EF Announces Data Collection Grant Recipients

Ethereum delivered 28 significant updates this month across infrastructure, institutions, and applications. **Major Institutional Moves:** - Fidelity launched FIDD, a USD stablecoin on Ethereum - Morgan Stanley proposed a spot Ethereum ETF - Ondo Finance expanded to 200+ tokenized stocks and ETFs **Technical Advances:** - ERC-8004 standard for AI agents went live with 24,000+ agents registered - Ethereum Foundation formed a Post-Quantum research team - BPO2 fork increased blob capacity for data availability - Ethereum L1 hit all-time high in transaction activity **Layer 2 Progress:** - Arbitrum activated ArbOS Dia upgrade - Optimism introduced OP Enterprise for managed infrastructure - Mantle upgraded to Ethereum blobs as primary data layer - Polygon processed $1B in daily USDC payments **DeFi & Applications:** - Lido launched V3 with modular staking infrastructure - Aave integrated with Balance Canada for institutional yield - ENS data now available on Google Cloud BigQuery - Multiple new protocols launched for trading, risk management, and cross-chain operations A Hong Kong community hub opened, and The DAO Fund activated 75,000 ETH for network security.

**Lido Finance** operates as a decentralized liquid staking protocol on Ethereum, allowing users to stake ETH while maintaining liquidity. **How it works:** - Users stake ETH and receive stETH tokens in return - stETH balance updates daily to reflect staking rewards - No minimum stake required - Unstake anytime without unbonding periods **Integration with Ledger:** Lido is available through Ledger Live, combining cold storage security with active staking rewards. Private keys never leave the hardware wallet, providing self-custody while earning network validation rewards. The protocol helps secure the Ethereum network while making staking accessible to both individual and institutional participants. stETH tokens remain transferable and compatible with various DeFi protocols.

When code lives onchain, the rules change fundamentally: - **Publishers can't revoke your license** - your ownership is permanent - **Studios can't delete your progress** - your data persists independently - **Corporations can't extract your value** - you control what's yours Onchain games eliminate traditional middlemen - no publisher fees, no platform gatekeepers, no sudden policy changes that destroy in-game economies. The game becomes a public protocol where players and builders connect permissionlessly. New clients, modes, and markets can emerge while sharing the same underlying state. Value creation shifts to the edges of the network rather than concentrating at the center. Peer-to-peer interactions compound over time, replacing corporate extraction. This represents a fundamental shift: taking back control that should have belonged to users all along. [Source](https://x.com/EliBenSasson/status/1990799147616587954?s=20)

Building onchain games isn't about creating safer vaults for virtual worlds - it's about giving them a printing press. The key shift is **power to exist everywhere at once**. These games can be: - Copied - Extended - Rebuilt - Preserved Rather than being locked away behind a single door, onchain games enable permanent, player-driven experiences that transcend traditional game infrastructure. This represents a fundamental rewrite of how games exist - moving beyond NFTs to create truly decentralized, persistent gaming worlds.

A new approach to competitive gaming leverages smart contracts to secure prize pools, ensuring automatic payouts to winners without developer interference. **Key Features:** - Prize pools locked in smart contracts guarantee payment to winners - Developers cannot modify rules mid-season or withhold winnings - "Code is Law" principle enforced through blockchain technology - Chainlink VRF provides verifiable random selection This model addresses trust issues in traditional gaming tournaments where organizers maintain control over funds and rules. The system operates autonomously once deployed, with no human intervention in winner selection or payout processes.