TLDR CRYPTO 2025-05-08

ETHEREUM DEVELOPERS ACTIVATE PECTRA UPGRADE

Ethereum developers successfully deployed the Pectra upgrade on May 7 at epoch 364032, marking Ethereum's largest update by number of EIPs since the 2022 Merge. The upgrade includes 11 EIPs, notably EIP-7702 (account abstraction), EIP-7251 (increased validator limits), and EIP-7691 (Layer 2 throughput enhancements). Key improvements such as reduced validator onboarding time (EIP-6110), execution-layer exit controls (EIP-7002), and access to historical block hashes (EIP-2935) are designed to enhance scalability, decentralization, and smart contract functionality in preparation for future milestones like Fusaka.

US SENATE TO VOTE ON STABLECOIN BILL THURSDAY AMID BIPARTISAN TENSIONS

The U.S. Senate will vote Thursday on the GENIUS Act, a bill that requires stablecoins to be fully backed by U.S. dollars or short-term Treasuries. Despite GOP leadership backing, the bill faces bipartisan resistance, with Democrats demanding stricter safeguards on foreign issuers and anti-money laundering rules and some Republicans raising concerns over tech company involvement. The legislation needs 60 votes to advance, putting pressure on sponsors to win over skeptical lawmakers across both parties.

STRIPE LAUNCHES STABLECOIN FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS

Stripe has rolled out stablecoin-based accounts, allowing users in more than 100 countries to send, receive, and hold balances in USDC and USDB, operating similarly to traditional bank accounts. The move targets rising global demand for dollar-backed tokens, particularly in inflation-hit economies across Latin America.

CIRCLE PAYMASTER NOW SUPPORTS EOAS

Circle's Paymaster, which enables users to pay gas fees in USDC, now supports externally owned accounts (EOAs) via EIP-7702. The feature is rolling out across seven blockchains, including Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, Polygon, Avalanche, and Unichain, removing the need for users to hold native tokens for gas fees.

PENDLE: THE MOST UNDERPRICED DEFI PRIMITIVE IN CRYPTO

Pendle transformed from a yield platform into a foundational DeFi layer, growing TVL from $230M to $4.4B in 2024 and daily trading volume to nearly $100M. With rising institutional adoption and protocol integrations, Pendle is expanding to non-EVM chains via “Citadels” and developing new products like Boros to tokenize perpetual funding rates. Despite strong momentum, its $577M market cap remains well below its $1B FDV, signaling potential upside as V2 initiatives gain traction.

TIME VALUE OF INTERNET MONEY

Pendle adapts traditional coupon‐stripping to crypto by wrapping yield‐bearing tokens into SY and splitting them into principal tokens (PT) for fixed‐yield bets and yield tokens (YT) for variable‐rate speculation. By integrating point‐farming campaigns, its TVL exploded from $230 M to nearly $6.7B in early 2024, settling around $2.9B today. Unlike government‐set rates, crypto yields derive mathematically (e.g., Ethereum staking and Solana inflation), so pricing PT and YT demands a framework that accounts for variable rates, AMM liquidity dynamics, and point‐driven volatility. Tailored risk management tools, including dynamic LTV curves, liquidity penalties, and collateral valuation models, are required to safely integrate Pendle's fixed-income primitives into DeFi protocols.

X402: ABSOLVING THE INTERNET OF ITS ORIGINAL SIN

WEB3: CRYPTO'S BIGGEST MISTAKE

Crypto's early embrace of the “fat protocol thesis” misdiagnosed the value of tokenizing non-financial apps like social media and gaming, overlooking the high costs of trustlessness. As institutions adopt blockchain for efficiency, not speculation, value is shifting from infrastructure tokens to practical applications. The next phase of crypto must return to its roots: building better digital money as foundational infrastructure for the broader economy.

ZEREBRO FOUNDER'S POTENTIAL STAGED FAKE DEATH

Zerebro developer Jeffy Yu appeared to stage a livestreamed suicide shortly after launching the meme token $LLJEFFY, prompting speculation and briefly driving up the token's value. However, later updates and evidence, including deleted obituaries and activity from linked crypto wallets, suggest he faked his death either as an exit strategy or artistic statement, leading to confusion and financial losses for some traders.

SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENTIAL FRONTRUNNER PLEDGES SPOT BTC ETF APPROVAL

South Korea's top presidential candidate, Lee Jae-myung, has pledged to legalize spot crypto ETFs, aiming to expand investment opportunities and support young investors.

PRIVY INTEGRATES EIP-7702 FOR GASLESS TRANSACTIONS AND ACCOUNT ABSTRACTION

Privy now supports Ethereum's EIP-7702, unlocking gasless transactions and session key functionality for all users.

MOVEMENT LABS TERMINATES CO-FOUNDER RUSHI MANCHE