Ethereum’s technical development is reaching an incredible, exciting, and somewhat scary turning point. Vitalik Buterin, the project’s founder, has recently proposed a hugely ambitious overhaul of the execution layer. The change will significantly improve the efficiency of generating zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs. This fix addresses a significant bottleneck that prevents Ethereum from achieving its scalability ambitions. Solana is enjoying a wave of institutional interest, as Canadian regulators approve a series of new Solana staking ETFs.

Ethereum's Proposed Overhaul

Vitalik Buterin has shared an ambitious proposal for a complete overhaul of Ethereum’s execution layer on Ethereum Magicians. The legislative proposal would increase the productive capacity of generating zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs. This enhancement addresses an important bottleneck that limits Ethereum’s long-term scalability ambitions. The move is part of Ethereum’s transition to be more scalable.

Buterin’s plan would swap in a new Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) that’s based on RISC-V. This one modification has the potential to greatly improve performance. Our proposed Poseidon Circuit Architecture (PCA) pairs a lightweight RISC-V engine with circuit representations of Poseidon hashing algorithms. Together they will make it orders of magnitude faster than Ethereum’s current system.

This upgrade would reduce prover costs and complexity by a factor of up to 50 to 100 times, leading to 50 – 100 times more efficient creation of ZK-proofs. Such an improvement is fundamental to Ethereum’s long-term scalability, and its hopes of being able to handle radically more complex transactions as the technology evolves.

Solana's Institutional Appeal

As Ethereum considers a technical revolution of its own, Solana is stealing the limelight among institutional investors. Today, Canadian regulators have officially approved four new Solana staking ETFs from 3iQ, Purpose, Evolve and CI Financial. This joint endorsement will be a historic step forward for Solana’s growth, as it indicates rising confidence from traditional finance institutions.

Notably, these Solana ETFs permit institutions to delegate up to 50% of the ETF’s SOL holdings to staking partners. This unique functionality will enable the ETFs to automatically create on-chain yield and rewards. This provides a defined vehicle which allows institutions to take an active part in Solana’s ecosystem.

This approval highlights the growing institutional interest in Solana and its future of being a strong player in the crypto space. This provides a new avenue for investors to access Solana. Meanwhile, they benefit from the protection and regulatory supervision long afforded to traditional financial products.

Crypto Market Trends and Institutional Interest

The overall cryptocurrency market remains a significant focus for institutional investors, with Bitcoin ETFs recording massive volumes. BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC have quickly become the two most actively traded ETFs in the world, reflecting Wall Street’s increasing appetite for ephemeral crypto assets.

"Bitcoin, Solana, Ethereum: institutional FOMO ignites crypto markets with record ETF inflows" - IntoTheBlock

>This increased institutional interest among an expanding universe of cryptocurrencies points to a maturing market landscape. Safeguards and regulatory frameworks are taking more shape. As more institutional-grade investment products come to market, traditional investors will have the appetite for and comfort investing in digital assets.