Vitalik Buterin Talks About Ethereum's Technology, Ecosystem, and Future Development

Recently, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin held a Chinese AMA interview on the Tako App, discussing his views on Ethereum's technology, ecosystem, and future direction. Below is a summary of Vitalik's main points:

Core Viewpoints

1. Ethereum possesses the dual attributes of "digital gold" and "world computer." The meaning of "world computer" is "a globally interoperable platform for applications," rather than "a single computer that can support all global applications." This vision is realized through the highly decentralized, trusted L1 and scalable L2 collaboration.

2. Ethereum adopts a "hybrid L1+L2" scaling strategy. L1 needs to maintain sufficient throughput to ensure users can interact directly with the mainnet; L2 takes on performance expansion and scenario innovation. The market will decide which transactions are suitable to be conducted on L1 or L2.

3. Centralized sequencers have many advantages, but there are still risks. Therefore, it is necessary to promote the capabilities of both rollup and direct trading on L1 within the ecosystem to observe which method is more suitable for different application scenarios.

4. The Ethereum Foundation will focus on supporting public goods, establishing technical standards, and maintaining ecological balance in the future, rather than pursuing corporate governance. Vitalik opposes short-term speculative culture and advocates for creating long-term value.

5. Good applications should meet the real needs of users, achieve sustainable profits, and possess social value. Vitalik pays special attention to zero-knowledge proof applications in non-financial fields, such as anti-witch hunt verification, privacy AI, and so on.

6. Ethereum needs to attract more developers while encouraging them to develop open-source, secure, and long-term value applications that comply with public standards. Vitalik emphasizes the importance of "technical alignment" rather than "social alignment."

Outlook for the Future

Vitalik believes that the main challenge currently facing the Ethereum ecosystem is how to ensure that applications within the ecosystem can create real value for the world while expanding the user base. He calls on the community to work together to build an application ecosystem that aligns with the original intention of Ethereum, rather than chasing short-term profits.

In the future, Ethereum will focus more on the development of application layers, including directions such as information finance, privacy protection, and financing for high-quality public goods. Vitalik emphasized that Ethereum needs to redefine its value proposition, providing more opportunities and space for newcomers and new ideas while maintaining its core principles.