directly with bank deposits. If people could have unlimited digital euros, deposits could move instantly from commercial banks to the ECB, especially in times of stress, effectively speeding up bank runs.” — Olivier Acuna Read more.
Calendar
- 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
- 3.-6. November 2026: Devcon, Mumbai
