In an extensive Twitter thread, Vitalik Buterin, one of the founders of Ethereum, has expressed a series of contradictions that seem to bring him closer to Bitcoin.
These are not easy times for crypto ecosystems. The market has been dyed red for a couple of weeks and, Earth crisis and its stablecoin have only made matters worse, dragging the market down and sowing doubts among investors, developers and legislators.
In the middle of all this is Ethereum, the leading DeFi protocol, which is in the midst of one of the biggest shifts the crypto industry has ever seen: “The Merge”. The merger between Beacon Chain and the current Ethereum network will cause the current consensus mechanism (PoW) to be changed to Proof of Stake, which is more environmentally friendly and has a much lower consumption. more efficient use of energy and computational resources.
However, it seems that this change is causing problems within Ethereum. Last month, Tim Beiko, one of the main developers of Ethereum, announced that The Merge, which was expected in June, is delayed indefinitely due to developmental difficulties.
On the other hand, Vitalik Buterin himself pointed out in a tweet published a few weeks ago that Ethereum gas fees should be less than $0,05 to be functional. He then explained that The Merge, along with layer 2 solutions and ZK Rollups will allow Ethereum to be much more efficient.
Buterin's vision on Ethereum and Bitcoin
In the midst of this climate of tension, the founder of Ethereum published on Tuesday, May 17, a long Twitter thread that many users have interpreted as a sign of unrest, even going so far as to think that Buterin wants to abandon Ethereum and start developing for Bitcoin.
The thread is based on ten “contradictions” such as reducing people’s dependence on building long-lasting systems, or the contrast between his love for decentralization and the fact that he increasingly feels that he is more in agreement with the intellectual elites and less with the “people”.
However, what has surprised people the most has been that several of these “contradictions” directly name Bitcoin and suggest that Buterin is not happy with Ethereum's designIn fact, in one of the tweets, he notes that he would like his project to be more similar to Bitcoin.
This has led many users to speculate that Buterin is unhappy with the move to Proof of Stake or even wants to abandon Ethereum to develop on Bitcoin.
In his thread, Buterin also says he wants Turning Ethereum into a robust protocol, capable of withstanding extreme attacks, something that seems to point directly to what happened with the fall of Terra. In this way, it is accepting that Ethereum DApps are vulnerable to attacks and that, from its point of view, the security situation of Ethereum is unacceptable.
The 10 contradictions of Vitalik Buterin
Let's take a look at Vitalik Buterin's ten contradictions to better understand what's going on in the head of the founder of Ethereum.
1. A network more similar to Bitcoin
In his first contradiction, Buterin points out that wants Ethereum to become more like Bitcoin. He wants a network that emphasizes long-term stability. But he knows that to do so he needs to coordinate rapid change in the short term.
2. Living actors and long-term systems
On the other hand, Buterin expresses that he prefers reduce dependence on individuals and build a fixed system, able to withstand the passage of time. However, it appreciates human management and its role in the advancement of the world.
3. Security issues
Vitalik Buterin wants Ethereum to be a layer 1 protocol, capable of survive the most extreme security circumstances.
However, it is aware of the security issues of its network and considers security errors in the protocol design to be unacceptable.
4. Centralization vs Decentralization
The next contraction from the founder of Ethereum has to do with his love for freedom, democracy and decentralization.
In this case, he points out that despite being a strong advocate of decentralization and offering freedom to users, he is increasingly closer to the lines of thought of the intellectual “elites” and further away from the “people”.
5. Widespread adoption
Another of Buterin's contradictions has to do with his desire for more countries conduct radical financial experiments, how to adopt cryptos as legal tender and his certainty that the countries most prone to it are also the least democratic and most centralized.
6. Lack of diversity
Vitalik Buterin also points out the contradiction that his love for different cultures represents and the realization that these cultures often go against the grain and that, to maintain them, some kind of madness or artificial barrier is required that he does not like.
7. The DApps ecosystem
Another point where he feels a great contradiction is in his dislike for many of the projects that are being created on Ethereum, such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club, and the understanding that these projects are necessary for the proper development of the Web 3 space and DAO governance experiments.
8. Finance apps and the crypto ecosystem
Buterin then notes a contradiction between his desire for the cryptocurrency ecosystem to be profitable beyond finance and the fact that finance is the most successful category of apps worldwide, especially among users in third world countries.
9. Simplify the ecosystem
Regarding the Ethereum ecosystem, its creator expresses a contradiction between his desire to simplify Layer 1 as much as possible development and its desire to simplify the entire ecosystem as much as possible.
The problem here is that often layer 1 exports its complexity to the upper layers of the stack and users have to deal with them anyway.
10. Take a philosophical position
Buterin's final contradiction is his position as the most visible figure in Ethereum. In this sense, the developer expresses his desire to be a positive and mediating figure, who can get along with everyone.
On the other hand, he also wishes to take a stand against what one calls “evil” and confront him. Something that we have already seen, for example, in his continuous criticism of Putin and Russia.
This long Twitter thread has raised all kinds of responses and feelings among his followers. From those who applaud his “humanity” to those who are against his pro-Bitcoin stance. However, one of the most notable responses by the community has been the response from Charles Hoskinson, Buterin’s former partner in the development of Ethereum and current CEO of Cardano, in which, sarcastically, he tells him that “it’s not too late to switch to Cardano.”
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