Month At A Glance — July 2025
A quick rundown of the latest happenings and significant milestones within the Tezos ecosystem for July 2025.
Welcome to our latest issue, Month At A Glance (July 2025), where we give a quick rundown of the latest happenings and significant milestones in the Tezos ecosystem on a monthly cadence.
July felt like a shift into execution mode. TezDev 2025 delivered big reveals and real-time demos that showed just how far the ecosystem has come, from Etherlink powering AAA games, to DeFi incentives gaining traction, to core protocol upgrades like Seoul moving into governance. Meanwhile, we saw major players shipping on-chain, Tezos making an appearance at policy tables, and the community pushing forward across art, infrastructure, and real-world assets. A packed month with clear signs that the pace is picking up.
Let’s break it all down.
Ecosystem Insights
TezDev 2025 Sets the Tone for the Second Half 
TezDev 2025 kicked off the month with real momentum, bringing the Tezos community together in Cannes for a day packed with announcements, demos, and shared vision. From huge Etherlink-powered gaming reveals like John Smedley’s Reaper Actual, to thoughtful panels on DeFi, RWA, and digital art, the event highlighted just how far the ecosystem has come.
In my personal recap, I called it the best TezDev yet, and I really meant it. It did actually feel like a turning point, less talk about what’s coming, and more focus on what’s already being built and shipped. For anyone who missed it, it’s worth reading the full write-up here: TezDev 2025 — A Personal Recap.
Reaper Actual Announced: A AAA Game Built on Etherlink
Among the standout moments at TezDev was the surprise reveal of Reaper Actual. A gritty, squad-based FPS led by John Smedley (EverQuest, Planetside) and built on Tezos’ Etherlink rollup. It aims for mass adoption without forcing Web3 mechanics, letting players dive in via Steam or Epic like any other game, while keeping on-chain item ownership and trading just a click away for those who want it. Backed by a $30.5M raise, the project shows serious intent, and judging by the live reactions and hands-on demos, it delivered.
For a deeper look at the game and its design choices, check the full article on Spotlight, and scroll through Sam Steffanina’s recap for a taste of the excitement on the ground.
Etherlink Keeps Shipping: Kernel Upgrade and Sequencer Vote Complete
Midway through the month, Etherlink quietly rolled out a major kernel upgrade (v4.1), doubling its throughput, smoothing out gas estimates, and making it easier for bakers to take part in governance using delegated keys. Around the same time, the community also wrapped up its first sequencer vote, officially handing operations over from MIDL.dev to Optimistic Labs. The sequencer is now Tokyo-bound, with the switch set to complete by August 15.
It’s another reminder that Etherlink isn’t just promising scaling, it’s delivering it, piece by piece, with upgrades landing on-chain and governance happening in the open.
Seoul Upgrade Proposal Injected: Multisig, Aggregated Attestations & Smoother Staking UX
Following the energy from TezDev and Etherlink, the Tezos community moved into governance on the Seoul proposal (a.k.a. PtSeouLou), marking the protocol’s 19th upgrade prospect. Co-authored by Nomadic Labs, Trilitech, and Functori, Seoul aims to improve staking experience, introduce native multisig accounts (via tz4 support), and streamline overall protocol performance through aggregated attestations and open unstake finalization.
The proposal has already passed its initial injection phase with strong support and is now moving into exploration voting. Concurrently, Octez v23.0~rc1 has launched — letting bakers and developers test Seoul features on Ghostnet or Seoulnet, including native multisig capabilities, upgraded baker binaries, and support for new account types. To learn more about Seoul, you can take a look at the announcement post.
Apple Farm Season 2 Launches: Over $3M in DeFi Rewards on Etherlink
Etherlink just kicked off Season 2 of its Apple Farm incentive program, rolling out more than $3 million in applXTZ rewards to stoke DeFi activity on the network. Season 2 builds on a strong debut, where Season 1 delivered ~$47M in TVL and ~$3M in XTZ rewards, and introduces a fresh token structure: 20% of rewards are claimable upfront, while the remaining 80% vests over six months.
This installment also expands the roster of DeFi dApps, now including partners like Jumper. Exchange, Lombard, Curve, Gearbox, Stacy.fi, Hanji, Superlend, and IguanaDEX. Incentives are tailored dynamically, updated every two weeks based on demand and user engagement.
If Apple Farm Season 1 was a test run, Season 2 is a statement: Etherlink is honing incentive mechanics that reward active behavior while stretching its ecosystem reach.
News From The Tezos Ecosystem: Quick Bits
Beyond those insights, the ecosystem saw plenty of other noteworthy developments worth a quick look:
Midas Launches mMEV & mRe7YIELD on EtherlinkMidas just rolled out two tokenized yield products, mMEV and mRe7YIELD, on Etherlink, targeting institutional-grade DeFi exposure. mMEV captures MEV opportunities; mRe7YIELD targets diversified yield strategies. Both operate through self‑custodied ERC‑20 tokens and are overseen by MEV Capital and Re7 Capital, adding professional risk management to decentralised strategies.
Lombard Brings LBTC (Liquid Staked Bitcoin) to Etherlink Lombard Finance officially launched LBTC on Etherlink this month, integrating Bitcoin liquidity into the Tezos L2 ecosystem. LBTC is a fully‑backed, yield‑bearing Bitcoin derivative that users can bridge in and redeem 1:1 for BTC. It’s already live on platforms like Superlend, Hanji, IguanaDEX, and OKU, with future integrations planned on Curve, Gearbox, and Morpho. The debut also ties into Apple Farm Season 2, where LBTC holders can earn applXTZ rewards.
xU3O8 Listed on Centralized Exchanges Uranium.io’s tokenized uranium asset xU3O8 (Uranium‑backed ERC‑20) has landed on three major exchanges, KuCoin, MEXC, and Gate.io, unlocking access to institutional-grade uranium exposure for a combined user base of over 115 million traders.
TZ Apex Season 6 Wrapped: Fantasy Quests, AI Art & moreSeason 6 of TZ Apex ran throughout July, blending AI-generated fantasy worlds, avatar design, puzzles, prediction games, and more. Users earned points via interactive quests, claiming digital prizes and participating in a gacha-style rewards system. The campaign closed smoothly, all rewards have now been fully distributed. It was another well-executed run that brought creators, builders, and community members together in a fun, low-barrier way.
Arthur Breitman Attends GENIUS Act Signing at the White HouseArthur Breitman, co-founder of Tezos and member of the Tezos Foundation Council, was in D.C. this month for the signing of the GENIUS Act, a new U.S. law focused on stablecoin regulation. It’s a small moment on the surface, but it speaks volumes. Tezos was invited to the table, recognized as part of the broader policy conversation around regulated, governance-focused blockchains.
Ankr Debuts Etherlink RPC Access — No Node RequiredAnnounced right at July’s close, Ankr rolled out official RPC support for Etherlink. Developers can now connect seamlessly to the chain via globally distributed endpoints, HTTP, WebSocket, and archive access, without running their own full nodes.
Events
Artz Fridays w Musica W3 — July 4th
Tuesday🎙Tezday Community Call —July 8th
Artz Fridays w Salawaki — July 11th
Tuesday🎙Tezday w Beata Lipska — July 15th
Artz Fridays w NFTipi — July 18th
Tuesday🎙Tezday Community Call — July 22nd
Artz Fridays Community Call — July 25th
Tuesday🎙Tezday w Thomas Letan —July 29th
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Month At A Glance — July 2025 was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.