He made this statement in response to suggestions that Ethereum has ‘significantly weakened’ during this market cycle.
Vitalik Buterin recently stated that a series of crucial developments within Ethereum’s (ETH) ecosystem have significantly strengthened the network’s fundamentals, describing them as “crazy strong.”
Buterin made this comment in response to claims suggesting that Ethereum has “weakened a lot” during the current market cycle. He countered these claims by pointing out recent advancements and achievements in the ecosystem.
Strengthened Fundamentals
Buterin highlighted a notable decrease in transaction fees on Layer 2 (L2) solutions, which now average below $0.01. He argued that this reduction has made Ethereum more accessible and cost-effective, which is crucial for maintaining the network’s competitiveness.
On-chain data reveals that Ethereum L2 Arbitrum’s fees dropped from over $0.50 in March to between $0.01 and $0.004 since mid-April. Despite these lower fees, daily transaction volumes have consistently exceeded 1 million, indicating that the fee reduction isn’t due to a decrease in activity. Similar trends can be observed in other Ethereum L2 solutions, such as Linea, Starknet, and zkSync Era.
Buterin attributed the change in fee prices to the implementation of EIP-4844 and the introduction of dedicated block spaces, known as “blobs,” for data sent from L2 blockchains on March 13.
He also underscored the progress made by Optimism and Arbitrum, which have reached significant milestones, referred to as “Stage 1” in their development. Buterin emphasized that these platforms are vital to Ethereum’s scalability strategy, providing faster and cheaper transactions while preserving the security and decentralization of the main Ethereum network.
Technological Improvements
In addition to these advancements, Buterin noted improvements in the user experience for cross-L2 wallets, which now require less manual effort when switching networks, making interactions within the Ethereum ecosystem more user-friendly.
Buterin also highlighted the growing maturity of Zero-Knowledge (ZK) technology, which has become more accessible and powerful for decentralized application (dApp) developers.
He mentioned that advancements in ZK tooling and the emergence of second-generation privacy solutions, like 0xbow.io, showcase Ethereum’s ongoing innovation in privacy and security.
Furthermore, Buterin pointed out the expanding ecosystem for identity, reputation, and credentials within Ethereum, which is seeing increased adoption and practical use. He also highlighted the significant progress in developing STARKs (Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge), which are crucial for Ethereum’s long-term security and decentralization goals.
admin 