Preface

This week, Bitcoin’s price surged past $94,000, marking its highest level since March and pushing the total cryptocurrency market capitalization back above $3 trillion. The rally was driven by encouraging developments in U.S.-China trade relations: President Trump announced plans to “substantially reduce” tariffs on Chinese imports, while Treasury Secretary Bessent emphasized that the ongoing trade deadlock is “unsustainable.” These signals boosted investor confidence in the global economic outlook, fueling a broad rebound across both U.S. equities and crypto markets.

At the same time, the on-chain ecosystem continues to evolve, with infrastructure and applications undergoing rapid iterations. Eliza Labs launched Auto-Fun, an AI agent platform designed to accelerate the convergence of AI and blockchain technologies. Circle introduced the Refund Protocol and a new stablecoin payment network, enhancing flexibility and user experience in on-chain payments while further integrating real-world assets into the crypto economy. The Ethereum Foundation has begun strategic adjustments in preparation for the upcoming Pectra upgrade, targeting critical issues such as Layer-1 throughput and cross-chain interoperability in an effort to establish a long-term technical moat. Hyperliquid enhanced its decentralization by introducing 21 permissionless nodes to participate in mainnet validation and announced plans for a delegation mechanism to strengthen network governance and security. Meanwhile, the Solana Foundation rolled out a new delegation policy, removing low-activity validators to reinforce decentralization across the network.

Abstract

• Eliza Labs launches Auto-Fun, an AI agent launchpad platform.
• Circle unveils the Refund Protocol and a stablecoin payment network, advancing on-chain payment infrastructure.
• The Ethereum Foundation announces strategic adjustments and new technical proposals.
• Hyperliquid updates its mainnet validator system: 21 permissionless nodes now participate, with a delegation mechanism coming soon.
• The Solana Foundation introduces a new delegation policy, removing low-activity validators to strengthen network decentralization.

Key Developments and Updates

Eliza Labs Launches Auto-Fun, A No-Code AI Agent Launchpad

Eliza Labs has launched “Auto-Fun,” a no-code AI agent launchpad platform designed to address incentive misalignment and value capture challenges through an innovative tokenomics model. Developers are required to pay a launch fee, which is funneled into the DAO treasury to ensure the ecosystem’s long-term sustainability. The platform also incorporates a staking mechanism, a reputation system, and a community review process to incentivize long-term participation and uphold project quality.

This initiative responds to the challenges faced by Eliza Labs’ earlier token model. Previously, the lab launched the AI16Z token under a “fair mint” model, which allocated no initial supply to the founding team. As a result, the project lacked a sustainable funding source. Although AI16Z once reached a market capitalization of $2 billion, its value plummeted to $300 million this year due to the absence of a robust value capture mechanism, prompting the team to revisit its tokenomics strategy.

While traditional “fair launch” models can generate early community enthusiasm, they often fail to incentivize developers and long-term holders, undermining a project’s sustainability. By introducing launch fees, staking mechanisms, and a reputation system, the Auto-Fun platform aims to rebuild market confidence, attract new users, and foster stronger consensus within the community [1].

Circle Launches Refund Protocol and Stablecoin Payments Network to Advance On-Chain Payment Infrastructure

Circle has unveiled two major innovations in the stablecoin payments space: the Refund Protocol and the Circle Payments Network. These initiatives aim to address key limitations in stablecoin usage, including the absence of refund mechanisms, inadequate dispute resolution processes, and inefficient cross-border settlement. The Refund Protocol introduces a non-custodial on-chain refund and arbitration system to boost transactional trust, while the Payments Network establishes a global cross-chain settlement infrastructure to enhance efficiency. Together, they address the dual challenges of trust and efficiency, marking a significant step in the evolution of stablecoins from crypto assets to foundational payment infrastructure [2][3].

The Refund Protocol includes four key flows: payment, refund, withdrawal, and early withdrawal. When a customer makes a payment, the funds are held in a smart contract. If a dispute arises, the user can request a refund or arbitration. Once the lock-up period ends, the recipient can withdraw the remaining funds, or pay a fee to withdraw early. Arbitrators operate under strict limitations and cannot alter the flow of funds, ensuring security and user protection.

The Circle Payments Network, built around core stablecoins USDC and EURC, leverages Circle’s proprietary CCTP protocol and supports 19 blockchains, including Solana, Base, and Avalanche. It facilitates automated conversion and settlement between local currencies and stablecoins, connecting global banks, payment platforms, and wallet providers. This network is expected to reduce the cost of cross-border payments, improve settlement efficiency, and accelerate Circle’s mission to make stablecoins a mainstream global payment infrastructure.

Ethereum Foundation Shifts Strategic Focus and Proposes Major Technical Overhaul

Following a leadership reshuffle, the Ethereum Foundation has clarified its strategic priorities: enhancing the user experience and scaling Layer 1 performance. This shift directly addresses mounting market criticism surrounding Ethereum’s high Gas fees, Layer-1 performance limitations, and lack of built-in privacy features [4].

At the same time, Vitalik Buterin has proposed a bold technical overhaul of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), transitioning its underlying execution architecture from bytecode to the open-source RISC-V instruction set. This transformation is expected to significantly boost execution efficiency and scalability, potentially reducing on-chain execution costs by up to 100x. By adopting RISC-V, Ethereum aims to simplify the system architecture, enhance security, improve scalability, and lower development and maintenance costs [5].

Together, the strategic shift and technical proposal support Ethereum’s dual-track development strategy. With the upcoming Pectra upgrade, Ethereum aims to address critical issues such as Layer-1 throughput and cross-chain interoperability, while also achieving long-term performance gains at the execution layer. This approach enables Ethereum to maintain its competitive edge through visible, incremental protocol upgrades, while laying the groundwork for foundational innovations that support long-term value creation. In doing so, Ethereum continues to strengthen its moat in the blockchain industry through a balanced path of short-term competitiveness and long-term sustainability.

Hyperliquid Updates Mainnet Validator Mechanism: 21 Permissionless Validators and Delegation Plan Announced

Hyperliquid has introduced a validator delegation program designed to strengthen the network’s security and decentralization by allowing users to delegate their HYPE tokens to high-performance, trusted validators. The mainnet will dynamically select the top 21 validators by total staked tokens to form the active validator set, enhancing both resilience and trust in the network [6].

To qualify, applicants must meet several criteria: they must hold and lock at least 10,000 HYPE tokens for over a year, operate at least two high-uptime non-validator nodes, publicly disclose their node IP addresses, and complete KYC/KYB verification. Applicants from restricted jurisdictions are not eligible.

Through token delegation to trusted, high-performing validators, Hyperliquid strengthens both security and validator diversity to achieve a more decentralized network. This system helps overcome past security challenges, including the Jelly token loss incident, while rebuilding user trust. Additionally, it rewards validators who show commitment to long-term ecosystem development and network stability, establishing a foundation for a more robust and sustainable decentralized financial infrastructure.

Solana Foundation Introduces New Delegation Policy to Remove Inactive Validators and Strengthen Network Decentralization

The Solana Foundation has announced a new delegation policy designed to reinforce decentralization and support the network’s long-term health. Under the new strategy, for every new validator added to the Foundation’s mainnet delegation program, three existing validators who have long relied on Foundation support but lack sufficient external staking will be removed. Validators subject to removal must have received delegation for at least 18 months and hold fewer than 1,000 SOL in stake from non-Foundation sources [7].

The policy’s core goal is to reduce validator dependence on Foundation delegation while incentivizing those who actively build reputation and attract community-based support. This approach not only frees up resources for new participants, but also encourages existing validators to improve their self-staking capacity and community engagement. The Foundation emphasized that this measure is not punitive, but rather a reallocation of ecosystem resources intended to reward contributors who demonstrate sustained value to the network.

Additionally, the Foundation noted that this mechanism will help improve operational efficiency by removing passive validators who consume resources without contributing to network growth. By strategically rotating out underperforming participants and introducing new actors, Solana aims to enhance the sustainability and decentralization of its high-performance blockchain. The policy is effective immediately, with updated validator rosters to be published on an ongoing basis.

Summary

On the public blockchain front, leading networks such as Ethereum and Solana continue to advance core protocol upgrades and refine their governance mechanisms. The Ethereum Foundation is strategically preparing for the upcoming Pectra upgrade, focusing on alleviating Layer-1 throughput bottlenecks and enhancing cross-chain interoperability, laying a long-term technical moat. Meanwhile, the Solana Foundation has implemented a new delegation policy to remove low-activity validators, strengthening network decentralization and improving resource efficiency.

On the project side, AI integration and infrastructure innovation have taken center stage. Eliza Labs launched Auto-Fun, an AI agent platform accelerating the convergence of artificial intelligence and blockchain. Circle introduced the Refund Protocol and a stablecoin payments network to enhance on-chain payment experiences and bridge real-world assets with the crypto ecosystem.

Meanwhile, Hyperliquid is reinforcing its decentralization efforts by onboarding 21 permissionless validators and preparing to launch a delegation mechanism. This is considered key moves to bolster security and governance flexibility for its trading platform.


References:

1. Cointelegraph, https://cointelegraph.com/news/ai16z-s-eliza-labs-launches-ai-powered-pump-fun-alternative-auto-fun
2. Circle, https://www.circle.com/blog/refund-protocol-non-custodial-dispute-resolution-for-stablecoin-payments
3. Coindesk, https://www.coindesk.com/business/2025/04/21/stablecoin-giant-circle-is-launching-a-new-payments-and-remittance-network?utm_content=editorial&utm_source=twitter&utm_term=organic&utm_campaign=coindesk_main&utm_medium=social
4. Cointelegraph, https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-foundation-user-experience-layer-1-scaling-leadership-shift
5. Magicians, https://ethereum-magicians.org/t/long-term-l1-execution-layer-proposal-replace-the-evm-with-risc-v/23617
6. Hyperliquid, https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/validators/delegation-program
7. X, https://x.com/SolanaFloor/status/1915046013137506752

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