Overview

This weekly report highlights key blockchain industry developments from April 18–24, 2025. Solana surpassed Ethereum in DEX rankings with over $16.2B in trading volume. Circle launched an innovative stablecoin cross-border payment network, establishing new standards for global settlements. The Ethereum Foundation restructured its strategy by separating R&D from management to accelerate core protocol upgrades and tackle user experience and Gas fee challenges. Base chain achieved a milestone by surpassing Solana in daily token creation for the first time, indicating growing interest among developers. Eliza Labs introduced Auto-Fun, a no-code AI agent platform designed to resolve incentive imbalances in AI projects. Hyperliquid enhanced its mainnet validation mechanism to boost network decentralization. Finally, Floki formed a partnership with Rice Robotics to integrate AI robots with blockchain data markets. These developments signal a new wave of innovation as DeFi, AI, and stablecoins continue to converge in the blockchain space.

Projects

Solana DEX Trading Volume Reaches $16.2B, Overtakes Ethereum as Top Chain from April 18–24

From April 18 to April 24, Solana topped the decentralized exchange (DEX) volume rankings with a total weekly trading volume of $16.201B, representing a 15.35% week-over-week increase. Solana outpaced major blockchain ecosystems, including Ethereum ($12.508B), BSC ($6.506B), Base ($4.762B), and Arbitrum ($3.548B), in DEX activity.

While Ethereum still leads in terms of total value locked (TVL)—with $7.088B in DEX TVL compared to Solana’s $2.271B—the contrast in short-term trading activity highlights how capital and users are actively moving between chains. Thanks to its high throughput, low latency, and minimal transaction fees, Solana continues to attract a growing number of users and developers in the DeFi space. Its scalability makes it an ideal environment for decentralized applications. Leading DEX protocols on Solana—such as Jupiter, Raydium, and Orca—have quickly accumulated trading volume by offering efficient matching engines, strong liquidity support, and a smooth user experience. [1]

Eliza Labs Launches Auto-Fun: A No-Code AI Agent Launchpad

Eliza Labs has introduced Auto-Fun, a no-code AI agent launchpad platform designed to address common issues of incentive imbalance and value capture in AI projects. The platform adopts an innovative tokenomics model described as “fairer than fair,” requiring developers to contribute a portion of their project launch fees to a DAO treasury. This approach aims to provide sustainable funding for the ecosystem. Additionally, Auto-Fun will incorporate a staking mechanism, reputation system, and community review process to ensure project quality and incentivize long-term participation.

This initiative responds to the challenges faced by Eliza Labs’ earlier token model. The project’s previous token, AI16Z, followed a “fair launch” structure in which the founding team received no initial allocation. While the token once reached a market cap of $2B, the absence of a meaningful value capture mechanism caused it to fall to $300M, prompting a reassessment of the token model.

Although traditional “fair launch” approaches can initially attract community attention, they often lack sufficient incentives for developers and long-term holders, undermining sustainable project growth. By introducing launch fees, staking, and a reputation system, the launch of Auto-Fun is expected to restore market confidence, attract new participants, and foster stronger consensus within the community. [2]

Base Chain Surpasses Solana in Daily Token Creations for the First Time

According to on-chain data, on April 20, the Base chain recorded approximately 50,000 new tokens created in a single day, surpassing Solana’s 35,417 tokens on the same day for the first time. This milestone marks Base as one of the most active blockchain networks in terms of token creation. Jesse Pollak, a core developer of Base, confirmed the achievement on the social platform X, highlighting the network’s rising popularity among developers.

Base is an Ethereum Layer 2 chain known for its low costs and high efficiency, which has recently drawn a surge of deployments and token launches across various categories, including memecoins, AI agents, and LP tokens. Data shows that since mid-March, token creation activity on Base has been on a steady rise, culminating in a new all-time high on April 20. In contrast, Solana has seen a significant decline in daily token creation over the past two months, dropping from a peak of over 80,000 tokens per day to fewer than 22,000.

The growing activity on Base has further captured the attention of developers and users alike. Driven by trends such as the memecoin narrative and on-chain AI agent experimentation, Base is rapidly emerging as a hub for token innovation. However, whether this high-frequency creation can translate into sustainable value will ultimately test the long-term viability of its ecosystem. [3]

Circle Launches Cross-Border Stablecoin Payment Network, Aims to Redefine Global Settlement Standards

On April 22, 2025, Circle announced the launch of the “Circle Payments Network”, a cross-border payment and real-time settlement solution for banks, payment service providers, and tech companies built on stablecoins. The network is designed to eliminate reliance on intermediaries in traditional remittance systems, reduce costs, increase speed, and establish a global payments infrastructure powered by USDC and EURC.

The new network connects VASPs, PSPs, digital wallets, and banking applications, enabling seamless transactions and automated settlement between local currencies and stablecoins. It is built on Circle’s proprietary Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP), which supports interoperability across 19 blockchains, including Solana, Base, Avalanche, and Algorand, delivering a unified cross-chain payment experience.

The launch aligns with Circle’s ongoing pursuit of an IPO and current discussions on stablecoin legislation in the U.S. Congress. Through this network, the company aims to position stablecoins as mainstream settlement assets, rather than merely crypto-native tools, driving greater institutional adoption. The Circle Payments Network directly challenges traditional cross-border payment systems while highlighting stablecoins’ growing strategic importance in global financial infrastructure. With improving regulatory clarity, this compliant, efficient, and on-chain settlement framework could transform stablecoins from alternative assets into fundamental payment infrastructure. [4]

Ethereum Foundation Restructures: Separates R&D and Operations to Accelerate Core Protocol Upgrades

Tomasz Stańczak, Co-Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation, announced that following a leadership reshuffle in March, the foundation has refocused its efforts on improving user experience and Layer-1 scalability, aiming to relieve Vitalik Buterin of daily managerial responsibilities so he can concentrate on deep research and innovative exploration.

In recent months, Ethereum has faced growing criticism centered on three key issues: poor user experience due to high gas fees, Layer-1 performance bottlenecks stifling ecosystem growth, and the persistent lack of privacy features. These concerns have intensified amid rising competition from high-performance chains like Solana and the rollout of EIP-4844, which has sparked fierce rivalry among Layer-2 solutions. As a result, the pace of Ethereum’s core protocol development has come under increasing scrutiny.

The foundation’s restructuring directly addresses these pain points. By freeing Vitalik from operational oversight, the move preserves his role as the network’s “intellectual engine” while empowering the execution team to focus on near-term, actionable upgrades. This dual-track strategy ensures that upcoming improvements—such as the Pectra upgrade—will target Layer-1 throughput and cross-chain interoperability, while Vitalik’s forward-looking research lays the groundwork for longer-term breakthroughs.

Notably, the shift also signals an effort to refine Ethereum’s community governance model. Stańczak emphasized that Vitalik’s proposals “must undergo community discussion, refinement, or rejection,” highlighting the foundation’s intention to maintain technical leadership without consolidating decision-making power—a core critique raised by some developers. While much of the market continues to debate Solana’s short-term performance gains, Ethereum appears to have chosen a more balanced development path: delivering tangible protocol upgrades to stay competitive today, while building a defensible moat for long-term value capture through foundational innovation. [5]

Hyperliquid Updates Mainnet Validator Mechanism: 21 Permissionless Nodes to Participate, Delegation Program Coming Soon

Hyperliquid has launched a new validator delegation program designed to enhance the security and decentralization of its network, enabling HYPE token holders to delegate to high-performance, trustworthy validators. The mainnet will dynamically select the top 21 validators by stake to form the active validator set, enhancing both network integrity and decentralization. [6]

To qualify, applicants must meet several criteria: holding and locking at least 10,000 HYPE tokens for over one year, operating at least two non-validator nodes with high uptime, publicly listing their node IP addresses, and completing full KYC/KYB verification, excluding those from restricted regions.

By delegating tokens to reliable and well-performing validators, Hyperliquid aims to improve network resilience, increase validator diversity, and elevate decentralization. This update also helps address concerns raised by past issues—such as the Jelly token loss—by promoting trust and accountability in validator operations. Moreover, the mechanism incentivizes long-term contributors who support ecosystem development and network stability, laying the groundwork for a more robust and sustainable decentralized financial infrastructure.

Floki Partners with Rice Robotics to Bring AI Data Markets On-Chain

On April 23, meme coin project Floki announced a partnership with AI robotics company Rice Robotics to co-launch an AI companion robot called Minibot M1. Through its tokenization platform TokenFi, Floki will bring the AI brand and its data market assets on-chain, marking the project’s expansion into the emerging intersection of AI and blockchain. This move represents a strategic step for Floki beyond Web3 infrastructure, into the realms of real-world assets (RWA) and AI-driven data systems.

Known for its community-centric branding, Floki has been actively building a diversified ecosystem. It previously launched the asset tokenization platform TokenFi, the crypto education platform “Floki University,” and is currently developing a metaverse game called “Valhalla.” The collaboration with Rice Robotics adds another layer to this ecosystem strategy. Rice Robotics has served high-profile clients including Nvidia, SoftBank, NTT, the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF), and 7-Eleven. Earlier this year, the company completed a pre-Series A funding round exceeding $7M, with backing from the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, Soul Capital, and Audacy Ventures. Rice Robotics plans to build a decentralized AI training data network that allows robots worldwide to autonomously access, trade, and learn from high-quality training data without centralized control. [7]

As part of this strategic partnership, the Floki community will provide blockchain infrastructure support for Rice Robotics and will use TokenFi to tokenize the brand and AI data market, enabling data within the robotics ecosystem to become tradable, shareable, and incentivized. According to Floki, the AI robotics market is rapidly growing from its current valuation of $22B and is projected to exceed $100B by 2030.

Notice
Users should exercise caution when participating, be mindful of risks, and conduct thorough research before involvement. Gate.io does not guarantee the future development of projects.


References:

1. Defillama, https://defillama.com/dexs/chains
2. Cointelegraph, https://cointelegraph.com/news/ai16z-s-eliza-labs-launches-ai-powered-pump-fun-alternative-auto-fun
3. X, https://x.com/jessepollak/status/1914330662485807299
4. Coindesk, https://www.coindesk.com/business/2025/04/21/stablecoin-giant-circle-is-launching-a-new-payments-and-remittance-network?utm_content=editorial&utm_source=twitter&utm_term=organic&utm_campaign=coindesk_main&utm_medium=social
5. Cointelegraph, https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-foundation-user-experience-layer-1-scaling-leadership-shift
6. Hyperliquid, https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/validators/delegation-program
7. Coindesk, https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/04/23/floki-teams-with-softbank-partner-rice-robotics-for-tokenization-of-ai-data
   
   
   Gate Research
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