ChainThink reports that on March 6, Ethereum founder Vitalik stated that he believes it’s beneficial for the Ethereum community to adopt a more bold and open mindset, particularly regarding the application layer and how we view our place in the world. We should not compromise on core attributes: censorship resistance, openness, privacy, and security (CROPS). At the application layer and in Ethereum’s interfaces with the outside world, we should be more willing to thoroughly rethink various concepts and step outside our comfort zones.
Last year, we began treating privacy as a top priority, giving it equal weight to other types of security. This means the Ethereum application stack will undergo a fundamental transformation, as up until now, the entire stack has not been built around privacy. Great—let’s build a completely different Ethereum application stack.
This year’s example involves rethinking the role of L2s from scratch and identifying which types of L2s can truly generate the greatest synergy and value with Ethereum. Cultural factors are also part of this. For me and others, this is a crucial part of the “milady” philosophy: write down your preconceived notions of what is “respectable,” crumple them up, and burn them. This psychological cleansing leads to intellectual renewal, sparking greater creativity and broadening your perspective.
For a long time, our algorithm on Ethereum has been: we have an existing ecosystem; what’s the next step to make it better? Now, our algorithm should be: we have an excellent L1, and it will become even better; we have an increasing number of tools, including those developed both inside and outside the ecosystem; based on our current knowledge, what is most valuable? If you were writing the applications section of Ethereum’s 2014 whitepaper, starting from first principles in areas like DeFi, decentralized social, identity, and so on, what would you write? At the very least, first set aside all path-dependent assumptions—imagine Ethereum’s chain is currently unused, and you are the first person to propose or build the earliest applications. See what you would end up writing. Even if you’re currently building existing applications, do this. This is the secret to Ethereum’s resurgence.