This week’s focus in "Deconstruction" is on Ethereum's new roadmap, the Fed's hawkish turn, Strategy's Bitcoin sale, and the contradictions surrounding Solana.
Ethereum is Radically Changing
Vitalik Buterin summarized a meeting of researchers in Berlin and presented an updated roadmap under the concept of Lean Ethereum — the "third major iteration" of the network.
Key priorities for the upgrade include quantum resistance, privacy, and restructuring data storage.
The most radical change could be the potential abandonment of EVM in favor of RISC-V or leanISA architectures. Block verification will shift to recursive STARK proofs.
The Fed is Getting Tougher
The minutes from the June FOMC meeting indicate a noticeably more hawkish stance within the Fed. Most participants no longer expect a rate cut by the end of the year. Several committee members stated that there are arguments in favor of a rate hike.
Among the factors contributing to persistent inflation, the minutes specifically mention the rapid growth of AI investments — chip shortages, rising equipment costs, and data center construction. For the crypto market, this means competition between miners and AI data centers for one resource — cheap electricity.
Strategy Sells Bitcoin
The company sold 3,588 BTC for $226 million. Strategy explained the sale as necessary to fund quarterly dividends on preferred shares. This marks the first instance where the largest corporate Bitcoin holder has used part of its reserve as a financial instrument.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that the process of creating a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the U.S. has effectively stalled. There is no agreed-upon management model, and mechanisms for storage and departmental authority have not been defined.
Solana: A Split Identity
By 2026, Solana finds itself in a state of split identity. The network simultaneously hosts corporate payment products and toxic meme coin schemes, institutional integrations, and wash trading.
The network's main bet is on the agency economy. Autonomous AI systems require fast, cheap, and programmable payments, and in technical terms, Solana is better prepared than its competitors. However, the narrative crisis will not resolve itself.
This is a condensed version of the podcast. Watch the full episode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRAUK4tu2Y0
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