In the crypto world today, a pro-crypto political organization has endorsed Andrew Cuomo in the race for mayor of New York City. Additionally, Grayscale Investments has launched its Solana staking ETF in the United States, and Ethereum’s Fusaka fork has gone live on its final testnet.
Pro-crypto organization supports Andrew Cuomo for NYC mayor as election nears
Innovate NY, a political organization that champions digital assets and has secured around $100,000 in funding ahead of the New York City mayoral race, has thrown its support behind Andrew Cuomo, the independent candidate and former state Governor.
On Tuesday, Innovate NY endorsed Cuomo for the mayoral position, with early voting already underway. The organization highlighted its agenda focusing on “blockchain, tokenization, public-benefit stablecoins, and artificial intelligence.”
Registered as an independent spender with the New York City Campaign Finance Board, Innovate NY has raised $99,500 from six individuals through two companies as noted on Wednesday.
Expenditure records indicate that Innovate NY allocated $30,000 toward a flyer promoting Cuomo and opposing Democratic contender Zohran Mamdani, who currently leads many polls against the former governor.
The mayoral race in New York City has attracted the crypto industry’s attention due to its potential implications for companies operating in the nation’s largest economic center. Voters will select between frontrunners Mamdani, Cuomo, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa on November 4.
In the final stretch of his campaign, Cuomo has made efforts to engage crypto-conscious New Yorkers, promising to establish an Innovation Council with advisory committees for crypto, AI, and biotech if he wins. Meanwhile, Mamdani, leading in polls, has focused primarily on cost-of-living issues rather than digital assets.
Grayscale launches Solana ETF, joining Bitwise in the SOL staking ETF competition
Grayscale Investments has introduced its staking-enabled Solana spot exchange-traded fund (ETF), broadening institutional access to Solana.
As announced on Wednesday, the Grayscale Solana Trust ETF is trading under the GSOL ticker on the New York Stock Exchange Arca, featuring staking functions that allow investors to earn rewards via Solana’s proof-of-stake (PoS) network.
Inkoo Kang, Grayscale’s senior vice president of ETFs, remarked that the new product “expands investor choice.” The company claims to be one of the largest managers of Solana (SOL) exchange-traded products (ETPs) in the U.S., regarding assets under management.
This rollout follows Bitwise’s staking Solana ETF debut on Tuesday, which launched with $222.9 million in assets under management. Grayscale’s launch began with a seed of $102.7 million, notably less than Bitwise’s.
Ethereum’s Fusaka fork geared for mainnet after final testnet launch
The upcoming major upgrade for Ethereum, known as Fusaka, has gone live on its final testnet, Hoodi, paving the way for a mainnet launch on December 3 that aims to introduce various scalability and security enhancements.
Fusaka will incorporate several Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), including Peer Data Availability Sampling, or PeerDAS, through EIP-7594, allowing validators access to smaller data packets on layer 2 networks instead of full blobs, thereby improving node efficiency.
The update will also feature EIP-7825 and EIP-7935, which are designed to increase the gas limit and boost efficiency as Ethereum prepares to enable parallel execution—the simultaneous processing of multiple smart contracts. Other EIPs target improvements for zero-knowledge rollups.
This upgrade is focused on enhancing Ethereum’s scalability, a key aspect of the so-called “blockchain trilemma” coined by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, which also includes decentralization and security.
