Infinite Jungle – Details, episodes & analysis

On Ep.91 of Infinite Jungle, Christine shares her main takeaways from ACDE #208 where developers set an ambitious date for Pectra activation on Ethereum mainnet. They also reconfirmed the inclusion of EOF in the Fusaka upgrade and agreed to pursue the largest version of EOF in Fusaka with the addition of a few new EIPs. Finally, Christine announces her departure from Galaxy and the Infinite Jungle podcast. Due to her departure, Infinite Jungle Season 2 will be ending early. The final episode will air on Wednesday, April 2. Show note links:  ACDE #208 call notes (https://www.galaxy.com/insights/research/ethereum-all-core-developers-execution-call-208/) Concerns about April 30 (https://x.com/philngo_/status/1905630338413396184) Infinite Jungle guest episode with Danno Ferrin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlzd_XMI0KE) Concerns about EOF (https://hackmd.io/@pcaversaccio/eof-when-complexity-outweighs-necessity) Ethereum protocol upgrade process document (https://github.com/ethereum/pm/pull/1409) EIP 7883, ModExp gas cost increase (https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-7883) Christine’s X profile (https://x.com/christine_dkim) Galaxy Research website (https://www.galaxy.com/insights/) Timestamps: (00:02:12) Hoodi testnet upgrade (00:07:03) April 30 (00:17:34) Complete EOF (00:29:11) Something’s gotta give (00:35:29) Christine’s big announcement This episode was recorded on Friday, March 28, 2025. ++ Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep. 90 of Infinite Jungle, Christine interviews Piper Merriam, an Ethereum Foundation researcher leading efforts for history expiry on Ethereum. History expiry enables Ethereum nodes to prune old block and transaction data from their databases. It is estimated to free up 100s of GB worth of hard disk space. It is also expected to open the design space for differentiated and use case specific client software. Christine speaks to Merriam about the benefits, risks, and timeline for history expiry, as well as his views on why history expiry efforts are often underappreciated in the Ethereum community. Guest: Name: Piper Merriam Title: Ethereum Foundation Researcher Show note links: The Portal Network (https://ethportal.net/) Timestamps: (00:01:00) How Piper got involved with Ethereum (00:08:08) How history expiry enables node differentiation (00:14:26) The risks of history expiry (00:21:42) The game theory behind history expiry (00:35:38) Meet the Portal team (00:38:27) The history expiry timeline (00:43:28) Piper’s motivation for working on Ethereum This episode was recorded on Friday, March 21, 2025. ++ Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep.81 of Infinite Jungle, Christine shares her main takeaways from ACDC #151. On ACDC #151, developers agreed to finalize two new EIPs, EIP 7870 and 7872. Though neither of these EIPs require a hard fork to implement, they will still be official documents that live on in the Ethereum GitHub repository. EIP 7872 specifies how client teams should implement the max blob flag for the benefit of local validators and EIP 7870 specifies minimum hardware and bandwidth requirements for validators. Christine explains both in more detail and why there’s still work that needs to be done on EIP 7870. Show note links:  ACDC #151 Call Notes (https://www.galaxy.com/insights/research/ethereum-all-core-developers-consensus-call-151/) Pectra Retrospective w/Nixo and Yorick (https://open.spotify.com/episode/45Ws5Ekc1oqFXcJWvPM2eW) Timestamps: (00:00:49) Holesky upgrade incoming! (00:04:58) EIP-7872, Max blob flag (00:10:35) EIP-7870, Validator hardware and bandwidth recommendations This episode was recorded on Friday, February 7, 2025. ++ Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep. 80 of Infinite Jungle, Christine interviews Jon Charbonneau, Co-Founder and General Partner at crypto investment firm DBA. As an investor in the Ethereum, Solana, Celestia, and Bitcoin ecosystems, Christine asks Jon about his thoughts on Ethereum’s competitive advantages and technical roadmap. Jon explains the trap that many Ethereum stakeholders have fallen into by becoming hyper-focused on “endgame” or long-term goals. Jon explains the importance of prioritizing short-term objectives to achieve long-term goals and leaning into what Ethereum does best today, instead of what the blockchain could one day achieve in the future.   Guest: Name: Jon Charbonneau Title: Co-Founder and General Partner at DBA X: https://x.com/jon_charb   Show note links: A Bitcoin L2 Thesis, DBA report (https://dba.xyz/a-bitcoin-l2-thesis/) Ethereum’s North Star, DBA report (https://dba.xyz/ethereums-north-star/) We’re All Building the Same Thing, DBA report (https://dba.xyz/were-all-building-the-same-thing/) Jon’s tweet on Ethereum’s roadmap and timing estimates (https://x.com/jon_charb/status/1883912628952850935) Payy application (https://x.com/payy_link) Timestamps: (00:02:01) Ethereum is the world computer (00:12:04) Ethereum vs. Solana (00:22:31) Ethereum needs a dual scaling strategy (00:27:53) Ethereum vs. Celestia (00:48:34) Jon’s hopes for crypto This episode was recorded on Friday, February 7, 2025. ++ Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep.79 of Infinite Jungle, Christine shares her main takeaways from ACDE #205. Ethereum developers are on track to upgrade public Ethereum testnets Holesky and Sepolia on February 24 and March 5, respectively. Christine reminds listeners that Pectra is the largest Ethereum upgrade by number of EIPs so there is heightened technical risk to activating Pectra and potential for developers to identify unexpected bugs in Pectra even during the public testnet upgrades. Christine also shares the latest updates about the scope of Ethereum’s next upgrade, Fusaka, and what disagreements are already causing tension in the Ethereum developer community.   Show note links:  ACDE #205 Call Notes (https://www.galaxy.com/insights/research/ethereum-all-core-developers-execution-call-205/) Pectra Retrospective w/Nixo and Yorick (https://open.spotify.com/episode/45Ws5Ekc1oqFXcJWvPM2eW) ACDC #147: Eth Devs Pump the Brakes on Pumping the Gas (https://open.spotify.com/episode/0R8Mpovr1JNewo8sWyu10W) Vitalik’s blog post on increasing the block gas limit (https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2025/02/14/l1scaling.html) Timestamps: (00:00:47) Pectra timeline update (00:06:37) The new goal for Fusaka (00:18:16) Fusaka scope discussion This episode was recorded on Friday, February 14, 2025. ++ Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep. 78 of Infinite Jungle, Christine welcomes back Ethereum Foundation’s Nixo and Galaxy’s Yorick to the show. They have a mini-debrief session on the Pectra upgrade planning process and debate how useful exercises like a Pectra retrospective are to the evolution of Ethereum. They also discuss the pros and cons of creating minimum hardware and bandwidth requirements for Ethereum validators. Christine recommends that Nixo present her own document on validator hardware and bandwidth requirements for the Ethereum staking community.   Guests: Name: Nixo Rokish Title: Former Executive Director of EthStaker and Protocol Support Team Member at the Ethereum Foundation X: https://x.com/nixorokish Yorick Downe Title: Founder of Cryptomanufaktur and Chief Architect of Blockchain Services at Galaxy X: https://x.com/yorickdowne Show note links: The official Pectra retrospective forum (https://ethereum-magicians.org/t/pectra-retrospective/22637) Graphic of past Ethereum forks since 2020 (https://x.com/nixorokish/status/1884705154890596601) EIP for validator hardware and bandwidth requirements (https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/pull/9270) EthPandaOps community data collection efforts (https://ethpandaops.io/posts/contribute-to-xatu-data/)  Validator hardware and bandwidth requirements discussion forum (https://ethereum-magicians.org/t/hardware-and-bandwidth-recommendations-for-full-nodes-and-validators/22675/6) Timestamps: (00:00:38) The Pectra retrospective (00:31:41) Minimum validator hardware and bandwidth requirements This episode was recorded on Friday, February 7, 2025. ++ Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep.77 of Infinite Jungle, Christine shares her main takeaways from ACDC #150. Concerns were raised from major Ethereum stakeholders representing Layer-2 rollup projects and staking pools about the timeline for Pectra mainnet activation being too hasty. Developers agreed to push back Pectra activation by a month and leave at least 30 days between the last public testnet upgrade and mainnet upgrade. Christine also shares her main takeaways about the competitive value of Ethereum against other up and coming general purpose blockchains.   Show note links:  ACDC #150 Call Notes (https://www.galaxy.com/insights/research/ethereum-all-core-developers-consensus-call-150/) Galaxy Research Ready Layer 1 Report (https://www.galaxy.com/insights/research/ready-layer-one/)   Timestamps: (00:00:45) Update on the Pectra timeline (00:08:24) Ethereum’s value from a markets point of view (00:19:00) Ethereum’s value from a technical point of view This episode was recorded on Friday, February 7, 2025. ++ Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep. 76 of Infinite Jungle, Christine speaks with CEO of Galaxy, Mike Novogratz, about the underperformance of ETH. ETH has been persistently lagging behind major coins like BTC and SOL for all of 2024 and so far into 2025. Mike speaks to this trend that has been confounding crypto enthusiasts and investors and explains why he is still optimistic about the revolutionary potential of Ethereum. Mike reiterates his convictions about the decentralized web, stablecoins, and how Ethereum remains the frontrunner to become “the base layer of trust for Web3.”   Guests: Name: Mike Novogratz Title: CEO of Galaxy X:  https://x.com/novogratz   Show note links: Galaxy company website (https://www.galaxy.com/) Timestamps: (00:00:41) The biggest reason for ETH’s underperformance (00:03:30) What’s the investment narrative of ETH? (00:05:24) What does Ethereum need to succeed? (00:08:48) The importance of stablecoin adoption (00:20:50) The strengths of Ethereum’s leadership (00:25:45) Community as an input to valuation This episode was recorded on Thursday, January 30, 2025. ++ Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep.75 of Infinite Jungle, Christine shares her main takeaways from ACDE #204. She offers her insights on the latest Pectra upgrade timeline and takeaways on the discussion about how to speed up the governance process of Ethereum. She explains why the governance process of Ethereum is unlikely to change, despite tweaks to its form and structure. War time mode for Ethereum doesn’t look all that different from Ethereum’s regular mode but this may have its benefits, Christine argues.   Show note links:  ACDE #204 Call Notes (https://www.galaxy.com/insights/research/ethereum-all-core-developers-execution-call-204/) Timestamps: (00:01:31) Pectra timeline update (00:11:03) Improvements to the ACD process (00:21:29) The truth about Ethereum’s Wartime mode This episode was recorded on Friday, January 31, 2025. ++ Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep. 74 of Infinite Jungle, Christine speaks with Nixo, who works on the Protocol Support Team at the Ethereum Foundation, about her highlights from 2024 and hopes for the Ethereum ecosystem in 2025. Nixo also shares updates about the new staker deposit CLI tool maintained by EthStaker and her perspective on the Ethereum gas limit debate. Christine shares a few predictions about what narratives will take hold on Ethereum next year and restates her convictions about Ethereum’s superpower as the world’s most decentralized and transparent general purpose blockchain. This is the last episode of Infinite Jungle Season 1. Be on the lookout for Season 2 in the new year!   Guests: Name: Nixo Rokish Title: Protocol Support Team at the Ethereum Foundation and Former Executive Director of EthStaker X:  https://x.com/nixorokish Show note links: EthStaker deposit CLI release notes (https://github.com/eth-educators/ethstaker-deposit-cli/releases) Christine’s take on the block gas limit debate (https://www.galaxy.com/insights/research/weekly-top-stories-12-06-24/) Timestamps: (00:02:20) Celebrating a new Ethereum deposit CLI (00:10:00) Debriefing the gas limit debate (00:28:48) Highlights from 2024, hopes for 2025 This episode was recorded on Friday, December 13, 2024. ++ Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/