Ethereum News Today: Ethereum Turns 10 With Price Surge to $3,800 and Major Ecosystem Upgrades

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, marked its 10th anniversary on July 30, reflecting on a decade of innovation and transformation in the blockchain industry. Launched with a vision to serve as a decentralized “World Computer,” Ethereum has evolved from a niche experiment into a foundational layer of the global digital economy. Over the past year, ether (ETH) has seen a notable price rebound, reaching $3,800 in July 2025 after hovering around $1,500 in April. This resurgence coincides with growing institutional interest and the emergence of new use cases such as tokenization and stablecoin development [1].

The Ethereum ecosystem is also experiencing structural upgrades that aim to deepen its integration with the broader financial system. Linea, a layer-2 scaling solution developed by Consensys, has announced a comprehensive set of protocol-level changes, scheduled for a full rollout in October 2025. These upgrades include ETH-native staking on bridged assets, a protocol-level ETH burn mechanism, and the allocation of 85% of its token supply to ecosystem development. By burning ETH with every transaction and committing a portion of fees to Ethereum’s base layer, Linea aims to align incentives and embed deflationary dynamics into the network. “Linea Mainnet will return value to Ethereum’s base layer while growing long-term value in the LINEA token-based economy,” stated Declan Fox, Head of Linea [1].

Meanwhile, Solana’s ecosystem is advancing a new framework for decentralized financial infrastructure dubbed “Internet Capital Markets.” This initiative, coauthored by key players including the Solana Foundation and Jito Labs, emphasizes the importance of market microstructure and introduces Application-Controlled Execution (ACE), which grants smart contracts millisecond-level authority over transaction sequencing. The roadmap outlines six critical tradeoff dimensions, focusing on privacy, execution speed, and architectural flexibility [1].

On the payments front, Square, a subsidiary of Block, has initiated the rollout of Bitcoin payments for sellers through its platform. Enabled by the Lightning Network, the service allows merchants to accept BTC in real-near time and settle in fiat currency. The company plans to expand the feature to all users by 2026. This move reflects a broader trend of mainstream adoption, with Square piloting the service at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in May [1].

In related developments, Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, announced the acquisition of an additional $2.4 billion worth of BTC using proceeds from a preferred stock offering. The firm’s bitcoin holdings now total 628,791 BTC, valued at nearly $74 billion at current prices. This aggressive accumulation strategy underscores the increasing role of corporate treasuries in the crypto space [1].

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced a new bill aiming to allow cryptocurrency holders to use digital assets as collateral for mortgages, aligning with recent guidance from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. This legislative push highlights the ongoing efforts to integrate crypto into traditional financial systems [1].

Sources:

[1] The Protocol: Ethereum Turns 10 Also: Linea Upgrades, Solana Internet Capital Markets Roadmap and Square Begins BTC Payments. https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2025/07/30/the-protocol-ethereum-turns-ten