Vitalik Buterin has presented a multi-phase roadmap for scaling Ethereum's transaction capacity while maintaining decentralization, centered on execution upgrades and zero-knowledge proofs. The plan combines short-term changes like ePBS and gas model adjustments with longer-term reliance on blobs and ZK-EVMs to raise throughput without overburdening validators.

On 27 February 2026, Ripple Labs detailed a 2026 overhaul of the XRP Ledger ecosystem, shifting from a Ripple-run grants engine to a decentralized builder framework with regional hubs, DAOs and venture backing. The roadmap includes Zero-Knowledge privacy tools, the XLS-66 native lending protocol, an EVM sidechain and broader RLUSD stablecoin expansion, while XRP changes hands around $1.43 amid mixed analyst projections.

On 25 February, t54 Labs announced Ripple as a strategic investor in its $5 million seed round to build agent payments infrastructure on the XRP Ledger via x402 with a compliance-first design and RLUSD. Data from agentevm shows Ethereum hosts 27,903 distributed AI agents and Base 20,623, while RLUSD stands at about $1.5386 billion in circulating supply and $1.6109 billion in reserves.

Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet warned that Elliptic Curve Cryptography underpinning blockchain keys could be compromised by sufficiently powerful quantum computers, and said preparation must begin well before such capability arrives. On February 27, 2026, he described post quantum experiments inside secure elements, while experts caution that about seven million BTC, including roughly one million linked to Satoshi Nakamoto, could be exposed.

Ripple is overhauling how it funds development on the XRP Ledger after allocating more than $550 million to around 200 projects since 2017, shifting from a centralized grants program to a network of independent funding bodies coordinated via the XRPL Funding Hub. The roadmap emphasizes institutional use cases, including ZK-proof based confidential transactions, the proposed XLS-66 lending protocol, expansion of RLUSD to Ethereum Layer 2 networks, and growing participation from venture funds, alongside analyst XRP price targets and key technical levels.

Barclays is reportedly assessing blockchain-based settlement infrastructure and tokenized deposit systems as the stablecoin market expands toward $300 billion in circulation. The bank has taken an infrastructure-focused approach, including an investment in Ubyx, while forecasts from major institutions see stablecoin issuance potentially reaching into the trillions by the end of the decade.

On February 27, 2026, Amazon.com, Inc. said it would invest $50 billion in OpenAI as part of the AI firm's $110 billion private funding round, valuing OpenAI at $730 billion pre-money. The multi-year arrangement also designates Amazon Web Services as OpenAI's exclusive third-party cloud provider and expands OpenAI's AWS usage by $100 billion over eight years. Amazon shares traded around $208.21 with a modest intraday gain and a market cap near $2.218 trillion following the announcement.

On February 26, 2026, Representatives Zoe Lofgren, Ben Cline, and Scott Fitzgerald introduced the Promoting Innovation in Blockchain Development Act of 2026 to adjust how federal criminal law treats blockchain software creators. The bill focuses on Section 1960 of the Federal Criminal Code and defines "non-controlling developers" to distinguish coders from money transmitters. It follows high-profile Tornado Cash and Samourai Wallet convictions and complements a separate Senate bill introduced in January 2026.