The Blockchain & Ethereum Sentinel (February 2026)

Colleagues, welcome to Blockchain VIPs. Our goal is to provide Blockchain and Ethereum professionals with up-to-date and actionable information to advance your career and income growth. Did you know that the “The ethereum market size has grown rapidly in recent years. It will grow from $50.16 billion in 2025 to $58.54 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.7%. The growth in the historic period can be attributed to growth of blockchain developer communities, increasing demand for decentralized applications, expansion of crypto asset trading, rising enterprise blockchain experimentation, availability of open-source development tools”? according to Research and Markets. Moreover, data from Web3 Jobs estimates the average annual salary for Blockchain Developer is estimated to be $150,000 USD.

Product Launches & Innovations: 

• Robinhood Chain (L2 Testnet) - Robinhood (February 13)

• Stripe x402 (M2M Payments) - Stripe (February11)

• Tempo L1 Blockchain (Testnet) - Tempo Foundation (February 11)

• AI-Managed Equity ETFs (AINT/AIUP) - FINQ (February 10)

• Mutuum Finance V1 (Sepolia) - Mutuum Finance (February 14) 

• Cardano-LayerZero Integration - LayerZero /IOG (February 11)

• Midnight Mainnet (Privacy Layer) - Midnight (IOG) (Late March 2026)

Blockchain & Ethereum & AI:

• AI Predictions for 2026 (Blockchain Council)

• Ethereum 2026 "5x Opportunity Window": Institutional Giants Intensively Deploy, ETH Value Reassessment Imminent (TechFlow)

• How Ethereum Could Become The Default Network For AI Development, Vitalik Explains (NewsBTC)

• Vitalik Buterin outlines how Ethereum could play a key role in the future of AI (CoinDesk)

• What Ethereum's Privacy Limits Mean For AI And DeFi (Forbes)

Events:

• EthBoulder 2026 - EthBoulder (February 13–15, Boulder, Colorado)

• ETHDenver 2026Spork- DAO (February 17–21, Denver, Colorado)

• CDAO Financial Services - Corinium Global (February 18–19, New York, New York) 

• NEARCON 2026 - NEAR Foundation (February 23–24, San Francisco, California)

• Bitcoin for Corporations - Strategy (February 24–25, Las Vegas, Nevada)

• MoneyLIVE Summit London - MarketforceLive (March 9–10, London, UK)

• London Blockchain Finance Summit - Finance Loop (March 12, London, UK)

Career Development - Boost Your Income by 5%-10%:

• Applied Digital Finance Specialization 

• Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies

• Blockchain and Decentralized Finance

• Blockchain Specialization

• Blockchain Fundamentals

• Certified Bitcoin Expert (CBE)

• Certified Cryptocurrency Trader™ (CCT) 

• Certified DAO Expert

• Certified NFT Developer

• Complete Ethereum Technology 

• Cryptocurrency Investment Course 2025: Fund your Retirement

• Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Primitives

• Decentralized Finance (DeFi): The Future of Finance Specialization

• Digital Finance Specialization

• Digital Transformation in Financial Services Specialization

Enroll today (teams & execs are welcome).

Much success in your Blockchain and Ethereum career, Blockchain VIPs (please subscribe & share with your colleagues) 

Top 3 strategies to accelerate your Ethereum-Web3 career (2026)

Colleagues. Average US salaries for Ethereum Developers is $151,000 US  according to Web3 Jobs. A certification from a reputable vendor or professional association can increase your income by 5%-10%. Here are three top strategies to accelerate your Web3 career and income growth. First, Get Certified: A certification from a high quality vendor or professional association can add 5%-10% to your income. We recommend Certified Ethereum Developer and Certified Ethereum Expert (CEE) from the Blockchain Council along with Certified Blockchain Developer - Ethereum (CBSE) from the Blockchain Training Alliance. We give an honorable mention to Complete Ethereum Technology from 101 Blockchains. Second, Get Published. Write a succinct 1-2 page article on best practices or technical trends for Ethereum 2.0 and publish on Medium, LinkedIn Articles or Technology.org. And third, Get Connected. Subscribe to Vitalik Buterin’s Twitter feed (4m+ subscribers), attend an ETHGlobal Events and join the Ethereum group on Reddit (40k+ Builders).

Enroll in one or more programs (teams & execs welcome): 

• Certified Ethereum Developer

• Certified Ethereum Expert (CEE)

•  Certified Blockchain Developer - Ethereum (CBSE)

• Complete Ethereum Technology 

Recommended Reading: “Web 3.0” - Audible & Kindle Book Series (Amazon)

1 - Birth of a Web 3.0 Decentralized World Order - From Blockchain to Metaverse … and Beyond

(Audible) (Kindle)

2 - NFTs, DAOs and DeFi … Next Generation Web 3.0 Technologies Transforming Our Lives (Audible)  (Kindle) 

3 - The Upskill Gambit - Discover the 5 Keys to Your Career and Income Security in the Digital Age  (Audible) (Kindle)

Much career success, Blockchain VIPs  (subscribe & share with your colleagues)