Public blockchains create a privacy problem. Paying from a visible address can expose its balance, previous transactions and links to other addresses. A shielded Zcash payment hides the sender, recipient and amount from the public record, allowing a customer to pay without handing the merchant or anyone watching the blockchain a searchable trail into their finances.

Zcash block times

Blocks are batches of transactions that miners add to a blockchain, and a payment receives its first confirmation when it appears in one. Cutting Zcash’s target block time would let an exchange or bridge that waits for a fixed number of confirmations release ZEC in about one-third the time.

At a shop counter, it would still be slower than tapping a card, but the shorter wait makes a direct private payment more practical, in the view of Zcash’s developers.

Producing three times as many blocks would not create three times as much ZEC, however. The proposal divides the reward paid with each block by three and extends the halving interval from 1.68 million blocks to 5.04 million, leaving issuance over time largely unchanged.

NU7 would also introduce Zcash’s Network Sustainability Mechanism.

Roughly 60% of transaction fees would be temporarily removed from circulation, rather than paid to miners, under ZIP-235. Those coins are intended to return through block rewards beginning in February 2031, adding to miner income as Zcash’s regular issuance falls through successive halvings.

Ethereum-related non-profit Ethereum Institutional has publicly backed Ethlabs’ push to make the network faster by reducing block times. In a Friday post on X, the group argued that shorter blocks will help Ethereum keep up as more institutional activity continues to move on-chain.

The proposal at the center of the debate is EIP-8198, also referred to by supporters as “Quick Slots.” Ethlabs says it is working to align the proposal’s specifications with Ethereum’s main codebase and assess downstream dependencies so the change can fit into the upcoming Hegotá upgrade cycle.

Key takeaways

• Ethereum Institutional backed EIP-8198’s “Quick Slots” concept, citing growing on-chain institutional usage.
• EIP-8198 targets reducing Ethereum block times from 12 seconds to an initial 10 seconds.
• Ethlabs says it is merging the proposal into the main codebase and investigating dependencies to qualify for Hegotá.
• Other networks—such as Zcash and Solana—have already moved toward faster block/slot timing, highlighting competitive pressure.

Why EIP-8198 is back in the spotlight

Ethlabs’ effort focuses on a straightforward performance lever: reduce the time between Ethereum blocks. Ethereum Institutional’s support reinforces that framing. According to the organization’s X post, the motivation is not only technical improvement but also timing relevance—“more institutional activity moves onchain,” and therefore the network’s responsiveness matters.

Support for the change is also being presented as broad-based within DeFi. Ethlabs published an article quoting 20 decentralized finance founders who said they support EIP-8198. Their message is consistent with the idea that faster block production can improve the user experience and potentially reduce the friction created by slower transaction finality dynamics.

The next question for investors and ecosystem participants is what “faster” means in practice. EIP-8198’s specific initial target is to bring Ethereum’s block time down to 10 seconds from 12 seconds. That is a measurable shift, but whether it materially changes higher-level outcomes—such as execution quality, latency-sensitive trading, or DeFi responsiveness—will depend on implementation details and how other protocol components behave alongside block timing.

From proposal to Hegotá: what Ethlabs says it is doing

EIP-8198 was authored in March and was proposed for inclusion in the Hegotá upgrade at an Ethereum core developers meeting on Aug. 6. The proposal is now associated with a concrete implementation pathway through Ethlabs’ work.

Ethlabs stated that it is merging the proposal’s specifications with Ethereum’s main codebase and investigating potential downstream dependencies. That wording matters: reducing block times is not simply a parameter change. Dependencies can include how other parts of the client and protocol schedule operate, which can affect performance stability and compatibility as the network approaches Hegotá.

If everything aligns, Ethereum developers could begin implementing Hegotá in late 2026 after Glamsterdam. While the exact sequencing and final scope of any upgrade always depend on ongoing engineering review, the timeline provides a framework for how quickly stakeholders may see this debate translate into code.

A broader industry trend: faster slots and blocks

Ethereum’s push is happening amid comparable efforts across other networks. The motivation is widely shared: lower timing intervals can improve latency and confirmation speeds, which tends to matter for both retail users and institutions that require more predictable execution.

On Monday, Cointelegraph previously reported that the majority of Zcash token holders backed a move to cut the network’s target block time to 25 seconds, down from 75 seconds. In August, Cointelegraph noted that Solana reduced its slot time from 400 milliseconds to 350 milliseconds. Earlier, in June, the Solana Foundation shared plans to reduce slot times further—from 400 ms to 200 ms—arguing that this change would improve latency and accelerate confirmations.

These initiatives illustrate a market-wide dynamic: networks are competing not only on features, but on how quickly users can get from submission to confirmation. For Ethereum, which often emphasizes long-term stability and careful upgrade coordination, the question is how to deliver speed without undermining reliability.

What to watch as implementation approaches

Support from Ethereum Institutional and DeFi founders may help generate ecosystem momentum, but the timeline still hinges on engineering. Readers should focus on whether Ethlabs’ dependency work confirms the path to inclusion in Hegotá, and whether implementation begins in late 2026 as expected after Glamsterdam.

As the industry continues to compress block and slot timing, Ethereum’s next milestone will be translating EIP-8198 from advocacy into dependable client behavior—where the benefits of “Quick Slots” can be measured against any trade-offs that emerge during testing and upgrade planning.

“We are actively working toward becoming MiCA-authorised and view this as an important step in providing users with a consistent, regulated, and trusted service across the European market,” the spokesperson said.

Binance withdrew its Greek application in mid-June and began winding down operations after officials at the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC) decided not to approve Binance’s MiCA license request at the last minute.

Gillian Lynch, Binance’s head of Europe, told CoinDesk in early July that the exchange had met all of the HCMC’s requirements.

“We were deemed to have a complete application,” Lynch said. “Nothing was missing, nothing material was outstanding.”

The WSJ also reported ESMA privately advised national financial regulators to reject Binance’s MiCA applications over concerns with the exchange’s past compliance issues.

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the founder of Binance, pleaded guilty in the U.S. in 2023 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines. He served a four-month prison sentence in California in 2024 and was pardoned by President Donald Trump in October 2025.

An ECB spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by CoinDesk. The ECB has no institutional role in authorizing crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), they said. That remains the jurisdiction of national competent authorities, in this case, the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC).

Predictive-policing is wrong, but it stems from the long-time surveillance of the American people. It is these various surveillance mechanisms that have empowered the state to target anyone for anything, even before they commit a crime — if they were going to commit a crime at all. Thus, DHS should end PITT’s use of financial information and other data for predictive-policing. Congress should direct the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to independently audit the DHS’s data sources, targeting criteria, retention practices, false-positive rates, and information-sharing, and assess the program’s compliance with the Fourth Amendment and other applicable laws. The GAO should be required to publish its findings for further action.

Congress must ensure that federal agencies cannot circumvent any Fourth Amendment protections by using secret profiles to manufacture suspicion. Judicial authorization should be required before the DHS can use sensitive financial records in an investigation of a specific suspected crime, and full disclosure whenever federal data analysis triggers a traffic stop.

Surveillance places all of us at the judgment and mercy of the state, where our activities, associations, or beliefs can easily be deemed criminal — or potentially criminal — and we have no way of defending ourselves. This is deeply un-American. The state should not be leveraging information to decide whether or not you may be a criminal and then tipping local law enforcement based on their judgment. The American people should be free to live authentically and with dignity without fear of wrongful prosecution. It is within our constitutional rights, and it is time the federal government be reminded of the

The balance sheet of Amazon carries $190 billion worth of an investment partially tied to none other than Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX infamy.

Not only did Bankman-Fried invest in Anthropic — in which Amazon now owns $190 billion worth of equity — he also funded an entity that became Model Evaluation and Threat Research (METR), an ostensibly independent evaluator with direct ties to the Effective Altruism movement.

METR, which has provided safety assurances for Amazon and Anthropic’s AI models, checks frontier AI companies like Anthropic and Amazon for safety, and is concerned about a “fast takeoff” of models with human “misalignment” that might hide “recursive” self-coding capabilities to achieve “superintelligence” and kill humans.

The “p(doom)” or probability of doom among METR workers is high. The buzzwords above are real jargon among AI security workers and if their concerns sound bizarre, there’s precedent for those beliefs: the effective altruism movement.

Specifically, METR’s predecessor took $1.25 million from Bankman-Fried’s effective altruism charity, FTX Foundation. METR is also staffed and funded today by effective altruists.

That $1.25 million donation arrived in July 2022, four months before FTX went bankrupt because Bankman-Fried was stealing FTX customers’ money.

As part of the budget that allowed the Alignment Research Center to operate for over a year before it renamed to METR in 2023, METR eventually returned the $1.25 donation it received from FTX in 2024, because “we now believe that this money morally (if not legally) belongs to FTX customers or creditors.”

FTX also funded Anthropic directly. Bankman-Fried bought a $500 million Anthropic stake using FTX customers’ funds in April 2022.

Solana price rose more than 4% on Sep. 18, reclaiming $105 in a derivatives-driven rebound, and a move above short-term resistance strengthened bullish momentum.

Solana price action today

According to data from crypto.news, Solana (SOL) price climbed from a daily opening price of $101.63 to about $105.89 at the time of writing, representing a gain of 4.18%. The token traded between an intraday low of $100.90 and a high of $106.67.

The recovery extended a rebound from below $97 earlier in the week and returned SOL to the upper end of its September trading range. Buyers defended the $100 psychological level before pushing the price through the $103–$105 area.

SOL also gained alongside a wider crypto-market rebound following the Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision. Short liquidations added buying pressure as traders who had positioned for further losses were forced to close bearish positions.

The advance offered some relief after regulatory uncertainty weighed on digital assets following the U.S. Senate’s failure to advance the CLARITY Act. However, the charts suggest SOL’s next move will depend on whether buyers can hold the breakout rather than the size of the initial rebound alone.

Technical indicators favor buyers above $100

Solana’s daily chart shows the price trading above all four major moving averages. The 20-day simple moving average stood at $101.87, providing the nearest dynamic support.

Longer-term averages remained farther below the market. The 50-day SMA was near $90.62, while the 100-day and 200-day averages were clustered around $83.55 and $82.68, respectively.

SOL’s position above those averages keeps its broader recovery structure intact. The 20-day line has also turned upward, while the shorter averages remain above the longer-term indicators.

The average directional index registered 41.91 on the daily chart. An ADX reading above 25 typically points to a strong trend, although it does not determine whether that trend will move higher or lower. In SOL’s case, the price structure and moving-average alignment currently favor buyers.

The 4-hour chart presents a more cautious short-term picture. SOL traded above the Bollinger Bands’ middle line at $100.09 and briefly exceeded the upper band near $105.47. A move outside the upper band can signal strong momentum, but it may also precede a pause as volatility expands.

4-hour relative strength index reached 71.37, above the commonly watched overbought threshold of 70. The reading does not confirm an immediate reversal, though it shows that the rally has become stretched and could face profit-taking.

SOL liquidation map points to $107–$108

CoinGlass’ 24-hour liquidation heatmap shows SOL advancing from below $100 to above $105 as the price moved through several leverage clusters.

The nearest concentration of overhead liquidity appears between approximately $106.50 and $108. Bright bands in that region indicate leveraged positions that could be liquidated if SOL continues higher. Price often moves toward concentrated liquidity, although a heatmap cannot predict whether the market will reach those levels.

A break above $106.67, the session high, could expose $107–$108 as the next immediate target. Clearing that range would place the late-August and early-September highs around $110–$112 back in focus.

Liquidity is also building below the current price. The strongest nearby bands appear between $103 and $105, followed by clusters near $100–$101. The structure makes $103 the first area buyers need to defend if the rally loses momentum.

A drop below $100 would weaken the breakout and could send SOL toward the 4-hour lower Bollinger Band near $94.71. On the daily chart, the 50-day average near $90.62 would form the next broader support zone.

Analysts see $100 as a major support floor

Crypto analyst Ali Martinez said on-chain data showed more than 40 million SOL had traded around $100, creating what he described as a major support floor.

Martinez also pointed to a possible cup-and-handle pattern on Solana’s weekly chart, with a neckline near $360. He said a confirmed breakout above that level could open a longer-term path toward $1,300.

The projection remains far above SOL’s current market price and depends on a confirmed weekly breakout that has not occurred. SOL would first need to clear several closer resistance areas, including $108, $112 and $130.

Pseudonymous analyst Scient offered a nearer-term target, saying SOL could extend toward $130 following the daily support-and-resistance flip. The trader said he planned to reduce half of his spot position around that level and look for a possible re-entry near $90.

Both outlooks treat the $100 area as a key dividing line. The current daily chart supports that view because SOL’s 20-day average sits just above $101, while the liquidation map shows several leveraged clusters around the same region.

What comes next for Solana price

Solana’s short-term setup favors buyers while the token holds above $103 and the 20-day average near $101.87. A decisive close above $106.67 could allow SOL to target the $107–$108 liquidation zone, followed by the previous local highs near $110–$112.

Momentum risk has increased, however, because the 4-hour RSI has entered overbought territory and price has moved above the upper Bollinger Band. Failure to hold $103 could trigger a retest of $100, where both technical support and a large on-chain cost basis are concentrated.

For U.S. investors, the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook and congressional progress on crypto market-structure legislation remain external risks. SOL’s technical breakout may hold while risk appetite remains firm, but renewed pressure across U.S. equities and crypto derivatives could expose the liquidity clusters below $100.