Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk's weekly wrap of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Margaux Nijkerk, a reporter at CoinDesk.
In this issue:
- Ethereum’s Fusaka Upgrade Completes Final Hoodi Test Ahead of Mainnet Launch
- BOB Unveils Bitcoin Vault Liquidation Engine to Power BTC-Backed Stablecoin Lending
- Ledger Unveils $179 Nano Gen5, Built for Identity in an AI-Driven World
- Google Claims Quantum Breakthrough to Reignite Bitcoin Ramifications Debate
Network News
FUSAKA GOES LIVE ON HOODI, ETHEREUM MAINNET NEXT: The final dress rehearsal for Ethereum’s forthcoming Fusaka upgrade occurred on Tuesday as the blockchain prepares for the mainnet hard-fork activation. The test, which went live around 18:53 UTC on the Hoodi testnet, involved passing a series of code changes meant to make Ethereum more scalable and cost-efficient. Testnets are replicas of a blockchain’s main network, giving developers a safe environment to test major upgrades and fix any issues before they go live on mainnet. Hoodi was the last of three testnets to run through a simulation of Fusaka, with two other successful test upgrades on the Holesky and Sepolia networks. Coming roughly six months after Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade, Fusaka introduces changes designed to cut costs for developers, users and institutions running on the network. Its centerpiece, PeerDAS, lets validators check only segments of data instead of full “blobs,” easing bandwidth demands and lowering expenses for both validators and layer-2 networks. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
BOB UNVEILS VAULT LIQUIDATION ENGINE: BOB ("Build on Bitcoin") unveiled a new framework enabling bitcoin holders to borrow stablecoins against their BTC while keeping it secured on the Bitcoin network. The Bitcoin Vault Liquidation Engine addresses some persistent challenges in bitcoin lending, such as all-or-nothing liquidations and multiday settlements, founder Alexei Zamyatin told CoinDesk in a Telegram message. A vault, in the context of collateral and lending, is a smart contract that securely locks a user's cryptocurrency as collateral for a loan. It acts as a trustless escrow, automatically managing the collateral and executing a liquidation (selling the asset) if its value falls too low. Applying this to bitcoin could transform the most secure and largest crypto asset into active collateral, unlocking trillions in BTC liquidity for use in the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem without forcing holders to sell. BOB's new design supports partial liquidation, meaning an entire position does not need to be liquidated if it goes underwater; only enough collateral to restore loan health is sold. — Jamie Crawley Read more.
LEDGER REBRANDS WALLET AND PRODUCT OFFERINGS: Ledger, the French firm known for its crypto hardware wallets, introduced a sweeping update to its product line, positioning itself for what it calls a new “era of ownership.” The company unveiled the Ledger Nano Gen5, a redesigned version of its signature device, along with Ledger Wallet, a reimagined version of its Ledger Live app, and Ledger Enterprise Multisig, a new platform for institutional asset management. The new Nano is designed to be more than a crypto wallet, the firm said. Ledger now calls it a “signer,” positioning the device as not only a venue for digital assets but also of digital identity in an AI-driven world. Ledger’s shift from calling its devices “wallets” to “signers” marks an evolution in how the company envisions what it says is at the core of security in the next digital age. The Ledger Nano Gen5 acts as a secure signing device for everything from crypto transactions to smart contracts and identity verification. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
GOOGLE WEIGHS IN ON QUANTUM COMPUTING AND BITCOIN DEBATE: Google said it achieved a verifiable "quantum advantage" with its Willow chip, completing a calculation that would take classical supercomputers thousands of times longer. The reported breakthrough may reignite a debate in the cryptocurrency community over the possible detrimental effects that quantum computing could have on Bitcoin, whose operation and security is built on cryptographic methods that quantum computing could potentially challenge. The chip reportedly simulated quantum chaos in just two hours by measuring Out-of-Time-Order Correlators (OTOCs), a key benchmark for tracking the unpredictable behavior of particles. Researchers say the achievement moves quantum computing closer to practical applications, such as Hamiltonian learning, where quantum machines could help model complex molecular structures beyond the reach of today’s tools. For the crypto world, the breakthrough is noteworthy, but not alarming. While quantum computing could one day challenge Bitcoin’s cryptographic foundations, most experts say that reality remains far off. – Jamie Crawley Read more.
In Other News
- Western Union (WU) is planning to introduce a stablecoin for its 100 million-user payment network, joining the ranks of traditional finance firms tapping blockchain rails to power global transfers. The company, known for cross-border payments and cash network among retail customers, plans to roll out the U.S. Dollar Payment Token (USDPT) in the first half of next year, according to a press release. The token will be issued by Anchorage Digital, a federally regulated digital asset bank, using the Solana network, a public blockchain designed for low-cost, fast settlements.— Kristzian Sandor Read more.
- The traditional wealth management and private banking world, much of which is hard-bitten and twice shy when it comes to cryptocurrency investing, is under mounting pressure again to deliver digital assets to wealthy clients, particularly in crypto hotspots like Dubai, Switzerland and Singapore. Swiss software firm Avaloq, which serves many private banks and wealth managers, examined high net worth (HNW) investing attitudes in the UAE (based on surveys of 3,851 investors and 456 wealth professionals conducted in February/March 2025), and found that while demand for digital assets in that region is unusually high (39% of wealthy clients hold crypto), only 20% of those crypto investors used a traditional wealth manager. The UAE, known for its oil-rich, ultra-high net worth family offices and a low tax center for expat workers, is also quickly becoming one of the world’s hottest crypto hubs, with Dubai offering a clear regulatory framework in the form of the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), which has been in place since 2022. These days, the kids of those ultra-high net worth families are educating their elders about crypto – for example, the Trumps. Against this backdrop, Avaloq’s UAE snapshot found that 63% of investors have switched managers or are considering doing so. The reason is partly because their questions about crypto are going unanswered, according to the survey. — Ian Allison Read more.
Regulatory and Policy
- Some of the most prominent names in the crypto industry are among those footing the bill for a controversial White House ballroom construction that began in recent days with the leveling of the historic East Wing. But even as Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal is asking them to explain their connection to the project, they're mostly avoiding the spotlight. CoinDesk asked crypto companies on the long list of Trump's private-sector benefactors to comment on their support and their intentions to respond to the senator's probe, but only a spokesperson for Coinbase responded. Ripple, Tether and Gemini, whose co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss were donors, remained silent, though all received letters from Blumenthal, the ranking Democrat on the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. "Coinbase is pleased to support the Trust for the National Mall, a 501(c)(3) partner of the National Park Service, and looks forward to answering the committee's inquiries," the firm offered as a response. — Jesse Hamilton Read more.
- Prediction market Kalshi filed a federal lawsuit against the New York State Gaming Commission, arguing that the state’s attempt to shut down certain event-based contracts violates federal law. In a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, Kalshi asked the court to block New York officials from enforcing state gambling laws that the company said don’t apply to its operations. Kalshi is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a designated contract market (DCM), which gives it the federal right to list and clear derivatives tied to real-world events, including sports outcomes, it said in the filing. The dispute centers on Kalshi’s recent offering of sports-event contracts, which the company self-certified with the CFTC earlier this year. The contracts allow users to take opposing financial positions on whether a team will win or advance in a tournament, among other outcomes. — Francisco Rodrigues Read more.
Calendar
- Nov. 17-22: Devconnect, Buenos Aires
- Dec. 11-13: Solana Breakpoint, Abu Dhabi
- Feb. 10-12, 2026: Consensus, Hong Kong
- Feb. 17-21, 2026: EthDenver, Denver
- Mar. 30-Apr. 2, 2026: EthCC, Cannes
- Apr.15-16, 2026: Paris Blockchain Week, Paris
- May 5-7, 2026: Consensus, Miami
