Ethereum in Vitalik's Eyes: Technology, Ecosystem, and Future Development

Recently, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin held a Chinese AMA interview through the Tako App. This is the first time in recent years that Vitalik has answered community questions in Chinese, covering various aspects such as Ethereum's technology, ecosystem, and future direction. Below is a summary and整理 of Vitalik's views:

1. The Positioning and Development Direction of Ethereum

Vitalik believes that the meaning of "world computer" is "a platform where world applications can interoperate with each other," rather than "a computer that supports all applications globally at the same time." Ethereum is both a digital asset for long-term value storage and an underlying platform that supports global application interoperability. These two positions are not contradictory.

In terms of specific implementation, Ethereum adopts a "hybrid L1+L2" architecture:

• The underlying chain ( is responsible for ensuring security and network resilience. Even if the foundation does not exist, global developers can still maintain the ecosystem based on open protocols.
• L2) scaling layer ( undertakes performance expansion and scenario innovation, such as high throughput, privacy computing, etc.

This architecture requires L1 to maintain sufficient throughput capacity to ensure that users can interact directly with the mainnet while ensuring interoperability between L2s. Vitalik stated that there is currently no clear definition of which transactions should occur on L1/L2; the market will determine which scalability solutions are suitable for different applications.

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2. The Balance Between Centralization and Decentralization

Vitalik acknowledged that centralized Sequencers have many advantages, such as preventing frontrunning and facilitating the blockchainization of traditional applications. However, he emphasized the need to retain the ability to transact based on Rollup or directly on L1 to address the potential risks of centralized Sequencers.

Regarding the debate on whether L2 pays enough fees to L1, Vitalik believes it is unwise to be shortsighted. With upgrades like EIP-4844, L1 is expected to gain more benefits. He calls for strengthening L1 capabilities, increasing data block space, enhancing cross-L2 interoperability, and allowing transactions that should occur on L1 to take place on L1.

![Vitalik AMA in Chinese: Technology, Ecology, and Future of Ethereum])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-11deaf007d682a56de3d6f6ecf722b81.webp(

3. The Role of the Ethereum Foundation

Vitalik emphasizes that Ethereum is a decentralized ecosystem rather than a company, and the foundation should not pursue corporate governance. He advocates that the foundation should focus on:

• Support for public product development
• Establish technical standards
• Maintain ecological balance

The foundation should adopt a "subtractive philosophy" to intervene and restore balance when there is an imbalance in a certain area, and withdraw once the problem is solved. Vitalik believes this approach is similar to the traditional Chinese concept of "Dao," but it requires wisdom in execution and is not merely about "non-action governance."

![Vitalik AMA in Chinese: The Technology, Ecology, and Future of Ethereum])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-8dead2fac081f927b09a53780fc96c20.webp(

4. Attracting Developers and Building Application Ecosystem

Vitalik proposed three parallel goals:

1. Attract more developers
2. Encourage the development of more open-source, secure, standardized applications with long-term value.
3. Avoid forming closed circles

He emphasized that the alignment of Ethereum ) should be on a technical level rather than a social level. Specific measures include:

• Strengthen education to help developers understand the essence of blockchain
• The foundation develops some basic tools to lower the barriers to application development.
• Provide clear standards for developers, such as client testing, L2 ratings, etc.

5. Promising Technology Directions and Application Scenarios

Vitalik expressed interest in the following non-financial zero-knowledge proof applications:

• Anti-witch-hunt attack verification: such as ZK-based identity proof, reputation proof, etc.
• Privacy-preserving AI applications: may require the integration of homomorphic encryption ( FHE ) technology.
• Wrap Web2 accounts into Web3 usable credentials: such as zkemail, anonymous Aadhaar, etc.

He believes that these technologies have the potential to solve many social governance issues while protecting personal freedom and privacy.

6. Ideal Blockchain Application Standards

Vitalik proposed three criteria for evaluating applications:

1. Is there a real use case? In theory, being interesting does not equal practical usability.
2. Is it possible to be profitable? Without profitability, it is difficult to support high-quality development.
3. Does it have social value? Even non-users or investors would be pleased with its existence.

He urged the community to develop more applications that meet these three criteria simultaneously, rather than merely pursuing short-term speculation.

7. Views on Decentralized Communication Tools

Vitalik stated that he is working on migrating personal communications from Telegram to Signal, but admitted that Signal still has shortcomings such as centralization. He believes that developing high-quality decentralized communication tools is very challenging and calls on various teams to strengthen collaboration. He stated that if there were decentralized encrypted communication tools with a user experience similar to Fileverse, he would actively promote community adoption.

Overall, Vitalik emphasizes that Ethereum needs to actively explore practical application scenarios while maintaining its decentralized nature, balancing technological innovation with user needs, as well as short-term gains with long-term value. He calls on the community to rethink the meaning and direction of Ethereum and to provide a clearer vision and answers at the application level.