February 2025 witnessed significant strides across the blockchain ecosystem, with advancements in network upgrades, strategic partnerships, and innovative solutions. This report summarizes the most impactful developments, providing a clear overview for enthusiasts and professionals alike.
Stakely Platform Enhancements
Stakely made notable progress this month, focusing on both expansion and strategic refinement.
Early Adoption of Lido V3
Stakely joined Lido V3, a major innovation in Ethereum staking. As an early adopter, Stakely launched an stVault to offer personalized, secure, and efficient staking services. Further details will be released soon.
Expanded Faucet Offerings
The Multicoin Faucet now supports Walrus Testnet and Sui Testnet, allowing users to easily obtain WAL and SUI tokens for covering transaction fees on these networks.
Network Validator Adjustments
Stakely will cease operations on Evmos and Juno networks. Delegators are advised to withdraw or redelegate their EVMOS and JUNO tokens to continue earning rewards. Note that unbonding periods are 14 days for Evmos and 28 days for Juno.
Partnership with Loop
A collaboration with Loop enables fast, secure on-chain payments for Simple CSM subscriptions using cryptocurrencies, enhancing flexibility for users.
Community Growth
Stakely’s YouTube community surpassed 1,000 subscribers, offering tutorials in English and Spanish on network validation and tool usage.
Major Blockchain Ecosystem Updates
Aptos
- USDe Integration: Ethena Labs’ assets are now part of Aptos, boosting liquidity, trading, and yield generation on its DeFi platform.
- Record Growth: Aptos reached 56 million wallets and 17.9 million monthly active users, with its stablecoin market cap nearing $850 million.
Archway
- Proposal Approval: Proposal #56 increased the callback gas limit to 3,000,000, enabling more complex operations without efficiency loss.
Key Improvements:
- Public MultiSig for enhanced security.
- AI Agents for self-executing transactions.
- Auto-compounding to maximize staking rewards.
- IBC Hooks fixes for better composability.
Avalanche
- Avalanche Card Launch: This card allows users to spend AVAX anywhere Visa is accepted, available in digital and physical formats for convenience.
Celestia
- Astra Tools Launch: Astria-Go CLI and Astria Deployment Charts let developers deploy rollups with minimal code, leveraging Celestia’s infrastructure.
- Roadmap Reveal: Plans include separating DAS from FBSS consensus to accelerate block times and improve ecosystem integration.
Celo
- Baklava Update: The testnet upgrade was completed, setting the stage for the official L2 migration on March 26, 2025, which will enhance transaction speed.
Concordium
- Collector’s Den: A new Telegram mini-app offers rewards for completing challenges.
- Protocol 8 Update: Version 8.0.3 is on testnet, with mainnet activation scheduled for March 3.
Cosmos
- Gaia v22 Implementation: Successfully deployed in just two minutes due to validator collaboration.
- Governance on Hydro: ATOM holders can now vote on interchain market-making proposals.
- ATOM Accelerator Grants: Eight projects, including Numia and Votion, received funding to drive ecosystem growth.
Covalent
- Berachain Mainnet: Covalent is now operational on Berachain, providing structured on-chain data access.
- QuickNode Partnership: A rollup accelerator program offering over $65 million in benefits to founders.
Ethereum
- Gas Limit Increase: Validators supported raising the limit to over 31 million, aiming for 36 million to improve scalability. Stakely also adopted this after testing on Holesky.
- Open Intents Framework: A modular framework to simplify cross-chain intent implementation.
- Tether on Arbitrum: USDT deployments on multiple chains, including Arbitrum, now connect without token wrapping.
Injective
- Nivara Upgrade: Completed on mainnet, strengthening asset tokenization and RWA capabilities.
- Hub V2 Launch: Enhanced user and developer experience with better dApp search and integration guides.
- InjScan CSV Export: Users can download transaction history for tax purposes, alongside asset tracking and smart contract lookup.
- Ambassador Program 2.0: Offers exclusive benefits for community advocates.
Namada
- Mainnet Phase 3 Live: Enables transfer and shielding of governance-enabled assets, advancing functionality.
Near
- Open Agents Alliance: Promotes open AI agents with fair compensation.
- Shade Agents: AI-powered multi-chain smart contracts verified on-chain.
- OmniBridge: Unifies liquidity across networks, enabling token launches with NEAR LP pairs.
Omniflix
- Staking as an Interaction: Users delegate FLIX tokens while watching videos, unlocking exclusive content and supporting creators.
Osmosis
- Zero-Fee Limit Orders: Available for select assets like BTC.
- IBC Transfer Test: Successful test with Starknet, improving interoperability.
- Fee Allocation to Bitcoin: 25% of protocol fees will regularly purchase BTC for liquidity.
Polkadot
- Bridge 1.4 Update: Allows wETH transfers from Ethereum to Polkadot and native DOT moves to Ethereum.
- Ethereum Tools Support: Epico solution enables Substrate chains to interact with MetaMask without EVM.
Quasar
- Closure and Token Migration: Quasar evolves into Tower, a BTCFi DEX, with QSR tokens migrating to TWR.
Secret
- AI Builders Program: Provides a confidential computing layer for AI projects on Secret Network, offering SDKs and expert support.
Solana
- dAGI Accelerator: Partnership with Solana Foundation offers up to $500,000 funding for AI-integrated projects.
- OISY Wallet Launch: Allows dApp connections and token swaps in a unified interface.
Sonic
- Pierre Gasly Partnership: Collaboration for the 2025 F1 season, emphasizing speed and innovation.
- DeFAI Hackathon Extension: Now until March 10, with prizes up to $295,000.
Starknet
- v0.13.4 Testnet Launch: Optimizes smart contract execution, reduces storage costs, and improves fee accuracy. Mainnet release expected between March 17-24.
Sui
- Private Communication Feature: Upcoming video, audio, and text communication fully on-chain.
- SuiNS RFP Program: Funding available for developers to build on Sui Name Service.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the significance of Ethereum’s gas limit increase?
The increase to over 31 million gas units enhances network scalability by allowing more transactions per block. This reduces congestion and lowers fees, benefiting users and developers. Stakely implemented this after successful testing.
How can I participate in Stakely’s stVault?
Details will be announced soon. The stVault offers personalized staking via Lido V3, focusing on security and efficiency. 👉 Explore advanced staking methods
What are the key benefits of Avalanche’s card?
The Avalanche Card enables seamless spending of AVAX anywhere Visa is accepted, without relying on traditional banking tools. It comes in digital and physical forms for maximum convenience.
Why did Stakely shut down validators on Evmos and Juno?
This strategic decision allows reallocation of resources to more impactful networks. Delegators must redelegate tokens to avoid missing rewards, considering unbonding periods.
How does Cosmos’ governance on Hydro work?
ATOM holders vote on proposals related to interchain market-making, influencing ecosystem development. This democratic approach ensures community-led growth.
What is the Open Intents Framework on Ethereum?
This modular framework simplifies cross-chain intent implementation, improving interoperability and user experience across blockchain networks.
Stakely is also preparing for Merge Buenos Aires from March 24-26, 2025, where the team will share insights on staking and community collaboration.