Based rollups, Core dev updates and more - The Daily Gwei Refuel #837 - Ethereum Updates

Dan opens the episode by reflecting on his long history in the crypto industry since 2013 and the toll it has taken on him, particularly after eight years of involvement. He expresses frustration with the repetitive nature of discussions in the crypto community, likening it to "Groundhog Day," where the same negative talking points resurface without resolution. He acknowledges the community's concerns about Ethereum's performance and the overall disappointing market, attributing some of this to external factors like tariffs and meme coin trends. Despite these challenges, Dan remains bullish on Ethereum's potential, noting that while some areas of crypto are thriving, others are struggling.

He shares his mental exhaustion from negativity, leading him to reduce his involvement in the community significantly. Dan expresses concern about the potential failure of Ethereum and the rise of centralized alternatives, reaffirming his primary interest in Ethereum and decentralized technology. He notes a general sense of demoralization in the crypto community, exacerbated by global issues and a challenging macroeconomic environment. To cope, he has turned to positive activities like playing video games and spending quality time with his fiancé.

Transitioning to news, Dan highlights an exciting development in Ethereum: the latest all-call devs call focused on Fusaka, with the next mainnet upgrade scheduled for May 7th. The Fusaka upgrade has finalized its specifications, emphasizing the delivery of key features while deferring several EIPs to the Glamsterdam upgrade. Notable EIPs confirmed for inclusion include EIP 7823, EIP 7825, EIP 7762, and EIP 7918. Ethereum developers are expressing excitement about the roadmap and the pace of development, noting positive changes within the Ethereum Foundation and the ecosystem.

Core development updates include a discussion on a GitHub pull request that enhances local building with public mempool. Currently, 95% of Ethereum blocks are outsourced, raising debates about local versus outsourced block building. Concerns about censorship resistance remain significant, with the Fossil AIP potentially addressing issues related to external block building.

At the recent ETH Global event in Taipei, eight projects were selected as finalists, highlighting current funding trends. DeFi is recognized as the most successful area, attracting substantial VC interest due to its clearer path to tokenization, while non-DeFi projects face challenges in securing funding and user interest. The speaker emphasizes the universal relevance of finance, noting its integral role in everyday life and transactions.

The speaker also shares exciting news from Spire, which has launched its first live public demo of an L3 upchain, showcasing synchronous composability and direct data reading from an L2 without bridging. The demo, called Yeetdex, allows users to connect wallets and interact with the platform. Rise's testnet is now live, positioning itself as a competitor to MegaETH, claiming significantly faster round trip latency, although regular users may not perceive a noticeable difference in speed for typical DeFi transactions.

The conversation touches on the potential for on-chain games and low-latency applications, emphasizing the need for speed and real use cases. Rice aims to become a base rollup on Ethereum, utilizing Celestia for data availability due to current limitations. The speaker expresses hope that most rollups will evolve into base rollups for improved interoperability, efficiency, and security. They acknowledge ongoing development in the Ethereum ecosystem and express optimism about advancements in the next 12 to 18 months, despite initial negativity. The anticipation for increased adoption, especially with tokenized assets, is highlighted.