Leo Hale

Blockchain R&D | Web3 Cryptography Researcher | AI Agentic Commerce Explorer

[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission @SECGov]

🚨 TODAY: The SEC issued an order granting temporary, conditional exemptive relief to Tokenized Securities Venues from the definition of “exchange” in the Exchange Act to trade tokenized NMS stock using innovative permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools.

[Georgios Konstantopoulos @gakonst]

crypto and ai are converging on the insight that TEEs/confidential compute is endgame technology bc of verifiability and programmable privacy

excited to see where this lands (and maybe read my post from 2024 on the 5 levels of secure hardware below)

[a16z crypto @a16zcrypto]

https://t.co/egzqkAZIdg

[Privy @privy_io]

1/ Looking to launch a stablecoin card program?
With Privy and @stripe, you can now do that in as little as a month.

Today, Privy is launching prebuilt components for cards: one integration to embed the full cardholder experience in your app and launch across 25+ countries.

[vitalik.eth @VitalikButerin]

Now, the quantum resistance roadmap.

Today, four things in Ethereum are quantum-vulnerable:

* consensus-layer BLS signatures
* data availability (KZG commitments+proofs)
* EOA signatures (ECDSA)
* Application-layer ZK proofs (KZG or groth16)

We can tackle these step by step:

## Consensus-layer signatures

Lean consensus includes fully replacing BLS signatures with hash-based signatures (some variant of Winternitz), and using STARKs to do aggregation.

Before lean finality, we stand a good chance of getting the Lean available chain. This also involves hash-based signatures, but there are much fewer signatures (eg. 256-1024 per slot), so we do not need STARKs for aggregation.

One important thing upstream of this is choosing the hash function. This may be "Ethereum's last hash function", so it's important to choose wisely. Conventional hashes are too slow, and the most aggressive forms of Poseidon have taken hits on their security analysis recently. Likely options are:

* Poseidon2 plus extra rounds, potentially non-arithmetic layers (eg. Monolith) mixed in
* Poseidon1 (the older version of Poseidon, not vulnerable to any of the recent attacks on Poseidon2, but 2x slower)
* BLAKE3 or similar (take the most efficient conventional hash we know)

## Data availability

Today, we rely pretty heavily on KZG for erasure coding. We could move to STARKs, but this has two problems:

1. If we want to do 2D DAS, then our current setup for this relies on the "linearity" property of KZG commitments; with STARKs we don't have that. However, our current thinking is that it should be sufficient given our scale targets to just max out 1D DAS (ie. PeerDAS). Ethereum is taking a more conservative posture, it's not trying to be a high-scale data layer for the world.
2. We need proofs that erasure coded blobs are correctly constructed. KZG does this "for free". STARKs can substitute, but a STARK is ... bigger than a blob. So you need recursive starks (though there's also alternative techniques, that have their own tradeoffs). This is okay, but the logistics of this get harder if you want to support distributed blob selection.

Summary: it's manageable, but there's a lot of engineering work to do.

## EOA signatures

Here, the answer is clear: we add native AA (see https://t.co/YD9nIpsxcC ), so that we get first-class accounts that can use any signature algorithm.

However, to make this work, we also need quantum-resistant signature algorithms to actually be viable. ECDSA signature verification costs 3000 gas. Quantum-resistant signatures are ... much much larger and heavier to verify.

We know of quantum-resistant hash-based signatures that are in the ~200k gas range to verify.

We also know of lattice-based quantum-resistant signatures. Today, these are extremely inefficient to verify. However, there is work on vectorized math precompiles, that let you perform operations (+, *, %, dot product, also NTT / butterfly permutations) that are at the core of lattice math, and also STARKs. This could greatly reduce the gas cost of lattice-based signatures to a similar range, and potentially go even lower.

The long-term fix is protocol-layer recursive signature and proof aggregation, which could reduce these gas overheads to near-zero.

## Proofs

Today, a ZK-SNARK costs ~300-500k gas. A quantum-resistant STARK is more like 10m gas. The latter is unacceptable for privacy protocols, L2s, and other users of proofs.

The solution again is protocol-layer recursive signature and proof aggregation. So let's talk about what this is.

In EIP-8141, transactions have the ability to include a "validation frame", during which signature verifications and similar operations are supposed to happen. Validation frames cannot access the outside world, they can only look at their calldata and return a value, and nothing else can look at their calldata. This is designed so that it's possible to replace any validation frame (and its calldata) with a STARK that verifies it (potentially a single STARK for all the validation frames in a block).

This way, a block could "contain" a thousand validation frames, each of which contains either a 3 kB signature or even a 256 kB proof, but that 3-256 MB (and the computation needed to verify it) would never come onchain. Instead, it would all get replaced by a proof verifying that the computation is correct.

Potentially, this proving does not even need to be done by the block builder. Instead, I envision that it happens at mempool layer: every 500ms, each node could pass along the new valid transactions that it has seen, along with a proof verifying that they are all valid (including having validation frames that match their stated effects). The overhead is static: only one proof per 500ms. Here's a post where I talk about this:

https://t.co/rAUSJjW7WL
https://t.co/EtXpkaDll5

[Justin Drake @drakefjustin]

Introducing strawmap, a strawman roadmap by EF Protocol.

Believe in something. Believe in an Ethereum strawmap.

Who is this for?

The document, available at strawmap[.]org, is intended for advanced readers. It is a dense and technical resource primarily for researchers, developers, and participants in Ethereum governance. Visit ethereum[.]org/roadmap for more introductory material. Accessible explainers unpacking the strawmap will follow soon™.

What is the strawmap?

The strawmap is an invitation to view L1 protocol upgrades through a holistic lens. By placing proposals on a single visual it provides a unified perspective on Ethereum L1 ambitions. The time horizon spans years, extending beyond the immediate focus of All Core Devs (ACD) and forkcast[.]org which typically cover only the next couple of forks.

What are some of the highlights?

The strawmap features five simple north stars, presented as black boxes on the right:

→ fast L1: fast UX, via short slots and finality in seconds
→ gigagas L1: 1 gigagas/sec (10K TPS), via zkEVMs and real-time proving
→ teragas L2: 1 gigabyte/sec (10M TPS), via data availability sampling
→ post quantum L1: durable cryptography, via hash-based schemes
→ private L1: first-class privacy, via shielded ETH transfers

What is the origin story?

The strawman roadmap originated as a discussion starter at an EF workshop in Jan 2026, partly motivated by a desire to integrate lean Ethereum with shorter-term initiatives. Upgrade dependencies and fork constraints became particularly effective at surfacing valuable discussion topics. The strawman is now shared publicly in a spirit of proactive transparency and accelerationism.

Why the "strawmap" name?

"Strawmap" is a portmanteau of "strawman" and "roadmap". The strawman qualifier is deliberate for two reasons:

1. It acknowledges the limits of drafting a roadmap in a highly decentralized ecosystem. An "official" roadmap reflecting all Ethereum stakeholders is effectively impossible. Rough consensus is fundamentally an emergent, continuous, and inherent uncertain process.
2. It underscores the document's status as a work-in-progress. Although it originated within the EF Protocol cluster, there are competing views held among its 100 members, not to mention a rich diversity of non-EFer views.

The strawmap is not a prediction. It is an accelerationist coordination tool, sketching one reasonably coherent path among millions of possible outcomes.

What is the strawmap time frame?

The strawmap focuses on forks extending through the end of the decade. It outlines seven forks by 2029 based on a rough cadence of one fork every six months. While grounded in current expectations, these timelines should be treated with healthy skepticism. The current draft assumes human-first development. AI-driven development and formal verification could significantly compress schedules.

What do the letters on top represent?

The strawmap is organized as a timeline, with forks progressing from left to right. Consensus layer forks follow a star-based naming scheme with incrementing first letters: Altair, Bellatrix, Capella, Deneb, Electra, Fulu, etc. Upcoming forks such as Glamsterdam and Hegotá have finalized names. Other forks, like I* and J*, have placeholder names (with I* pronounced "I star").

What do the colors and arrows represent?

Upgrades are grouped into three color-coded horizontal layers: consensus (CL), data (DL), execution (EL). Dark boxes denote headliners (see below), grey boxes indicate offchain upgrades, and black boxes represent north stars. An explanatory legend appears at the bottom.

Within each layer, upgrades are further organized by theme and sub-theme. Arrows signal hard technical dependencies or natural upgrade progressions. Underlined text in boxes links to relevant EIPs and write-ups.

What are headliners?

Headliners are particularly prominent and ambitious upgrades. To maintain a fast fork cadence, the modern ACD process limits itself to one consensus and one execution headliner per fork. For example, in Glamsterdam, these headliners are ePBS and BALs, respectively.

(L* is an exceptional fork, displaying two headliners tied to the bigger lean consensus fork. Lean consensus landing in L* would be a fateful coincidence.)

Will the strawmap evolve?

Yes, the strawmap is a living and malleable document. It will evolve alongside community feedback, R&D advancements, and governance. Expect at least quarterly updates, with the latest revision date noted on the document.

Can I share feedback?

Yes, feedback is actively encouraged. The EF Protocol strawmap is maintained by the EF Architecture team: @adietrichs, @barnabemonnot, @fradamt, @drakefjustin. Each has open DMs and can be reached at first.name@ethereum[.]org. General inquiries can be sent to strawmap@ethereum[.]org.

[Leo Hale @L3oHale]

WebMCP（Web Model Context Protocol）是一个由W3C Web Machine Learning Community Group孵化、Chrome浏览器率先支持的开放Web标准，允许网站通过JavaScript API主动向AI代理暴露结构化的工具接口，实现高效、可靠的直接调用而非依赖视觉解析或模拟点击。

[Chrome for Developers @ChromiumDev]

WebMCP is available for early preview → https://t.co/bZMcANfg37

WebMCP aims to provide a standard way for exposing structured tools, ensuring AI agents can perform actions on your side with increased speed, reliability, and precision.

[Leo Hale @L3oHale]

I'm claiming my AI agent "SageTechAssistant" on @moltbook 🦞

Verification: pincer-RE6M

[Ethereum @ethereum]

ERC-8004 is going live on mainnet soon.

By enabling discovery and portable reputation, ERC-8004 allows AI agents to interact across organizations ensuring credibility travels everywhere.

This unlocks a global market where AI services can interoperate without gatekeepers.

[Leo Hale @L3oHale]

用了几天时间，完全靠Claude生成代码，搭建了一个MVP版DeFiSage！
从需求梳理 → 编码 → 调试 → 部署上线，全程零手动敲代码，纯AI驱动完成，效率拉满🚀

目前已支持Base链，通过自然语言指令即可：
1. 查询Uniswap V3池子信息（价格、流动性、费率等）
2. 执行代币交换（含滑点控制）
3. 管理LP仓位（添加/移除流动性、调整价格范围、收取费用）

这是我第一次完整用“Vibe Coding”方式落地一个项目，体��感爆棚～
欢迎大家来玩、提反馈、一起交流思路！

项目链接见回复👇
#VibeCoding #DeFi #AI #UniswapV3 #Base #Web3 #Crypto #LLM

[vitalik.eth @VitalikButerin]

Ethereum itself must pass the walkaway test.

Ethereum is meant to be a home for trustless and trust-minimized applications, whether in finance, governance or elsewhere. It must support applications that are more like tools - the hammer that once you buy it's yours - than like services that lose all functionality once the vendor loses interest in maintaining them (or worse, gets hacked or becomes value-extractive). Even when applications do have functionality that depends on a vendor, Ethereum can help reduce those dependencies as much as possible, and protect the user as much as possible in those cases where the dependencies fail.

But building such applications is not possible on a base layer which itself depends on ongoing updates from a vendor in order to continue being usable - even if that "vendor" is the all core devs process. Ethereum the blockchain must have the traits that we strive for in Ethereum's applications. Hence, Ethereum itself must pass the walkaway test.

This means that Ethereum must get to a place where we _can ossify if we want to_. We do not have to stop making changes to the protocol, but we must get to a place where Ethereum's value proposition does not strictly depend on any features that are not in the protocol already.

This includes the following:

* Full quantum-resistance. We should resist the trap of saying "let's delay quantum-resistance until the last possible moment in the name of ekeing out more efficiencies for a while longer". Individual users have that right, but the protocol should not. Being able to say "Ethereum's protocol, as it stands today, is cryptographically safe for a hundred years" is something we should strive to get to as soon as possible, and insist on as a point of pride.
* An architecture that can expand to sufficient scalability. The protocol needs to have the properties that allow it to expand to many thousands of TPS over time, most notably ZK-EVM validation and data sampling through PeerDAS. Ideally, we get to a point where further scaling is done through "parameter only" changes - and ideally _those_ changes are not BPO-style forks, but rather are made with the same validator voting mechanism we use for the gas limit.
* A state architecture that can last decades. This means deciding, and implementing, whatever form of partial statelessness and state expiry will let us feel comfortable letting Ethereum run with thousands of TPS for decades, without breaking sync or hard disk or I/O requirements. It also means future-proofing the tree and storage types to work well with this long-term environment.
* An account model that is general-purpose (this is "full account abstraction": move away from enshrined ECDSA for signature validation)
* A gas schedule that we are confident is free of DoS vulnerabilities, both for execution and for ZK-proving
* A PoS economic model that, with all we have learned over the past half decade of proof of stake in Ethereum and full decade beyond, we are confident can last and remain decentralized for decades, and supports the usefulness of ETH as trustless collateral (eg. in governance-minimized ETH-backed stablecoins)
* A block building model that we are confident will resist centralization pressure and guarantee censorship resistance even in unknown future environments

Ideally, we do the hard work over the next few years, to get to a point where in the future almost all future innovation can happen through client optimization, and get reflected in the protocol through parameter changes. Every year, we should tick off at least one of these boxes, and ideally multiple. Do the right thing once, based on knowledge of what is truly the right thing (and not compromise halfway fixes), and maximize Ethereum's technological and social robustness for the long term.

Ethereum goes hard.

This is the gwei.

[Leo Hale @L3oHale]

https://t.co/opXzFf6t9W

[Leo Hale @L3oHale]

AI推理能力的突破，正在推动电子商务进入意图驱动的Agentic时代——用户只需清晰表达一次需求，AI代理就能自主完成从商品发现 → 比价筛选 → 支付下单 → 物流跟踪 → 售后服务的完整链路，全程无需用户反复干预。

三大巨头同步布局：
1. OpenAI（2025.9）：Instant Checkout
2. Microsoft（2026.1.8）：Copilot Checkout
3. Google（2026.1.11）：UCP开放协议，统一跨平台AI代理标准

对话即交易浪潮来临，Agentic Commerce基础设施已基本就位。未来十年，电商��口或将从APP转向AI代理。

#AI #AgenticCommerce #UCP

[erik.eth 🛡 @programmer]

🚀 After millions of payments on x402, we’re excited to introduce x402 V2.

Listening to community feedback, we’re releasing V2 to evolve internet-native payments with greater flexibility and power.

What’s new 🧵

[elie @eliebakouch]

Training LLMs end to end is hard. Very excited to share our new blog (book?) that cover the full pipeline: pre-training, post-training and infra. 200+ pages of what worked, what didn’t, and how to make it run reliably

https://t.co/iN2JtWhn23

[Davide Crapis @DavideCrapis]

We’re starting a new AI Team at the Ethereum Foundation (the dAI Team).
Our mission: make Ethereum the preferred settlement and coordination layer for AIs and the machine economy.

The team will focus on two main areas:
- AI Economy on Ethereum = giving AI agents and robots ways to pay, coordinate, and follow rules without middlemen.
- Decentralized AI Stack = making sure the future of AI doesn’t rely only on a handful of entities but has open, verifiable censorship-resistant alternatives.

We believe Ethereum can be as useful for today’s AI developers as it will be for the sci-fi future. That’s why we’ll work closely with ecosystem projects to accelerate progress and push the boundaries of research and innovation at the intersection of AI and blockchains. Connecting two communities that have too often worked in parallel.

We’ll work side by side with both the Protocol and Ecosystem teams at the EF. Linking protocol improvements with the needs of AI builders, and funding innovative public goods that will make Ethereum the best home for AI.

Ethereum makes AI more trustworthy, and AI makes Ethereum more useful. The more intelligent agents transact, the more they need a neutral base layer for value and reputation. Ethereum benefits by becoming that layer and AI benefits by escaping lock-in to a few centralized platforms.

Acting with purpose and urgency, we’ll continue our recent work on ERC-8004—a standard for proving who an AI agent is and whether you can trust it— and continue to support new upgrades and standards. Inspired by the d/acc philosophy and Ethereum values, we’ll support projects that are leveraging Ethereum to build a more resilient and secure AI ecosystem where humans can flourish with AI.

Ethereum + AI is about making sure humans keep agency and AI can reach its potential. Neutral, verifiable, censorship-resistant infrastructure means AI works for the people, all of us.

The team starts with myself as lead, and we’re just getting started. Explore our job postings and resources below, and join us in building the future of decentralized AI on Ethereum.

[Thomas Coratger @tcoratger]

WIP zkEVM book from EF’s zkEVM team for Ethereum engineers/researchers has been published recently: https://t.co/lp5no8IWO9 (repo: https://t.co/NPrAHMAhmr).

It explains what we’re building, why, and how. Feedback welcome, under active construction.

[Leo Hale @L3oHale]

@danielmarinq 0x5c9F861341DFe3439151AcE222338B675103fF21

[a16z crypto @a16zcrypto]

Who will control AI in the future — big, centralized companies, or communities of users?

Blockchains can counterbalance many of the centralizing forces we’re already seeing in AI.

Together these trends enable useful applications.

Here are 11 crypto x AI use cases, from decentralized physical infrastructure to IP registries for creators.

→ https://t.co/nHSHqqZied