Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial team at crypto.news.
Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, recently used the terms “the purge, the splurge, and the scourge” to describe the upcoming changes to Ethereum at a recent event in London.
Each week, crypto.news presents #hashtag hearsay, a column of rumors and stories that shape the crypto world. If you have any tips, please email Dorian Batycka at [email protected]
On March 14, key figures from the Ethereum community gathered in London for the ETHGlobal Pragma conference. Featuring speakers like Vitalik Buterin, Justin Drake, Sergey Nazarov from Chainlink, and Stani Kulechov from Lens Protocol, the event took place at Christ Church Spitalfields, with attendees eagerly anticipating the future of Ethereum after the Dencun upgrade.
Buterin emphasized that Ethereum is undergoing a significant transition. This shift will move focus from layer-1s and core developer-centric advancements to enhancing usability and layer-2 solutions such as zkSync, Arbitrum, and Optimism.
Roll-ups, a crucial component in this transition, are L2 solutions that process and store transaction data on a sidechain before bundling them together on the main Ethereum chain. This significantly improves scalability and efficiency without compromising security.
Buterin highlighted the need for a more scalable, secure, and user-friendly platform. Following the Dencun upgrade, which reduced gas fees for L2s like Starknet by up to 99%, Ethereum is now striving towards achieving full roll-up scaling to enable more user-friendly applications on the platform.
However, Buterin also stressed the importance of streamlining the Ethereum protocol, referring to it as the “purge.” He also mentioned the “splurge,” focusing on advancements like account abstraction and EVM improvements, and the “scourge,” which deals with mitigating economic centralization risks.
Despite Ethereum’s advancements, the dominance of Solana in terms of DEX volume poses a challenge. Ethereum upgrades are playing catch-up to Solana’s performance, according to data from DefiLlama.
Justin Drake from the Ethereum Foundation discussed the potential of Ethereum sharding and shared infrastructure components to enhance the network’s performance. These innovations aim to improve Ethereum’s composability and efficiency to match the user experience of low-latency blockchains like Solana.
Moving away from a tech-centric approach, speakers at the Pragma conference emphasized the importance of user-friendly and accessible apps on Ethereum post-Dencun upgrade. The focus is on improving user experience and ensuring that Ethereum evolves to meet the needs of its growing community.
As Ethereum continues on its roadmap towards a more accessible, secure, and scalable future, it faces challenges from competitors like Solana. The journey ahead is filled with obstacles, but Ethereum remains committed to evolving to meet the demands of its users and the digital ecosystem.