Ethereum Turns 10 as Linea Unveils ETH-Burning L2 Upgrade and Solana Charts Capital Markets Future

Ethereum marked its 10-year anniversary on July 30, celebrating a decade of transforming blockchain from “digital gold” to a programmable “World Computer.” Since launching in 2015, Ethereum has become the backbone of decentralized finance (DeFi), NFTs, and tokenization. Ether (ETH) recently rebounded to $3,800 from $1,500 in April, fueled by new use cases, stablecoin growth, and treasury holdings by companies seeking yield. Industry leaders reflected on Ethereum’s evolution and its growing embrace by traditional finance.

Meanwhile, Linea, an Ethereum layer-2 network developed by Consensys, announced a sweeping protocol upgrade set for October 2025. The update introduces ETH-native staking, an ETH burn mechanism on every transaction, and allocates 85% of LINEA token supply to ecosystem development. Declan Fox, Head of Linea, highlighted the move as a step toward embedding deflationary pressure into Ethereum’s base layer while rewarding builders and public goods.

In parallel, Solana’s ecosystem revealed its “Internet Capital Markets” roadmap, aimed at reshaping on-chain finance through Application-Controlled Execution (ACE). This framework gives smart contracts millisecond-level control over transaction sequencing, a critical innovation for decentralized trading.

Other notable developments include Square’s rollout of Lightning-powered Bitcoin payments for merchants, targeting full availability by 2026, and MicroStrategy rival Strategy acquiring $2.4 billion in BTC via preferred stock issuance, boosting its holdings to 628,791 BTC. Regulatory momentum continues in the U.S. with Senator Cynthia Lummis introducing a bill allowing cryptocurrency holdings to secure mortgages, while Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm declined to testify in his ongoing trial.