Local Ethereum #13
Ethereum powers AI interactions as an economic layer that's not just digital, it's also physical.
Greetings! đ
Ethereum and AI are hitting us at warp speed. Here at Local Ethereum, weâre diving deep to explore and document the freshest stories on Ethereum tech and community, from every corner of the globe.
Let's break down what's new, and what really matters for builders.
đşď¸ Regional Adoption
Asia-Pacific
India: Indiaâs 2026 budget keeps 30% crypto tax, adds $545 penalty for missed reports. 30% tax + 1% TDS is pushing users offshore.
China: China tightens stance on RWA tokenization and offshore yuan stablecoins, reiterates crypto ban. Despite regulatory headwinds towards stablecoins, builders are pushing forward: muShanghai is happening this May and June - leveraging resources like connections to Unitree, DeepSeek and Qwen to help you build your ideas, whether in AI or crypto.
Hong Kong SAR: Hong Kong regulator targets March for first stablecoin licences. Ethereum Community Hub is launching in Hong Kong!
Japan: Nyx Foundation, a Japanese Ethereum R&D group, successfully raised their 2026 funding goal of $67,000 with support from Japanese and global donors to work on quantum resistance, formal verification, and MEV research.
Vietnam: Everything you need to know about the Vietnamese Ethereum ecosystem, part 1 and part 2.
Philippines: Everything you need to know about the Philippines Ethereum ecosystem.
Malaysia and Thailand: Zuzalu inspired communities like Pop X by UETH and 4Seas Chiangmai, with recent events including Pop X KL and ETH Chiangmai.
Iran: Iranâs Ministry of Defence Export Center is accepting cryptocurrency payments for advanced weapons systems as a means of bypassing international sanctions that the country faces.
Italy: New Ethereum Community Hub in Italy - The Urbe Hub.
Portugal: Supportive policies boost Portugalâs crypto adoption by Crypto For Innovation.
Argentina: Crecimiento continues building with ALEPH March â26, featuring privacy and DeFi summits.
Brazil: Former Brazil central bank official unveils real-pegged stablecoin with yield sharing.
đŞ Global Ecosystem Update
Scale L1, Scale Blobs and Improve UI/UX
Hyper-scaling state by creating new forms of state. Vitalik noted that scaling Ethereum requires expanding three resources: execution, data, and state. The goal is to scale Ethereum by ~1000x over the next five years.
Ethereum researchers propose FOCIL as censorship-resistant headliner for Hegota upgrade.
Carl proposed âQuick Slotsâ for Hegota, which would reduce Ethereumâs slot time from 12 seconds to as low as possible.
Vitalik talked about 7 specific technical requirements that would allow the blockchain to ossify, with pre-emptive quantum-resistance cited as a non-negotiable priority for century-long security.
Wonderland introduced Interoperable Addresses to make sending assets across any chain in the Ethereum ecosystem as simple as typing an address and clicking send.
Ethereum Foundation formed a new Post Quantum (PQ) team, led by the brilliant Thomas Coratger.
Native DVT for Ethereum staking by Vitalik.
ClientBeat: Ethereum Client Dashboard by Geth dev Sina Mahmoodi.
DeFi, Stablecoins & Payments
Y Combinator opens stablecoin funding option for startups starting Spring 2026.
USDC payments surge 70% as global finance goes always-on.
Vitalik pointed out that decentralized stablecoins face three unsolved problems: finding an index better than USD price to track, designing a decentralized oracle that canât be captured with large capital, and addressing the competition from staking yield.
Institutional
Robinhood Chain testnet is now live on the Arbitrum platform.
Fidelity announced the launch of a USD stablecoin, FIDD, built on Ethereum and issued by Fidelity Digital Assets.
Stripe is launching machine payments with support for x402 using USDC stablecoins on Base.
Hang Seng debuts gold ETF with Ethereum-based tokenized units.
Morgan Stanley widens crypto bet with proposed spot Ethereum ETF that includes a staking component.
Uniswap Labs and Securitize partner to unlock DeFi liquidity for BlackRockâs BUIDL.
The New York Stock Exchange develops tokenized securities platform which will facilitate 24x7 trading of U.S. listed equities and ETFs.
Security
Andreessen Horowitzâs crypto arm says privacy will prove the key competitive moat in 2026, with decentralization in messaging, âsecrets-as-a-service,â and design-level security as key trends shaping cryptoâs next phase.
The One Trillion Dollar Security Dashboard, a comprehensive view of Ethereumâs security across the ecosystem by the Ethereum Foundation, is now live.
Vitalik Buterin commits roughly $45 million in ETH to open-source security and privacy projects.
âThe DAO is back!â: Ethereum dev Griff Green to use unclaimed hack funds for new security fund.
Privacy Ecosystem Mapping research by Web3Privacy and community contributors.
dDAI
The recent ERC-8004 is live! Itâs a new standard developed by the Ethereum Foundationâs dAI Team, MetaMask, Google, Coinbase, and others, that aims to enable AI agents to interact with various entities on Ethereum, allowing them to participate in a decentralized economy.
Clawd.atg: Built by Austin Griffith, this AI agent with a wallet builds onchain apps and improves the tools used to create them.
Vitalik talks about âEthereum as an economic layer for AI-related interactionsâ, which includes API calls, bots hiring bots, security deposits that potentially eventually more complicated contraptions like onchain dispute resolution, ERC-8004, AI reputation ideas.
deSoc
Farcaster refunds $180M to its investors. Mask Network stewards Lens Protocol. Vitalik vows full return to deSoc in 2026. Is decentralized social âdeadâ, or is a revival coming?
Ecosystem Data đ˘
Client diversity has improved!
cr: https://clientdiversity.org/#distribution Total value locked on Ethereum
As of writing (Feb 12, 2026), Ethereumâs total value locked (TVL) sits at $293.5B, pulling back alongside a broader ETH price drop.
Ethereum stablecoin supply
As of writing (Feb 12, 2026), Ethereumâs total stablecoin supply reaches $177.9B; stablecoin transfer volume and monthly senders are both at all-time highs in 2026 Jan.
Token Terminal đ@tokenterminalđŞâď¸ @ethereum is the largest network by stablecoin supply. And usage is accelerating: stablecoin transfer volume and monthly senders are both at all-time highs. Stablecoins are both issued and used on Ethereum.
8:29 PM ¡ Jan 28, 2026 ¡ 22.2K Views25 Replies ¡ 41 Reposts ¡ 170 LikesDiscover AI Agents on ERC-8004
ERC-8004 is already live in Ethereum and being used across the ecosystem. 11k+ agents registered, ~2k feedback entries on mainnet.
OpportunitiesđĄ
Ethereum Foundation 2026 PhD Fellowship: The Ethereum Foundation launched the 2026 PhD Fellowship Program, supporting PhD students advancing Ethereum-related research. Apply before April 1, 2026.
TheDAO Security Fund: TheDAO Security Fund activates 75,000+ ETH ($220M+) for Ethereum security, including wallet UX, smart contracts, incident response, core protocol, and more. L2s, protocols, round operators, or security projects, please reach out and get involved!
muShanghai Pop-Up City: muShanghai (May 10âJune 6, 2026) bridges global talent with Chinaâs tech ecosystem. Builders: apply now.
Aleph March â26 Pop-Up City: Crecimientoâs month-long event in Buenos Aires (March 4â26) unites builders in crypto, AI, and emerging tech. Applications coming soon - stay tuned!
Aleph Hackathon: Join the 3-day hybrid hackathon (March 20â22) inside Aleph March â26, tackling AI, DeFi, biotech, robotics, and more. Prize pool TBA with mentorship. Apply now.
Electric Capital 2026 Thesis: Electric Capitalâs 2026 investment thesis highlights 26 opportunities in personal software, agents, DeFi, and more. They invest $1Mâ$20M, reach out: info@electriccapital.com.
Ecosystem Hiring Opportunities: The Ethereum Foundation and multiple other teams are hiring. Check Ethereum Opportunity Board.
Highlighted Events in Feb and Marchâ¨
ETHDenver, Denver, USA, Feb 18-21, 2026. 100+ side-events; top 23 curated here.
Aleph March â26, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mar 4-26, 2026. Month-long pop-up city.
Aleph Hackathon, Argentina & LATAM, Mar 20-22, 2026. Online & IRL hackathon.
ETHMUMBAI, Mumbai, India, Mar 12-15, 2026. Hackathon.
Funding the Commons SF: Intelligence at the Frontier, San Francisco, USA, Mar 14-15, 2026. Two-day conference.
EthCC, Cannes, France, Mar 30-Apr 2, 2026. Europeâs largest annual Ethereum conference.
BEAST MODE | zkEVM, Cannes, France, Mar 28, 2026. EthCC side event.
FORT MODE | post-quantum consensus, Cannes, France, Mar 29, 2026. EthCC side event.
For more Ethereum-related events, please feel free to visit the Ethereum Event List!
Thanks for reading! Stay warm out there!
Best regards,
Riely & the Geode Labs team
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