Ethereum Co-Founders Reflect on 10th Anniversary

Vitalik Buterin and Joseph Lubin, the co-founders of Ethereum, contemplate the network’s current condition a decade after its inception

Ethereum has developed significantly since its inception in 2014; however, technical advancements and usability challenges persist as the protocol enters its second decade.

As the Ethereum ecosystem convened in Brussels for a week-long program of events focused on EthCC, Vitalik Buterin and Joseph Lubin, co-founders of Ethereum, emphasized these focal points.

In recent years, Ethereum has effectively transitioned to proof-of-stake consensus and implemented a layer-2-centric approach to network scaling at the base layer.

On this voyage, the ecosystem has encountered successes and challenges as it endeavors to gain mainstream acceptance and adoption.

Scalability and affordability are achieved by Ethereum.
Lubin was exclusively interviewed by Cointelegraph at a side event organized by Consensys’ Ethereum zkEVM Linea.

Buterin and Lubin have publicly praised the emergence of layer 2s enabled by zero-knowledge proof (ZK-proof) as the future of Ethereum’s development.

The capacity of these platforms to transmit cryptographic proofs to Ethereum’s base layer and batch transactions off-chain has resulted in substantial cost and performance reductions for end users.

The Consensys CEO, in contemplation of the ecosystem’s present condition, stated that significant progress had been made in terms of performance:

“We have achieved scalability, we’ve achieved affordability, and we’re really close to achieving usability.”

Lubin also stated that zkEVMs have been demonstrated to be the most effective technological approach for introducing high-speed, low-cost functionality to the ecosystem.

ZK-rollups are preferred over-optimistic rollups.
Rollups that were optimistic served as a temporary solution to scaling obstacles. Lubin clarified that optimistic approaches had “edge use cases” and that fraud proofs that necessitated a final settlement for up to two weeks were “just not going to be the real direction of travel.”

“We are confident we have created the appropriate course with ZK tech.” “I do not anticipate that these network states will be significantly constructed using optimistic technology,” Lubin stated.

Lubin acknowledged that optimistic technology will continue to benefit specific applications; however, he deemed it “foolish” to employ technology that is “less efficient and less effective” without valid evidence.

As the Ethereum ecosystem endeavors to abstract some of the complexity from end users, user experience remains a critical obstacle that must be surmounted.

Vitalik’s vision for Ethereum as a foundational element
In his keynote address at EthCC, Buterin addressed Ethereum’s challenges as a base layer for its L2-centric approach. The audience was fully engaged.

The Ethereum co-founder emphasized the barriers that prevent ETH holders from solitary staking and pooled staking as key concerns.

Buterin also stated that censorship is one of the most significant dangers to the ecosystem. This could encompass the censorship of transactions by nodes and other more technical concerns related to malicious parties influencing the processing of transactions.

Increasing the quorum threshold to 75% or higher is a proposed strategy for combating network attacks or censorship. Buterin clarified that this could prevent a potentially censored chain from reaching finality.

The Ethereum co-founder also emphasized his aspiration for the majority of Ethereum users to be able to operate light clients on mobile devices to verify the base layer and L2s.

Buterin’s address concluded with a focus on protocol simplification, emphasizing the potential for the L1 to be enhanced while still relying significantly on the advantages of L2 networks.

“Ethereum possesses distinctive strengths as a robust base layer, some of which are not even held by Bitcoin,” stated Buterin.