The Ether: Monday, August 17, 2026

Platåberget testnet now open to public, breaking changes for developers

Glamsterdam's early testing phase launches with gas limit changes that require wallet and indexer updates.

Tom Lee's Bitmine buys 9,926 more ETH, pushing holdings near $11 billion and 4.8% of supply

The largest corporate holder of ether keeps accumulating, concentrating almost five percent of the currency's supply in one company.

More: The Block · CoinDesk · Decrypt

Compound restructures leadership and deploys $52 million toward institutional lending focus

The foundational DeFi protocol is shifting strategy after retail activity declined, betting institutional relationships will restore growth to the platform that pioneered onchain lending.

More: CoinDesk

Hegotá priorities ranked from 66 EIPs, censorship resistance and account abstraction lead

The EF Protocol Architecture team published a ranked priority list for the Hegotá upgrade, helping developers and the community understand which of 66 proposals will be considered first.

US Treasury proposes stablecoin seller licensing rules effective 2027

New restrictions would require platforms selling stablecoins to US customers to meet licensing and capital requirements, shaping how ether-backed stablecoins reach American users.

More: Decrypt

Ethereum developers target privacy changes in Hegota upgrade, enabling fee payment from privacy pools

A proposed upgrade would let privacy pools pay their own transaction fees without relying on intermediaries, advancing Ethereum's privacy roadmap.