Group 1: Ethereum Validator Exit Queue - Ethereum's proof-of-stake system is experiencing a significant bottleneck, with approximately 2.5 million ETH (valued at around $11.25 billion) waiting to exit the validator set as of mid-September [1] - The exit wait times have reached over 46 days, the longest in Ethereum's staking history, with a previous peak of 18 days in August [1] - The backlog was primarily triggered by Kiln, a large infrastructure provider, exiting all its validators due to security concerns, which added around 1.6 million ETH to the queue [1] - The current situation is compounded by a rise in stakers taking profits after ETH's price increased by over 160% since April, alongside institutional players adjusting their portfolio exposure [1] - Ethereum's churn limit, which restricts the number of validators that can enter or exit the network, is currently set at 256 ETH per epoch (approximately 6.4 minutes), affecting the speed of validator transitions [1] Group 2: Ethereum's DeFi Landscape - Despite Ethereum's ether reaching record highs in late August, DeFi activity on Ethereum's layer-1 (L1) has seen a decline, with fees collected in August dropping to $44 million, a 44% decrease from the previous month [2] - Layer-2 (L2) networks like Arbitrum and Base are experiencing significant growth, with total value locked (TVL) at $20 billion and $15 billion respectively, raising questions about the impact on Ethereum's L1 DeFi activity [2] - AJ Warner from Offchain Labs suggests that Ethereum is evolving into a multi-layered financial architecture, where L1 serves as a global settlement layer for high-value issuance and institutional activities [2] - The shift towards L2s is driven by their ability to handle transactions faster and at lower costs, making DeFi more practical for everyday users [2]

Tether Brings USDT to Bitcoin Via Layer-2 Network RGB► https://t.co/A4KPyMu3mj https://t.co/A4KPyMu3mj ...