Freedom Tech

gm Bankless Nation,
The ongoing protests in Iran further showcase the startling power of the modern authoritarian state to silence its people by leveraging centralized controls over telecommunications.

As the crackdown intensifies, David examines the role of Iranian builders across tech and what decentralization and censorship resistance mean in practice, under real-world pressure.

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We’re entering the fourth week of Iranian protests, and things have turned very dark.

Even with an internet blackout, videos of millions of people in the streets fighting for their freedom found their way out. The last estimates I saw suggested roughly 5–7% of Iran’s population participated nationwide, with 1.5–2 million protesters in Tehran alone.

Now those videos have stopped emerging.

On Days 4 and 5 of the internet blackout, the regime has done its best to plug its holes and plan for their most brutal crackdown yet, recruiting foreign militia groups from Iraq and other neighboring countries to assist them in violently stamping out the uprising. 

The Anti-Authoritarian Tech Stack on Bankless

Across the globe, new technologies are enabling oppressed peoples to circumvent government controls.

BanklessDavid Hoffman Jan 10, 2026 • 4 min read

It doesn’t matter if 7% of the total population is protesting when the IRGC has machine guns and the protesters only have their bare hands. Absent foreign intervention, the Iranian people are being silenced by the regime. 

Which is why I want to dedicate today’s Ethereum Weekly post to the Iranian builders in the Ethereum and crypto community. 

Iranians have a long record of achievement across many fields, and Iranian builders have played a meaningful role in the Ethereum ecosystem.

The brain drain of talent from Iran has benefited the rest of the world immensely. But many of these gifted builders still have family back home who are under the oppressive rule of the regime, and that reality is never far from their minds.

Viktor Frankl wrote in Man’s Search for Meaning that purpose is a core ingredient of human resilience and well-being. Having a light inside of you motivates you to work hard, help your community, and improve your life and the lives of those around you. 

For many Iranians, the hope of seeing their families and their homeland free runs deep.

Of all communities that make up our industry, Iranians are among those who most benefit from the technology we are building. Crypto is freedom technology, and Iranians sit alongside the many other oppressed peoples across the globe who deeply need this technology. 

So, as you continue to read about the events in Iran, I ask you to look around and notice the Iranians in your life. 

Many want to see their families again and their country set free. Many feel helpless, able to do little beyond asking for international awareness.

Silence is the regime's goal.

Pay attention. Listen.

📈 The Asset

• Total ETH staked reached a new ATH of +35.9M
• Bitmine, the biggest ETH treasury company, published its latest holdings update and invested $200M into Mr. Beast’s Beast Industries

🏛️ The Protocol

• Ethereum daily txs reached an ATH of +2.95M on Jan. 14th
• Tomasz K. Stańczak highlighted the milestones necessary to bring zkEVM into Ethereum
• Glamsterdam already has four EIPs approved for inclusion

📱 The Apps

• Base app is shifting to finance-first UX
• ETHGas unveiled its governance token, $GWEI
• Jumper launched Jumper Earn and Jumper Portfolio
• Lighter rolled out its mobile app
• OpenSea is advising users to link their wallets ahead of its TGE
• Polygon is planning to launch a stablecoin payments platform in the U.S.
• Realms Blitz, an onchain RTS game on Starknet, is hosting its Season 0 gameplay this weekend — video guide for the curious
• The Sandbox launched Corners, a new internet curation app, on Base
• Uniswap is nearing $3T traded atop Ethereum
• Zerion launched Zerion Feed, a discovery and copy-trading tool

🤫 The Privacy Stack

• Ethereum’s X account held its 1st livestream, which was focused on onchain privacy
• Hinkal introduced a new Private Send feature for public wallets 

🐸 The Culture

• The EF released the first video from its New Media team’s latest workshop and introduced a revamped events page
• Vitalik: “Ethereum must pass the walkaway test” and “The decentralized renaissance is coming”

💽 The Tech

• BTCS is integrating Spire’s DA Builder
• Cody Gunton published “zkEVM Security Overview”
• ECF released the Ethereum MCP, an Ethereum research hub powered by Claude
• Ethereum’s Ecosystem reached a new ATH of 58,786 TPS
• ethstaker introduced its Staker Console system for solo stakers
• MegaETH opensourced its Stateless Validator code
• Optimism rolled out Actions for streamlined DeFi composability
• ZKsync published its 2026 roadmap

Washington takes center stage this week as crypto collides with power, policy, and markets.

Ryan and David break down the CLARITY Act fight in the Senate, why banks want to kill stablecoin yield, and why Coinbase says the bill may be worse than no bill at all. They also unpack Trump’s DOJ targeting Jerome Powell and what it means for Fed independence, silver’s explosive move as markets search for safety, X’s push toward becoming a crypto super app, and the NYC mayor’s meme coin disaster.

Tune into this week’s Rollup! 👇