Author: fangjun, Developer DAO Source: @fjun99
It seems that Ethereum is actively building, with new upgrade plans that include many innovations (but not the exciting kind like Blink). Ethereum also has many powerful Layer 2 solutions. However, it is true that we are seeing Ethereum’s gas at 1 Gwei. What exactly is the problem with Ethereum?
What is the problem with Ethereum?
There is no problem with Ethereum as a whole. It is the most powerful smart contract platform, the most decentralized, and the most thriving ecosystem, whether it’s EVM applications or Layer 2 chains. There are also no problems with its technical roadmap. Vitalik’s roadmap update on the last day of 2023 is still valid, guiding Ethereum’s development for the next three to five years.
Vitalik has also published many articles this year, each one crucial.
Is the problem with Ethereum a lack of memes?
I don’t think so. The recent meme frenzy around Solana made it seem like Las Vegas. Ethereum has always been like Wall Street, and transforming Wall Street’s skyscrapers into Las Vegas is not a reasonable choice. At most, we can create a nearby Atlantic City.
What is the problem with Ethereum?
Firstly, Ethereum has been continuously solving technical challenges, but what are these technical challenges for?
For example, Vitalik’s discussion today on finality is certainly important.
Ethereum now resembles Xerox PARC, where Steve Jobs “stole” many things from. The vision should be to create usable products, like Apple and Microsoft.
The problem with Ethereum is, as @eawosikaa has been saying recently, a lack of marketing. In my opinion, it’s not a lack of marketing but a lack of basic vision and positioning. The following questions have no answers: What is Ethereum’s vision? What products does Ethereum offer? What are Ethereum’s upcoming products? Ethereum is now similar to Bell Labs. Do you know what it is called now? – Nokia Bell Labs.
Will the rise of ETH and the approval of ETFs solve Ethereum’s problems?
No, it won’t. Ethereum had a major “speculation” in the last cycle, with a large number of NFTs. Now, in hindsight, it seems a bit ridiculous. Why did so many suddenly emerge back then? Of course, there were also excellent non-NFT projects, such as Vault 4626 and AA 4337.
Source:
https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/tree/master/EIPS
Ethereum’s L2 is currently in an unhealthy state. We can certainly say that there is a variety of options, but let’s look at it from a different perspective. The analogy made by Twitter user Jew Zhao Director (@zchrhrhr) is particularly apt (though only Chinese people may understand it): “Vitalik is the Han Emperor of Web3,” just like Cao Cao, who manipulated the emperor to command the warlords. In history, he was also known as the “Emperor Xiaomin.”
Some say that the low gas fees on Ethereum are because transactions are being moved to L2, and L2 has a large transaction volume. This is actually saying that the Eastern Han Dynasty is still alive. Well, enough with the analogies. Even if L2 is correct, isn’t Ethereum’s problem “fragmentation” as an ecosystem? The high fragmentation of assets was already a serious issue when L2 was not as prevalent.
The high fragmentation of assets is surely the core problem of Ethereum as an ecosystem. But can this problem be solved by Polygon AggLayer, OP Superchain, or cross-chain bridges/interoperability services? Clearly, it cannot be solved. However, it seems that this problem has never been carefully considered by the Ethereum Foundation. Of course, Vitalik has discussed it.
A few days ago, I saw something funny. The founder of a certain ZK Rollup said, “Don’t be sad, Blast, come to us and help us increase TVL. I promise not to call you ‘digital beggars’ this time.” But doesn’t this seem ridiculous? The TVL of Ethereum L2 is just a bubble, what’s the use? Look at the current usage of the ZK Sync cross-chain bridge.
Then, Twitter user CryptoSkanda (@thecryptoskanda) made a great point in his article about “mass adoption” vs. “mass admission”. My view is as I mentioned earlier, Ethereum’s dream is Wall Street, it is New York, and next to it, we can build a Las Vegas, but it’s not realistic to directly transform Wall Street’s skyscrapers.
In Ethereum’s narrative, what still remains attractive is what Rubin said: the Global Settlement Layer. This is why people are worried when Ethereum’s gas is at 1 Gwei. If settlement disappears, can it still be a global settlement layer?
If Ethereum is the global settlement layer, then what is the Bitcoin chain? The narrative of BTC is actually simpler. It used to be about payments and now it is about value storage. In the upcoming report “Modular Blockchains”, I compared Ethereum L2 and BTC L2 to gasoline and electricity, respectively. The driving force behind Ethereum L2 is applications, while the driving force behind BTC L2 is the BTC asset.
Just discussed: “We’re not saying Ethereum is dead, we’re saying Ethereum, you need to work harder :)” From an infrastructure perspective, no other chain currently has Ethereum’s complete architecture.
What is Solana’s narrative? Mert just made an interesting point: a global, uncensorable broadcast where you broadcast information from somewhere in the world, and it is disseminated to other places as quickly as possible. It seems like a repetition of Web 2.0, but it makes a lot of sense. The dissemination in Web3.0 will be trustworthy. (Permissionless will be another feature)
Nathan’s point is interesting: “Ethereum is an open-source technology community, and EVM L2 is a consumer product, just like Android and various smartphone brands based on Android.” It’s an interesting perspective, but I disagree that Ethereum is just a technology community. Ethereum itself is a product, and L2 is just a distributor – a distributor of block space.
Does the Ethereum roadmap centered around Rollups still hold? In October 2020, Vitalik confirmed this roadmap in a post, and Ethereum has been developing based on this roadmap ever since. I believe this roadmap is still valid, but there are a few unresolved issues:
1. The liquidity fragmentation issue discussed above.
2. Does Rollup have to be persistent? Temporary Rollups like Altlayer are not bad.
It is agreed that these are indeed the two issues:
1) The lack of large-scale applications – there are no new applications in this cycle yet.
2) Unreasonable capital structure – VCs heavily bet on infrastructure.
The problem with the Ethereum ecosystem itself is that although many infrastructure projects have been launched, there is almost no preparation for the application cycle. According to the cycle of infrastructure and applications, the application cycle will come back quickly. How will Ethereum respond?
Recently, Ethereum’s USDT transfers have become cheaper than Tron’s. Tron is controversial, but when it comes to transfers, it has done a great job. I remember in the year-end report by Messari last year, the CEO of Messari praised Tron’s stablecoin transfers. Tron’s protocol revenue of billions of dollars per year is not just a dream.
