The DAO Reboots, Backpack Nears a TGE: What Overseas Crypto Is Talking About Today
The DAO Reboots, Backpack Nears a TGE: What Overseas Crypto Is Talking About Today
Published: January 30, 2026
Author: BlockBeats Editorial Team
Over the past 24 hours, global crypto discussions have converged around one recurring theme: major platforms and protocols are entering “decision moments” where narrative turns into execution. On the agenda are (1) Backpack’s token expectations as its points program advances, (2) the rise of ERC-8004 as an on-chain “trust layer” for agents, (3) The DAO’s unexpected comeback—this time as a security endowment, and (4) ongoing macro debate around U.S. Federal Reserve leadership changes and what that implies for liquidity and risk assets. Meanwhile, ecosystem development continues to tilt toward institutional-grade products, with Solana increasingly associated with real-world assets (RWA) and regulated on-chain instruments. (theblock.co)
1) Backpack and the “TGE Clock”: When Points Start Feeling Like Pre-Launch
In overseas communities, Backpack is being discussed less as “just another exchange” and more as a product cycle approaching its next milestone: a widely anticipated Token Generation Event (TGE)—even though no official token contract has been announced publicly.
What’s fueling this expectation is not a single teaser, but the structure and cadence of Backpack’s points program:
- The program is organized into seasons, with points distributed weekly.
- Criteria are “intentionally opaque,” which keeps participants focused on broad activity rather than gaming one rule.
- Ranks reset each season, creating repeated engagement loops rather than a one-time campaign.
(See: Backpack Exchange Points Program) (support.backpack.exchange)
At the same time, broader market sentiment is increasingly measurable. Prediction markets are explicitly pricing “Backpack launches a token by March 31, 2026” as a high-probability outcome—useful as a sentiment indicator, but not a substitute for an official announcement. (Reference: Polymarket market rules and context) (polymarket.com)
User takeaway: the real risk is not “missing the TGE”—it’s getting tricked before it happens
Historically, whenever a TGE narrative becomes mainstream, scams scale faster than truth. If you’re preparing for a potential airdrop or token launch, treat these as non-negotiables:
- Only trust announcements from Backpack’s verified channels and official documentation.
- Verify token contract addresses on-chain and cross-check them across multiple official posts.
- Assume “early claim” links are hostile until proven otherwise.
This is exactly the type of market phase where self-custody hygiene matters. If you plan to hold any meaningful allocation beyond short-term trading, moving long-term funds to a hardware wallet reduces exposure to phishing, malicious browser extensions, and compromised devices.
2) ERC-8004 on Mainnet? The Bigger Story Is “On-Chain Trust for Agents”
Another thread gaining traction is ERC-8004: Trustless Agents—a draft Ethereum standard that proposes lightweight registries (identity, reputation, validation) to help users discover and evaluate agents across organizations without assuming trust.
The important nuance: ERC-8004 is still marked Draft, but discussion and early integrations are accelerating—especially as the “agent economy” collides with on-chain payments and accountable execution. (Reference: ERC-8004 specification and Ethereum Magicians discussion thread). (eips.ethereum.org)
Why crypto users should care (even if you’re not building agents)
ERC-8004 is part of a broader trend: standards that make internet-native coordination auditable.
If the next cycle is shaped by autonomous services (agents that trade, route, negotiate, execute), the market will demand:
- Identity primitives (who/what is acting)
- Reputation signals (how it behaved historically)
- Validation hooks (whether work can be checked)
That’s not just a developer topic—it’s a user-safety topic. It’s also likely to spawn new token models, new incentive layers, and new attack surfaces (Sybil reputation farming, fake registries, poisoned feedback graphs). (eips.ethereum.org)
3) “The DAO Is Back”—But This Time It’s a Security Fund
Perhaps the most symbolic headline: The DAO—a name that still carries historical weight in Ethereum—has “returned,” not as a venture experiment, but as a security-oriented endowment funded by previously unclaimed assets tied to the 2016 incident.
According to reporting, the initiative redeploys dormant funds to support Ethereum security via DAO-style allocation mechanisms (e.g., quadratic funding, retroactive grants, ranked-choice processes). (References: The Block report and Cointelegraph coverage). (theblock.co)
This is tightly aligned with Ethereum’s broader push to professionalize security at “civilization scale,” framed by the Ethereum Foundation as the Trillion Dollar Security Initiative. (Reference: Ethereum Foundation announcement). (blog.ethereum.org)
Why it matters beyond the headline
Crypto has spent years optimizing for growth; this signals continued migration toward risk management as a first-class product:
- more security grants,
- more UX-focused safety work,
- more standardized wallet and signing practices,
- and more institutional comfort around deploying capital on-chain. (blog.ethereum.org)
4) Macro Overlay: Fed Personnel Shifts and the Risk-Asset Reflex
Even on days dominated by protocol headlines, macro still creeps in—especially when leadership changes at the U.S. Federal Reserve affect expectations around supervision, regulation, and overall financial conditions.
A key milestone in that storyline began when the Fed announced that Michael S. Barr would step down as Vice Chair for Supervision, effective February 28, 2025. (Reference: Federal Reserve press release). (federalreserve.gov)
Subsequently, Michelle W. Bowman was sworn in as Vice Chair for Supervision on June 9, 2025, after nomination and confirmation. (Reference: Federal Reserve press release). (federalreserve.gov)
Crypto traders track these shifts because they can influence:
- how aggressively risk is priced,
- how compliance expectations evolve for stablecoins and exchanges,
- and how quickly “institutional crypto” products get greenlit or throttled.
5) Solana’s Ecosystem Shift: From Narrative Velocity to Institutional Asset Rails
Finally, Solana’s ecosystem is increasingly discussed through a 2025–2026 lens that goes beyond memes and throughput: RWA and institutional-grade financial products.
Research coverage has highlighted rapid growth in tokenized assets on Solana in 2025, with specific attention to yield-bearing instruments and tokenized funds. (References: Messari “State of Solana Q3 2025” and related reporting on tokenized assets growth). (messari.io)
Another institutional signal: major financial infrastructure players have explored public-chain settlement, including reported collaboration involving R3 and the Solana Foundation. (Reference: Financial Times report). (ft.com)
What this suggests for 2026 positioning
When a high-throughput chain becomes a credible venue for regulated, yield-bearing instruments, the user base changes:
- more custody discipline,
- more compliance-aware liquidity,
- more demand for transparent risk controls,
- and higher expectations for wallet security and transaction verification.
Closing: A Practical Security Checklist for This Market Phase
When the market is simultaneously pricing a potential TGE (Backpack), experimenting with new on-chain trust standards (ERC-8004), and re-centering security as a public good (The DAO Security Fund), the best edge for most users is not leverage—it’s operational safety:
- Treat every “claim” flow as hostile until verified.
- Separate “trading funds” from “long-term holds.”
- Prefer signing environments that minimize exposure to malware and phishing.
- Double-check contract interactions—especially around new standards and new token launches.
If you’re preparing for a high-attention token event or simply want to reduce key-exposure risk, using a hardware wallet like OneKey can help by keeping private keys isolated and making signing behavior more intentional—an especially relevant upgrade when scams spike around TGEs, airdrops, and emerging on-chain identity systems.
