In today’s crypto news, a pro-crypto political organization has endorsed Andrew Cuomo in the race for New York City mayor. Additionally, Grayscale Investments has introduced its staking-enabled Solana ETF in the U.S., and Ethereum’s Fusaka fork has gone live on the last testnet.
Pro-crypto group endorses Andrew Cuomo for NYC mayor as elections near
Innovate NY, a political organization advocating for digital assets, has provided support for independent candidate and former state Governor Andrew Cuomo, backed by approximately $100,000 ahead of the New York City mayoral election.
In a notice released on Tuesday, Innovate NY endorsed Cuomo for mayor as early voting is already underway. The group highlighted an agenda focused on “blockchain, tokenization, public-benefit stablecoins, and artificial intelligence.”
Registered as an independent spender with the New York City Campaign Finance Board, Innovate NY was funded with $99,500 from six individuals through two companies as of Wednesday.
Expenditure records show that Innovate NY allocated $30,000 towards a flyer supporting Cuomo while opposing Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, who is currently leading in polls against the former New York governor.
The NYC mayoral race has attracted significant attention from the crypto industry due to its potential influence on businesses within the nation’s largest economic center. Voters will select from frontrunners Mamdani, Cuomo, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa on November 4.
In the campaign’s closing weeks, Cuomo has reached out to crypto-savvy voters, promising to establish an Innovation Council with advisory committees for crypto, AI, and biotech if elected. Mamdani, who leads in polls against Cuomo, has largely steered clear of discussions about digital assets, focusing instead on issues like childcare and affordable housing.
Grayscale launches Solana ETF, entering competition with Bitwise
Grayscale Investments has introduced its staking-enabled Solana spot exchange-traded fund (ETF), broadening institutional access to Solana investments.
According to a Wednesday announcement, the Grayscale Solana Trust ETF began trading under the GSOL ticker on the NYSE Arca platform. This product includes staking capabilities, allowing investors to earn rewards via Solana’s proof-of-stake (PoS) network.
Grayscale’s senior vice president of ETFs, Inkoo Kang, stated that the new product is “expanding investor choice.” The firm is now one of the largest managers of Solana (SOL) exchange-traded products (ETPs) in the U.S. based on assets under management.
This launch follows Bitwise’s staking Solana ETF, which debuted on Tuesday with $222.9 million in assets under management. Grayscale’s launch was initiated with a seed of $102.7 million, less than half of Bitwise’s initial amount.
Ethereum’s Fusaka fork set for mainnet after final testnet launch
Ethereum’s anticipated upgrade, Fusaka, was activated on the blockchain’s final testnet, Hoodi, on Tuesday, paving the way for a mainnet launch scheduled for December 3 that will introduce various scalability and security enhancements to the network.
Fusaka will incorporate a number of Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), including Peer Data Availability Sampling, or PeerDAS, via EIP-7594, which allows validators to access smaller data pieces on layer 2 networks instead of full blobs, improving node efficiency.
EIP-7825 and EIP-7935 are also included in this update, aiming to increase the gas limit and enhance efficiency in preparation for Ethereum’s transition to allowing parallel execution, which will enable the simultaneous processing of multiple smart contracts. Additional EIPs target the improvement of zero-knowledge rollups.
This upgrade is focused on enhancing Ethereum’s scalability, one part of the “blockchain trilemma” defined by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, which also encompasses decentralization and security.
