Cryptocurrencies enter the "adolescent period"

Recently, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, delivered a speech at the TOKEN2049 conference, discussing topics such as the usability of cryptocurrencies, the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, and the security of the entire ecosystem. He believes that cryptocurrencies are no longer in the initial development stage, but their usability is still in the early stage and is actually improving. Cryptocurrencies have entered the "adolescent" period, but the development in terms of usability is still relatively slow, largely due to the high transaction fees and clumsy user interfaces in the past.

The success of Ethereum L2 and its low fees

Vitalik stated that during previous network congestion peaks, Ethereum gas fees soared to over $200. In the past, he was forced to pay over $800 for a single transaction to protect the privacy of the transaction, but this situation no longer exists, thanks to the development of Ethereum L2. L2 moves some transactions from the main network to the second-layer blockchain, which is crucial for reducing the cost of the Ethereum main network and improving its scalability.

Recently, there have been voices in the industry questioning whether the development of Ethereum L2 has weakened Ethereum L1. However, according to Vitalik, the low transaction fees of L2 are an important milestone for the entire Ethereum ecosystem, as it addresses the main challenges faced by mainstream adoption. Currently, L2 ecosystems such as Optimism and Arbitrum have successfully reduced fees to below $0.1. Furthermore, rollups have also achieved this milestone, making transactions more secure and affordable for users.

Meeting mainstream needs while maintaining decentralization

In addition to transaction costs, Vitalik also discussed the success of Ethereum in terms of transaction "time". After the merge and transition to PoS (proof of stake) on Ethereum, the average waiting time for the next block has been halved, reducing the transaction waiting time to 5 to 15 seconds, and the transaction time on the Ethereum L2 network has been reduced to about 1 second.

Vitalik also mentioned another common challenge in the cryptocurrency industry: meeting the demand while maintaining decentralization.

It is worth noting that Vitalik recently posted an article on X, hoping for a more decentralized Ethereum L2. He believes that in practice, L2 should inherit the security of L1 on which they are based. The current issue is that while Ethereum L1 is decentralized, L2 based on Ethereum is not necessarily decentralized. In fact, it is difficult for L2 to achieve the same level of decentralization as L1. For example, Coinbase's Base chain presents itself as Ethereum's L2.

Vitalik stated that starting from 2025, he will only publicly acknowledge L2 that has achieved Stage 1 or higher in decentralization work. A Stage 1 L2 network requires 75% consensus of the council to overturn the proof system, and at least 26% of the council members must be independent of the rollup team. He believes "this requirement is reasonable and necessary for the security of the network. Furthermore, other L2s focusing on zero-knowledge technology are also approaching Stage 1.

The "user experience revolution" and development direction of Ethereum

Vitalik also emphasized the progress of account abstraction technology and the "user experience revolution". Currently, there are still reasons why mainstream society does not use crypto assets, such as "inefficiency of cryptocurrencies", but this is not due to technological limitations. Blockchain has empowered the internet, acting as "digital concrete" (creating a durable and resistant persistent digital structure, just like creating a solid physical structure with concrete).

In fact, users can now create a simple real account (smart contract wallet) that can only send transactions when the user generates proof that they control a specific email address. Therefore, the restorative function of Web2 social can now be introduced into the Web3 world.

Vitalik also mentioned the need to improve the security of wallets, especially to protect them from the intrusion of centralized participants. He commented on extreme self-sovereign wallets (mnemonic cold wallets) or traditional choices that rely on trusted third parties (CEX), believing that both options have inherent flaws.

In contrast, he believes that multi-signature smart wallets are a more balanced solution. By requiring multiple private keys to authorize transactions, multi-signature wallets can provide enhanced protection for user funds while maintaining a high level of privacy. (Note: Multi-signature security means that users have multiple keys, for example, having 6 keys and requiring 4 for sending transactions. Custom rules can even be set, requiring only 1 key for small transactions).

In addition, Vitalik also discussed the technical improvements taking place on the Ethereum main network, such as enhanced decentralization, reduced confirmation times, and improved scalability, which will play a key role in the future success of Ethereum.

According to his predictions, the future Ethereum ecosystem will develop towards social networks, payment systems, private mining pools, zero-knowledge, and human proof technologies, while maintaining decentralization and practicality.

Let's wait and see as this "adolescent" protocol gradually matures.

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