An Ethereum Core Developer Speaks Out 🗣️

Plus: Waiting for the bill 📜

The U.S. government has been shut down for over three weeks, but crypto keeps running. This week, we analyze:

• How new crypto legislation is moving forward despite the government shutdown

• Why one Ethereum insider is fed up with the Foundation

• Why Gemini thinks now is the right time for its Solana credit card

[Crypto Does Some R and D? 🏛️🗣️]

Despite the government shutdown, Senate Democrats and Republicans this week met separately with crypto industry leaders to try to push forward broad, industry-specific regulations for crypto.

What Media Said 🧑‍💻:

• Who’s going? The CEOs of Coinbase, Chainlink, Galaxy, Kraken, and Uniswap, along with execs from the Solana Policy Institute, Circle, Ripple, Jito, and a16z. (Eleanor Terrett)

• Why are the meetings happening? “A document showing suggested Democrat language on decentralized finance leaked, causing an uproar from industry insiders who cast it as a potential deal-breaker in the negotiations.” Dems are meeting with crypto leaders to “hash things out.” Republicans then asked for a meeting. There, they’ll probably learn “which points the CEOs were told by Democrats that they’re encouraging movement on.” (CoinDesk)

• What deal-breaker? The Dem plan to regulate DeFi. Crypto advocates have called it “broken and unworkable” and argued that it “would effectively ban decentralized finance, wallet development and other applications in the United States.” (CoinDesk)

• Anything else slowing progress on the bill? Yes, some Republicans want to revisit the GENIUS Act, stablecoin legislation passed earlier this year. That bill prohibits crypto exchanges from offering interest but is mum on rewards, which can effectively function like interest. The banking industry wants the market structure bill to close the loophole. The crypto industry wants it kept open. The Senate is torn between two lobbies. (Roll Call)

PR Perspective 🔎:

It’s the rule of Washingtonian physics: For every lobbying action, there is an opposite (if not always equal) reaction. Two behemoths—the well-established banking industry and the upstart crypto industry—are fighting a PR battle. Digestible and consistent messaging will win over legislators.

[A Too Strong Foundation? 📝]

Péter Szilágyi, a former lead developer at the Ethereum Foundation, ignited debate within the crypto community by publishing a letter he sent to Foundation leadership last year.

What Media Said 🧑‍💻:

• What’s in the letter? It details Szilágyi’s “frustrations with governance, compensation, and what he calls the rise of an ‘Ethereum elite’ that ultimately answers to [Ethereum creator] Vitalik Buterin.” The result, he says, is “centralization and conflicts of interest.” (CCN)

• Centralization? Really? He says “most Ethereum projects were controlled by a tight-knit group of five to 10 individuals backed by one to three venture capital firms.” Ethereum’s direction is dependent on Vitalik, so you must be tight with this group. (The Block)

• What about conflicts of interest? Szilágyi says he earned $625,000 in six years, which many social media commenters see as insufficient “given his critical role in maintaining Ethereum’s core infrastructure.” The low pay forces people to earn money elsewhere, leading to conflicts of interest. (Unchained)

• Who agrees? Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal jumped in, saying Polygon is also outside the inner circle. He asked, “Why does it feel like every other week, someone with major contributions to Ethereum has to publicly question what they’re even doing here?” (Decrypt)

• Why’s this coming out now? Dankrad Feist left the Foundation last week to join Tempo, a VC-backed crypto payments startup. He took heat last year after becoming an advisor to EigenLayer, which some (including Szilágyi) saw as a conflict of interest. (Protos)

• What’s been the official response? Vitalik hasn’t responded directly to Szilágyi, but he responded to Nailwal, tweeting that he “really appreciates [his] personal contributions and Polygon’s immensely valuable role in the Ethereum ecosystem.” (99 Bitcoins)

PR Perspective 🔎:

Szilágyi’s letter doesn’t really start namechecking Vitalik until the second half, but many media outlines seized upon that aspect. Vitalik is a big name, so making him central to the story can increase clicks. Which kind of reinforces Szilágyi’s point that “Vitalik absolutely has complete indirect control over” Ethereum.

[Credit Where It’s Due? 💳]

Crypto exchange Gemini released a Solana‑branded version of its credit card.

What Media Said 🧑‍💻:

• What’s the card do? Holders get up to 4% back on purchases—not in cash but in Solana (SOL). What’s more, the card allows them to stake those SOL rewards automatically. That means they can lock it up to secure the Solana network and receive yield in return. (Decrypt)

• Does Gemini already have something similar? Yes, its Bitcoin and XRP cards “have become a growth driver” for the exchange. Solana, meanwhile, “is one of the fastest growing crypto ecosystems.” (The Block)

PR Perspective 🔎:

This strategic move by Gemini capitalizes on Solana’s popularity. The crypto card market might feel saturated, but auto-staking is a new twist that will appeal to both web3-savvy users and mainstream consumers looking to earn crypto passively. On the flip side, there is still regulatory uncertainty around staking, which probably won’t be addressed until the market structure bill is signed into law. Plus, Gemini will be a bit dependent on the Solana network; any instability could affect user rewards. It should be ready with messaging if needed.

[Tweet of The Week]

Credit: @pixiekate13

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The usual disclaimer: This newsletter collates the main themes and headlines of the week in DeFi/crypto/metaverse/Web3/NFT land and tries to provide unbiased context. It’s aimed at anyone who wants to keep an eye on the space. It’s put together by a team at YAP and doesn’t contain any promotion of our clients (if one is mentioned, we’ll flag that).

The team: Founder Samantha Yap and consulting editor Jeff Benson, Andrew Wickerson, Nathalie Larrea, Meghna Dembla, Samvidha Sharma, William Knight, Taylor Handler, Abby Notarnicola, Zeke Harker, TJ Thomas, and Shajar Qureshi. Your feedback is, as always, welcome. Ping us at thecontext@yapglobal.com. Old newsletters can be found here.

This newsletter is prepared by YAP Global, an international PR Consultancy focusing on helping cryptocurrency, Decentralised Finance (DeFi), and brands through impactful storytelling. Find out more about us here.