Ethereum, despite significant price fluctuations at the beginning of the year, continues to develop, with a new roadmap introduced by Vitalik Buterin.
Ethereum's Situation and Competitors
In the first quarter of the year, Ethereum experienced the worst performance in seven years regarding price dynamics. However, the platform continues to develop, as evidenced by a new roadmap aimed at increasing the ecosystem's security and finality. Ethereum has faced criticism for ignoring community feedback, while it remains the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization after Bitcoin. Despite recent difficulties, Ethereum outpaced its competitor Solana in trading volume by 22% in March, becoming the leading platform in the DeFi space.
Network Scalability Issues
Scalability issues for Ethereum have been discussed since 2017. The most notable case was the slowdown of the network due to the popularity of the Cryptokitties game, where transaction volume reached 10% of all Ethereum transactions, resulting in significant lags. In 2022, Ethereum transitioned to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, which was a crucial step in addressing these issues; however, the platform still faces critical challenges in this area.
Ethereum's Roadmap for Updates
In the new roadmap announced on March 28, Vitalik Buterin outlined three directions for Ethereum's development: increasing the number of blobs to 72 by 2026, achieving instant secure finality, and improving aggregation levels. The platform plans to implement a hybrid proof architecture to enhance network speed and security. However, some community members have expressed dissatisfaction with the focus on Layer2 in the proposed changes.
The new Ethereum roadmap under Vitalik Buterin's guidance showcases the commitment to enhancing the platform despite its existing issues. Whether the proposed changes will restore Ethereum to its former leadership status remains to be seen.
