Today in crypto: Anthony Sassano said that Ethereum’s gas limit reaching 180 million is “the floor” for next year, CoinShares withdrew its Securities and Exchange Commission application for a staked Solana fund. Meanwhile, KuCoin has secured a MiCA license in Austria as it steps up its European expansion.
Ethereum tripling its gas limit is the ‘floor, we can go higher’ — Sassano
Ethereum educator Anthony Sassano said the goal to significantly increase Ethereum’s gas limit to 180 million next year is a baseline rather than a best-case scenario.
“I think that’s the floor, that’s the minimum, I think we can go higher than that,” Sassano said during an interview on the Bankless podcast on Friday, just a day after Ethereum mainnet block gas limit, which is the maximum amount of work the network allows in each block, was raised from 45 million to 60 million.
“The general consensus that has been set by the core developers and researchers is that they want to aim for at least a 3X increase in the gas limit for the next couple of years,” he said.
Sassano pointed out that some Ethereum core developers are even discussing a potential fivefold increase in the gas limit within the next year.
CoinShares withdraws SEC filing for staked Solana ETF
Asset manager CoinShares withdrew its Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) application for a staked Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) on Friday.
The structuring deal and asset purchase behind the proposed fund were never completed, according to the SEC filing, which states:
“The Registration Statement sought to register shares to be issued in connection with a transaction that was ultimately not effectuated. No shares were sold, or will be sold, pursuant to the above-mentioned Registration Statement.”
The first staked Solana (SOL) ETF, issued by REX-Osprey, debuted in the United States in June, followed by investment company Bitwise’s staked SOL ETF in October.
Bitwise’s ETF launched with nearly $223 million in assets on its first day of trading, managing to rack up about half the value accrued in the REX-Osprey ETF, which had been trading for months at that point, according to ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.
Despite the launch of staked Solana ETFs and investor demand for these products, the price of SOL has not kept pace and has been in a downtrend since its high of over $250 per coin in September.
KuCoin’s EU arm secures MiCA license in Austria, Malta excluded
Major cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin is the latest company to secure a license under the European Union’s MiCA framework.
KuCoin’s European arm, KuCoin EU, secured a MiCA license from the Financial Market Authority of Austria, the company said in a statement shared with Cointelegraph on Friday.
The authorization allows KuCoin EU to offer crypto asset services across 29 countries in the European Economic Area (EEA), excluding Malta, according to the exchange’s representatives.
“Securing the MiCA license with our local entity in Austria is a defining milestone in KuCoin’s long-term trust and compliance strategy,” KuCoin CEO BC Wong said, adding that the regulatory framework is “one of the highest regulatory standards worldwide.”
KuCoin’s MiCA approval follows its license application filed in early 2025, arriving months after several crypto asset providers (CASPs), including Austria-based Bitpanda, had already secured MiCA authorization in other EU member states.
“The decision to choose Austria was primarily driven by the timely implementation of the MiCA accompanying laws, the stable and foreseeable regulatory environment as well as the huge talent pool,” the exchange said in a statement in February.
Alongside KuCoin, Austria’s FMA has issued MiCA licenses to five more CASPs: crypto-friendly Amina Bank, Bitpanda, Bybit, Cryptonow and FIOR Digital.
