The Rocket Pool community celebrates the 2025 holidays, with node operators and community members sharing festive greetings and looking ahead to the upcoming Saturn 1 upgrade. Participants receive a POAP.

The Rocket Pool Smartnode v1.14.0 release includes mandatory client updates for Nethermind, Prysm, Besu, and Reth, alongside Smart Node changes such as removing the 16 ETH minipool option, enhancing deposit prompts, and optimizing RPC calls for oDAO nodes. Minor adjustments were also made to accommodate Saturn-0 and update messages. Shortly after, version 1.14.1 was released to address a breaking change in Prysm and update Lodestar, which is only necessary for Prysm users. Node operators that updated within 72 hours received a POAP.

On August 5, a shaky market led to super low prices for the RPL (Rocket Pool) token. As the token dipped below $10, community members shared the state of their portfolios. This POAP was given to members who participated in and witnessed this catastrophic market event.

Rocket Pool has begin the official governance process for the RPIP-49 tokenomics rework after extensive stakeholder feedback and polishing of the specifications. A sentiment poll has been posted to decide whether to move the rework to a snapshot vote, with the flexibility to make minor adjustments during implementation. Alternative proposals by 1kx and ib1gymnast are also under consideration, and voters should read the details and make an informed decision on the future of Rocket Pool. Only participants that voted, left a meaningful comment, and posted in the appropriate thread received a POAP.

Rocket Pool has rolled out Smart Node version 1.13.0, fully equipped for the imminent Houston upgrade! Notable features entail the integration of an On-Chain pDAO (RPIP-33), the capability to stake ETH on behalf of nodes (RPIP-32), a designated RPL Withdrawal Address (RPIP-31), and time-based balance and RPL price submissions (RPIP-35). Node operators who promptly update within 24 hours are rewarded with a POAP.