Vitalik Buterin wants to rebuild Ethereum's core one more time. Over the weekend he laid out "Lean Ethereum," a three-to-four-year overhaul he framed as the network's third major protocol iteration since the 2022 Merge.

The plan pushes a multi-year simplification of the base protocol, aimed at keeping Ethereum's core small and verifiable as scaling moves to layer-2s. The pitch bets that Ethereum's edge is durability: a base layer simple enough to stay stable and outlast competitors while execution scales on L2s.

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WATCH

Strategy's $1.2B Bitcoin Sale Is... a Rounding Error?

With Strategy now actually selling — 3,588 BTC for $216M today — the question is whether it moves the market. Scott Melker does the math live, weighing Strategy's sale program against Bitcoin's daily trading volume and what a steady drawdown would actually mean for the price.

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BLOCKCHAINS

Vitalik Buterin Outlines 'Lean Ethereum' Roadmap, a Three-to-Four-Year Protocol Overhaul

Vitalik Buterin laid out an updated "Lean Ethereum" roadmap in a Saturday post on X, describing a three-to-four-year overhaul he called Ethereum's third major protocol iteration since the 2022 Merge. The plan, which follows a researcher meeting in Berlin, centers on simplifying the base protocol so it stays small and verifiable as scaling moves to layer-2s.

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	Vitalik Buterin Outlines 'Lean Ethereum' Roadmap, a Three-to-Four-Year Protocol Overhaul Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin laid out an updated "Lean Ethereum" roadmap, a three-to-four-year protocol overhaul and the network's third major iteration since the 2022 Merge. thedefiant.io

Why this matters: Ethereum's roadmap is shifting from adding features to stripping the base layer down. A simpler core is the bet for surviving the next decade of institutional load.

CEFI

Strategy Sells 3,588 Bitcoin for $216M to Fund Dividend Payments

Strategy sold 3,588 bitcoin for $216 million to cover dividends on its digital-credit securities — its largest bitcoin sale to date and the first under the $1.25 billion sales program the board authorized last week. The company now holds 843,775 BTC and $2.55 billion in USD reserves, fully breaking Michael Saylor's never-sell doctrine in practice.

Why this matters: The never-sell doctrine is now broken in practice. The open question is whether $216M is a one-off dividend cover or the start of a steady drawdown.

REGULATION

Ripple Secures Full MiCA License, Completing EU Compliance

Ripple secured full Crypto Asset Service Provider authorization from Luxembourg's financial regulator, completing its MiCA requirements and clearing it to offer regulated crypto services across the EU. The license lands as exchanges scramble around the bloc's July 1 deadline that pushed Binance to wind down EU services.

Why this matters: A full MiCA license is the EU's gold standard. Ripple clearing it while Binance retreats resets the competitive map for regulated crypto in Europe.

TRADFI AND FINTECH

JPMorgan's JLTXX Tokenized Money Market Fund AUM Grows 250% in a Month on Ethereum

JPMorgan's JLTXX tokenized money-market fund grew its onchain assets under management about 250% in a month, per Token Terminal, running exclusively on Ethereum. The fund — formally the OnChain Liquidity Token Money Market Fund — launched in May and is now among the fastest-growing bank-issued tokenized funds.

Why this matters: A megabank's tokenized fund compounding 250% in a month on Ethereum is the clearest demand signal yet that institutional cash wants onchain money-market rails.

HACKS

BonkDAO Treasury Drained of $20M via Malicious Proposal

BonkDAO, the DAO tied to the Solana memecoin BONK, was drained of an estimated $20 million through a malicious governance proposal that siphoned BONK from its treasury, the DAO said Monday. The attack routed the theft through governance itself, turning the DAO's own voting machinery into the exploit path.

Why this matters: Governance attacks are becoming the soft underbelly of DAO treasuries. When the treasury moves by vote, capturing the vote is the whole hack.