Release Date: February, 2025
Author: BlockBeats Editorial Team

In the past 24 hours, the crypto market has evolved synchronously on multiple levels. Mainstream discussions have focused on the recalibration of Ethereum's scaling logic and the decentralization controversy sparked by the exposure of early Bitcoin historical documents. In terms of ecological development, Solana has taken the lead in advancing an AI agent autonomous credit system, the Ethereum community is accelerating convergence around L2 filtering and agent standards, and the Perp DEX track continues to heat up in terms of experience and structural innovation.

I. Mainstream Topics

1. Vitalik Buterin Reassesses L2 Positioning: Original Vision No Longer Applicable, Calls for New Roles

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin recently published a lengthy article stating that with the significant enhancement of Ethereum L1's scaling capabilities (the gas limit is expected to be significantly raised around 2026) and the slow progress of L2's evolution to "Stage 2," the previous notion of viewing L2 as "Ethereum's branded sharding" is no longer valid. He emphasized that L1 is accelerating its return to the scaling axis and no longer needs L2 as a "crutch" for performance expansion.

In this context, Vitalik suggested that L2 should redefine its value, shifting towards differentiated directions such as privacy enhancement, deep optimization for specific applications, extreme scalability, non-financial scenarios, ultra-low latency architecture, or built-in oracles; if L2 continues to handle ETH-related assets, it should at least reach Stage 1 and strengthen interoperability with the Ethereum mainnet as much as possible.

He also mentioned the upcoming Pectra upgrade (expected in March), which will increase the blob target capacity from 3 to 6, effectively providing double data throughput for L2, and proposed a concept of dynamically adjusting parameters through staker voting to reduce the need for hard forks.

These statements have sparked intense discussions within the community. Some interpret it as a "negation" or strategic shift regarding the L2 route, expressing concerns about the valuation logic of L2 projects and their long-term adoption prospects; others view it as a pragmatic clarification, arguing that the enhancement of L1 capabilities is beneficial and helps compel L2 to focus on truly irreplaceable differentiated value (such as privacy, AI, application specialization). The discussion has centered on questions like "Is Ethereum no longer dependent on L2?", "Which L2s can survive?", and "Does Pectra truly alleviate capacity bottlenecks?" In the Chinese community, the phrase "Vitalik abandons the L2 route" has circulated widely, but a more accurate understanding is that it is not an abandonment, but a redefinition.

2. Polymarket Plans to Open Free Grocery Store in New York

Polymarket announced it will open a free grocery store named "The Polymarket" in New York, claiming it to be the first of its kind in the city. The project has signed a formal lease and donated $1 million to Food Bank For NYC to alleviate food insecurity across the city. The grocery store is set to open on February 12 at noon, accessible to all New York residents without purchase conditions, emphasizing "completely free, well-stocked," highlighting its community contribution.

Meanwhile, the prediction market platform Kalshi quickly followed suit, hosting a limited-time free grocery event at Westside Market (84 3rd Ave, NYC). This event has lasted for several hours, attracting thousands of people to collect items. Kalshi stated that this move aims to encourage more companies to participate in similar community actions.

The related news has garnered significant attention within the community, but evaluations are clearly divided. Some users highly praise Polymarket's actions, viewing it as an example of "capital power directly transforming into public welfare," even comparing it to local government governance capabilities, believing its social benefits surpass slogan-driven collectivist practices; Kalshi's follow-up action is also seen as "decent" and "pragmatic," reflecting actual execution capability.

However, there are also critical voices. Many worry that this model may not be sustainable, predicting that the grocery store could be emptied shortly after opening due to abuse, security issues, and rapidly rising operational costs; others point out that high-value items may be the first to run out, and the project could ultimately face cumbersome management and compliance burdens. Overall, this event is widely viewed as a highly communicative marketing act, but in a low-trust, high-cost urban environment like New York, its long-term feasibility remains generally questioned, with some voices calling for a greater focus on employment and structural support rather than short-term free distribution.

3. Epstein's Controversy with Early Bitcoin Community Continues to Evolve

The latest disclosed Epstein documents (from the DOJ and the House Oversight Committee) reveal that Jeffrey Epstein was deeply involved in the crypto industry from 2014 to 2017: including an introduction through Brock Pierce, investing approximately $3 million in Coinbase's Series C; donating a total of $525,000 to the MIT Digital Currency Initiative to fund Bitcoin Core developers and fill the funding gap after the Bitcoin Foundation's bankruptcy; and maintaining interactions with key figures like Adam Back, continuously tracking Bitcoin's development and attempting to play the role of "intermediary" in the network. Related email chains show that Epstein viewed Bitcoin as a "revolutionary form of currency" and actively sought meetings with developers.

This disclosure has sparked a strong reaction within the Bitcoin community. Some voices are shocked that "the shadow of Epstein's funding appeared in early Bitcoin," questioning the centralization level of the early ecosystem and whether key figures like Adam Back/Blockstream were influenced, even extending to speculation about the manipulation by so-called "three-letter agencies"; while another group of developers and veterans quickly rebutted, emphasizing that Bitcoin's code is open-source and transparent, nodes and miners can reject any malicious modifications, and Epstein's influence is limited and did not change the decentralized nature of the protocol itself.

Discussions surrounding this event have gradually focused on several core issues: whether Bitcoin is truly decentralized, whether the early funding structure harbors systemic risks, and whether this wave of public opinion constitutes a FUD attack against Bitcoin.

4. Y Combinator Supports Startups to Accept Investments in Stablecoins like USDC

In terms of financing, Y Combinator announced that its startups can choose to receive a $500,000 investment in stablecoins like USDC, emphasizing that stablecoins are driving global financial innovation, especially in practical application scenarios in regions like India and Latin America. The Solana Foundation is also providing resource support, encouraging the use of USDC within the Solana ecosystem.

The market response has been generally positive, with most views seeing it as an important milestone for the mainstreaming of stablecoins and a clear signal of the "crypto-native financing" model; a minority of concerns focus on regulatory uncertainty and potential volatility risks, but overall it is still interpreted as a positive for USDC and the Solana ecosystem.

II. Mainstream Ecological Dynamics

1. Solana: AI Agents Start "Borrowing Money Themselves"

t54.ai has launched Claw Credit on Solana, which is currently the first autonomous credit system operated by AI agents within the Solana ecosystem. Under this system, agents can independently apply for credit limits without human intervention, to purchase x402 services (such as computing power, APIs, etc.).

Claw Credit is driven by t54's risk engine, and agents must complete pre-qualification through OpenClaw skills, then activate their limits using an invitation code, gradually building a credit score through a "spend-repay" cycle. The Solana Foundation reiterated in related discussions that "Solana is built for agents," with its high performance and low latency seen as an important foundation supporting the agent economy.

Overall feedback has been positive, with many users viewing it as a key step towards "agent autonomy," especially in solving the issue of AI agents being interrupted due to depleted funds. Discussions have focused on three directions: first, whether more complex economic cooperation forms will emerge between agents (such as credit sharing and credit transfer); second, security and risk control constraints, with some projects (like Tau Net) emphasizing the need to guard against prompt injection and strategy drift over long-term operations; third, the imaginative space at the application layer, with Bankr Bot repeatedly mentioned as an experimental example of "agents issuing their own tokens or managing assets."

Optimistic sentiment dominates, and the narrative of "agents starting to apply for funds themselves" has been widely circulated, but some remain cautious about the long-term reliability of the risk engine. Overall, this event further solidifies Solana's leading position in the narrative of the "agent economy."

2. Ethereum: L2 Filtering Accelerates, Agent Standards Land

Aave DAO voted to shut down its V3 deployments on zkSync, Metis, and Soneium due to long-term low usage, lack of organic growth, and the inability to contribute substantial revenue to the protocol in the short term. Aave also clarified that future new L2 deployments must have a feasible path to at least $2 million in annual revenue.

Aave's "chain closure" decision quickly ignited discussions about L2 sustainability, with many users bluntly stating that this is a "ghost chain elimination," even viewing "whether Aave deploys" as a barometer for L2 survival capability, questioning the economic rationale of multi-chain expansion once again.

ERC-8004 has officially launched on Base, becoming the first L2 to support this standard. This standard aims to provide a discovery mechanism and portable reputation system for AI agents. The Base team positions it as a "public registry" to facilitate interactions between trustless agents, and Jesse Pollak confirmed that any agent can freely register.

ERC-8004 has received significant positive feedback, being hailed as a landmark event in "Base racing ahead of the agent wave," with developers beginning to discuss building new types of agent networks based on this standard (e.g., Olas has registered hundreds of agents).

Euphoria (@Euphoria_fi) in the MegaETH ecosystem announced the launch of the Tapathon competition: starting from February 16 for two weeks, targeting 5,000 traders, offering Rolex and cash rewards. This protocol emphasizes mobile-first and gamified experiences, allowing participation in options and perpetual contract trading with a single "up/down" click.

Euphoria's Tapathon leans more towards emotion-driven engagement, with the community evaluating it as "more like a game than trading," filled with anticipation for its public launch and prize mechanism, but there are also a few voices questioning its market copy and the originality of AI-generated content. Overall, the current focus of the Ethereum community is shifting from "multi-chain layout" to "agent infrastructure + DeFi structural optimization."

3. Perp DEX: Structural Innovation Accelerates, Experience Becomes the Core Variable

Lighter (@lighter_xyz) responded to Vitalik's latest statements on L2 positioning, reaffirming its route as an Ethereum ZK Rollup, emphasizing "scaling Ethereum, not separating from Ethereum." The protocol focuses on verifiable finance and high-frequency trading, currently ranking high in TPS and fourth in TVL, and is set to launch Lighter EVM.

Lighter has received substantial support, with users generally recognizing its positioning of "standing on the side of Ethereum" and looking forward to further enhancing DeFi composability and playability after the EVM launch.

Based on HIP-3, the exchange Ventuals released a V2 upgrade: a new front end that supports 24/7 trading of pre-IPO assets, indices, and stocks; it also introduces point incentives (500,000 points weekly, with vHYPE holding bonuses), referral commissions (10%-60%), and a growth model (reducing fees by up to 90%), while raising the leverage limit to 20x.

Ventuals V2 has been rated as "another level" due to UI/UX improvements, with invitation codes circulating widely in the community, and its ability to attract TradFi users has been repeatedly mentioned.

Perps.fun launched the first perpetual contract launchpad on Hyperliquid, focusing on "simplifying the process of creating new futures markets," lowering the threshold for developers and project parties.

Perps.fun has sparked more interest among developers, being seen as "an interesting experimental launchpad," but some pointed out that markets could already be quickly created on Hyperliquid, and its differentiation still needs to be validated. Overall, the innovation sentiment in the perps track is high, but discussions about regulatory boundaries and trading speed continue.

4. Others: Prediction Markets "Enter the Community," Marketing or Long-term Strategy?

Polymarket announced the opening of its first free grocery store, "The Polymarket," in New York, donating $1 million to Food Bank For NYC, with the store set to open on February 12 for all New York residents. Almost simultaneously, Kalshi also launched a free grocery event (February 3 at noon, West Side Market), with a limit of $50 per person. Both emphasized "giving back to the community" and aimed to enhance public awareness of prediction markets.

This event has sparked highly polarized evaluations. Some called it "marketing genius," particularly praising Polymarket's execution in pre-leasing the venue and accompanying charitable donations; others viewed it as a short-term gimmick, questioning its sustainability, and joking that "it will be emptied in 15 minutes" and that "it's hard to operate long-term in New York's security and policy environment."

Kalshi was seen by some users as a "temporary follow-up," holding a reserved attitude towards its motives. Nevertheless, the community generally acknowledges that such offline actions have significant effects in terms of brand exposure and public engagement, at least successfully pushing prediction markets into a broader social context.

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