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ETH’s Fusaka upgrade is live on Hoodi, Mainnet Next

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Welcome to Protocol, Coindesk’s weekly roundup of the most important cryptocurrency tech development stories. I’m Margaux Nijkerk, a reporter at Coindesk.

In this issue:

Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade completed the final hoodi test ahead of the Mainnet launch
Bob unveils bitcoin vault liquidation engine to power btc supported stablecoin lending
Ledger unveils $179 Nano Gen5, built for identity in an AI-driven world
Google claims falling volume to reignite Bitcoin Ramifications debate

Network News

Fusaka is live on Hoodi, Ethereum Mainnet Next: The final training outfit for Ethereum’s upcoming Fusaka The upgrade took place on Tuesday as the blockchain prepares for hard-fork activation. The test, which went down around 18:53 UTC on the Hoodi testnet, involved passing a series of code changes intended to make Ethereum more scalable and efficient. Testnets are replicas of a blockchain’s main network, giving developers a safe environment to test major upgrades and fix any issues before they go live on the Mainnet. Hoodi was the last of three testnets to run in a Fusaka simulation, with two others successful Holesky trial upgrades and Sepolia Networks. Coming nearly six months after Ethereum’s pectra upgrade, Fusaka introduced changes designed to cut costs for developers, users and institutions running the network. Its center, Peerdas, Lets validators check only segments of data instead of entire “blobs,” easing bandwidth demands and lowering costs for both validators and layer-2 networks. – Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

Bob unveils vault liquidation engine: Bob (“Build on Bitcoin”) has opened a new framework that enables bitcoin holders to borrow StableCoins against their BTC while keeping it safe on the bitcoin network. The Bitcoin Vault Liquidation Engine addresses several ongoing challenges in Bitcoin lending, such as all-or-nothing liquidations and multiday settlements, founder Alexei Zamyatin told Coindesk in a Telegram message. A vault, in the context of collateral and lending, is a smart contract that securely locks a user’s cryptocurrency as collateral for a loan. It acts as a trustless escrow, automatically managing the collateral and executing a liquidation (sale of the property) if its value drops too low. Applying this to Bitcoin could transform the safest and largest crypto asset into active collateral, unlocking trillions in BTC liquidity for use in the decentralized finance ecosystem (Defi) without forcing holders to sell. Bob’s new design supports partial liquidation, meaning an entire position does not need to be liquid if it goes under water; Just enough collateral to restore the loan’s health. – Jamie Crawley Read more.

Rebrands Rebrands Rebrands Wallet and product offerings: Ledger, the French company known for its crypto hardware wallets, has introduced an update to its product line, positioning itself for what it calls a new “ownership era.” The company announced Ledger Nano Gen5, a redesigned version of its signature device, along with Ledger Wallet, a reimagined version of its live app, and Ledger Enterprise Multisig, a new platform for institutional asset management. The new nano is designed to be more than just a crypto wallet, the firm said. Ledger now calls it a “signer,” positioning the device as not only a place for digital assets but also digital identity in an AI-driven world. Ledger’s move from calling its devices “wallets” to “signers” marks an evolution in how the company envisions what it says is key security in the next digital age. Ledger Nano Gen5 acts as a secure signing device for everything from crypto transactions to smart contracts and identity verification. – Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

Google weighs in on the quantum computing and bitcoin debate: Google it said it had achieved a proven “quantity advantage” With its willow chip, completing a calculation that would take classical supercomputers thousands of times longer. The reported breakthrough could reignite a debate in the cryptocurrency community on the possible detrimental effects that quantum computing could have on Bitcoin, whose operation and security are built on cryptographic methods that could challenge quantum computing. The chip reportedly simulated quantum chaos in just two hours by measuring out-of-time-order correlators (OTOCS), a key benchmark for tracking the unpredictable behavior of particles. The researchers say the achievement moves quantum computing closer to practical applications, such as Hamiltonian learning, where machines can help model complex molecular structures that are beyond the reach of today’s tools. For the crypto world, the breakthrough is remarkable, but not alarming. While quantum computing may one day challenge bitcoin’s cryptographic foundations, most experts say that reality remains a long way off. – Jamie Crawley Read more.

In other news

Western Union (WU) plans to introduce a StableCoin for its 100 million-user payment network, joining the ranks of traditional financial companies that have tapped the rails of blockchain to power global transfers. The company, known for its cross-border payments and cash network to retail customers, plans to launch the US Dollar Payment Token (USDPT) in the first half of next year, according to a Press Release. The token will be issued by Anchorage Digital, a federally regulated digital asset bank, using the Solana Network, a public blockchain designed for low-cost, fast settlement. Christian Sandor Read more.
The traditional wealth management and private banking world, much of which is rigid and doubly shy when it comes to cryptocurrency investment, is under mounting pressure to once again deliver digital assets to wealthy clients, especially in crypto hotspots like Dubai, Switzerland and Singapore. The Swiss software firm Avaloq, which serves many private banks and wealth managers, analyzed high net worth (HNW) investment attitudes in the UAE (based on surveys of 3,851 investors and 456 wealth professionals conducted in February/March 2025), and found that while demand for digital assets in the region is unusual (39% of wealthy clients with clients) Investors use a traditional wealth manager. The UAE, known for its oil-rich, ultra-high-net-worth family offices and a low-tax center for expat workers, is also fast becoming one of the world’s hottest crypto hubs, with Dubai offering a clear regulatory framework in the form of virtual assets regulatory authorities (Be), which will be in place since 2022. These days, children of ultra-high net worth families are teaching their elders about crypto-for example, trumpets. Against this backdrop, Avaloq’s UAE Snapshot found that 63% of investors have switched managers or are considering doing so. The reason is partly because their questions about crypto go unanswered, according to the survey. – Ian Allison Read more.

Regulation and Policy

Some of the well-known names in the crypto industry are among those walking the bill for a controversial construction of the White House Ballroom that began in recent days with the leveling of the historic East Wing. But even Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal is asking them to explain their connection In the project, they almost avoid the spotlight. Coindesk asked the crypto companies on Trump’s long list of private sector benefactors to comment on their support and their intent to respond to the senator’s investigation, but only a spokesperson for Coinbase responded. Ripple, Tether and Gemini, already Co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who are donors, have remained silent, though all have received letters from Blumenthal, the ranking Democrat on the Senate’s permanent subcommittee on investigations. “Coinbase is pleased to support the trust for the National Mall, a 501(c)(3) partner of the National Park Service, and looks forward to answering the committee’s questions,” the firm offered in response. – Jesse Hamilton Read more.
Kalshi has since filed a federal lawsuit against the New York State Gaming Commission, arguing that the state’s attempt to close some event-based contracts violates federal law. In a Complaint filed In the Southern District of New York, Kalshi asked the court to bar New York officials from enforcing state gambling laws that the company said do not apply to its operations. Kalshi is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a designated contract market (DCM), which gives it the right to federally list and clear derivatives tied to real-world events, including sports outcomes, it said in the filing. The dispute centers on Kalshi’s recent offering of sports-event contracts, which the company certified with the CFTC earlier this year. The contracts allow users to take opposing financial positions on whether a team wins or advances in a tournament, among other outcomes. – Francisco Rodrigues Read more.