Welcome back to 0xResearch. Here's what we’ve got for you today:

• Ethereum: Building in public

• Chart: DeFi tokens are up

• Governance: Synthetix reacquires Kwenta

Ethereum ACD Call #200

It started with an understated “woo-hoo” and a laugh. The latest Ethereum All Core Developers (ACD) call marked a milestone for being the 200th such meeting.

As Galaxy’s Christine Kim noted on X, “[W]hat's cool about these calls is that through the years they've remained open, transparent and accessible for anyone to join and listen in on. [A]lso, devs still rely on these calls to act as a critical forcing function for making key governance decisions about [E]thereum.”

As usual, developers discussed key updates around testing networks for the upcoming Pectra upgrade, and a host of other topics in the world of Ethereum technical planning.

Unusually, several of the participants were in the same room together in Thailand, where the largest annual Ethereum conference, Devcon, is set to be underway next week.

A highlight of the call was the launch of Mekong, a new short-term devnet created to support Devcon hackathons. Built on the Devnet 4 spec, Mekong is now live, giving developers a focused environment for innovation ahead of Ethereum's upcoming changes.

“Mekong is meant to be a playground for wallet developers to experiment with UX changes and for stakers to gain confidence in the upcoming changes,” according to a blog post announcing the testnet.

Devnet 4 will remain accessible for further testing over the next few weeks so as to maintain flexibility for developers experimenting with the evolving protocol.

The conversation also covered recent proposed updates affecting core functionality, specifically in EIPs 7002 and 7521. Minor modifications to these contracts aim to improve user-friendliness, notably by helping users avoid accidental overpayments. While the contracts are currently under audit, developers were asked to review these updates asynchronously, a process that will likely continue after Devcon.

Devs further explored ways to streamline testing by isolating specific parts of the fork — specifically EOF and PeerDAS — for independent activation. Nethermind’s “chainspec” configuration option already supports fine-grained control for EIP activation, allowing teams to toggle individual EIPs for testing. However, concerns arose over the complexity of this approach, as some teams prefer Geth’s simpler fork activation model.

A consensus on a universal approach remains out of reach, with some developers noting that fine-grained control could lead to unpredictable interactions if not managed carefully.

Another central issue during the call was Ethereum’s growing data footprint and ways to handle historical data more efficiently. EIP-7801 — aka eth/70 or Sharded Blocks Protocol — was proposed as a short-term solution to reduce nodes’ storage requirements. This measure would ease the data burden until Portal, a more comprehensive data solution, becomes fully integrated. While some teams favor a universal standard for history retention, others advocate for a client-specific approach to managing storage.

EIP-7610 also featured in the discussion, as it aims to resolve certain edge cases in contract deployment. While the proposal is close to finalization, some clients reported challenges in implementation. As a result, an alternative design is now being explored, with a new proposal expected soon.

Devcon provides a rare opportunity for a major cohort of core developers to get together in person and hash out unresolved issues. Ethereum developers are advancing on multiple fronts to optimize infrastructure and meet the scaling demands of dapps and users, at a time when the conventional Twitteratti narrative is that the second most valuable blockchain network is falling behind rivals.

— Macauley Peterson (X: @yeluacaM | Farcaster: @Macauley)

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DeFi tokens are up big:

DeFi tokens are ripping up across the board following Trump’s electoral win. The top 100 DeFi coins by market cap, according to CoinGecko, saw a total spike of $13 billion on Nov. 8. The biggest gainers by far are the Cetus DEX on Sui, Drift perps DEX, CoW Swap, Raydium DEX and the collateralized lending protocol Maple Finance. Kaito is also recording the highest record of mind share for 2024 DeFi tokens.

— Donovan Choy (X: @donovanchoy | Farcaster: @donovan)

Synthetix acquires Kwenta

In early October, Synthetix passed an ambitious governance proposal to “reboot” the entire project. Major changes proposed included the likes of revamping SNX tokenomics, introducing a SNX-backed stablecoin, launching on Ethereum mainnet and Solana and redesigning the Synthetix frontend.

As part of that overhaul, SIP-411, which passed yesterday with 6/6 votes from Synthetix councilors, is reacquiring Kwenta as a frontend and bringing it back as part of Synthetix’s relaunch.

Kwenta was once a Synthetix project. Spun out in 2021 as a dedicated frontend for Synthetix to operate independently as per SIP-179, it is now referred to by Synthetix co-founder Kain Warwick as “unequivocally a terrible idea.”

Benjamin Celermajer, Synthetix’s strategy seat, said of the acquisition: “Bringing Kwenta back into Synthetix will unify the vision, the roadmap and the strategic priorities of both protocols. This will help Synthetix provide the best possible user experience to its community of traders and a seamless integration experience to the various protocols that utilize Synthetix liquidity.”

As part of SIP-411, KWENTA token holders will be able to exchange their KWENTA to SNX at a 1:17 rate. SNX will then be subject to a three-month lock-up starting on Nov. 15, followed by a nine-month linear vesting period. The KWENTA token will be deprecated thereafter.

— Donovan Choy

The Avalanche network stands at a pivotal juncture with the proposal of ACP-125, which aims to reduce base transaction fees from 25 nAVAX to 1 nAVAX on the C-Chain—a 96% reduction. This research leverages recent fee reduction events across major blockchain networks, particularly focusing on Base and Optimism, to predict ACP-125's potential impact on Avalanche.

Breaking down Sui’s surge

Sui Network has been riding a wave of impressive growth, with several key performance indicators reaching all-time highs in the past month. These records span DEX volumes, transaction fees and total value locked (TVL), signaling a surge of activity across the network. Among Sui’s standout applications is Cetus Protocol, which has recorded over $4 billion in monthly spot volume to secure a dominant position in market share for both volume and TVL among Sui’s DEXs.

Sui’s money markets have also shown remarkable growth, with leaders like Navi Protocol, SuiLend and Scallop reaching all-time highs in both TVL and outstanding borrows. In the SUI liquid staking sector, competition for deposits is fierce among Haedal Protocol, Volo and Aftermath Finance. Meanwhile, the recent launch of Spring’s sSUI liquid staking token has introduced instant withdrawals and gained substantial traction, accumulating over 12.8 million SUI in deposits within just a week.

Additionally, Sui ranks as the third-largest chain by net inflows over the last three months, with a notable $428 million in new capital. It trails only Base and Solana.

For a deeper analysis, check out the full report by Blockworks Research.

• US spot bitcoin ETFs saw record inflows yesterday, with $1.37 billion added — surpassing the previous high of $1.05 billion from March 12. BlackRock’s IBIT ETF contributed $1.1 billion of this total. The category has now reached over $25 billion in net flows, nearly 10 months since its launch.

• ColliderScript is a new proof-of-concept enabling Bitcoin covenants without requiring a soft fork. Using SHA-1 cryptography, it achieves covenant-like functionality, though at high computational costs. This approach highlights the potential of covenants on Bitcoin and could accelerate community consensus on future upgrades for more sophisticated transaction types.

• Maker’s Sky rebrand has the support of Framework Ventures' Vance Spencer, who views it as a strategic shift toward a retail-oriented, low-unit bias that could attract broader participation. Despite Sky’s criticisms and limited initial adoption, Spencer believes the rebrand positions Maker for long-term growth, aligning with Framework's commitment to its fundamental value.