Ethereum Bulletin #98: Vitalik’s Vision for a Decentralized Future and Community Concerns

TL;DR

• Ethereum’s Growing Future! Here's what Vitalik Says
• Vitalik Buterin Donates 1.6 Million from Memecoins!
• Ethereum Community Aims to Reignite Decentralized Values
• Erigon- "Are We Ready for a Gas Limit Increase on Ethereum?"
• Vitalik on Blockspace Demand

Ethereum’s Growing Future! Here's what Vitalik Says

Vitalik Buterin, the man behind Ethereum recently shared his vision for the future of the protocol. Here's what his roadmap looks like: Ethereum’s transition to Proof of Stake (PoS) was a game-changer, but there's more on the horizon. Right now, it takes 15 minutes to finalize a transaction— way too slow. Ethereum is aiming for 12-second finality with a concept called Single-Slot Finality, making transactions near-instant. Plus, they're looking to lower the 32 ETH staking requirement to just 1 ETH, opening the door for more solo stakers and boosting decentralization. But with faster transactions and more validators, security remains a priority. That’s where orbit committees, brute-force signature aggregation, and a two-tiered staking system come into play, ensuring the network stays both secure and decentralized.

Possible futures of the Ethereum protocol, part 1: the Mergehttps://t.co/JycODdM4wW

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) October 14, 2024

Ethereum also plans to implement SSLE (Single Secret Leader Election) to hide the identity of the next block proposer, protecting against targeted attacks.

They’re working to bring confirmation times down to 4 seconds, enhance protection against MEV (Miner Extractable Value) attacks, and automate defense against 51% attacks. It’s a balancing act between speed, accessibility, and security, but these upgrades are pushing Ethereum closer to its vision of a truly decentralized, fast, and secure blockchain!

Vitalik Buterin Donates 1.6 Million from Memecoins!

Vitalik Buterin has just converted another $1.6 million worth of memecoins into Ether (ETH), with plans to donate the entire amount to charity! It’s an inspiring move that showcases the positive side of the cryptocurrency community.

Here’s what went down:

Vitalik sold off Moo Deng (MOODENG) for about $982,800, Monsterra (MSTR) for $231,000, and ETHEREUM IS GOOD (EBULL) for $183,000.
He also sold smaller amounts of Popcat (POPCAT), Fwog (FWOG), and vitalek buteren (VITALIK).

Vitalik Buterin (@VitalikButerin) sold 8 more #memecoins for 651.6 $ETH ($1.62M) in the past hour!

They include:
• 10B #MOODENG ($982K) for 395.95 $ETH
• 200K $MSTR ($231K) for 93.23 $ETH
• 500M $EBULL ($183K) for 73.79 $ETH
• 15M $POPCAT ($67.2K) for 27.11 $ETH
• 31.4T… https://t.co/tuRpJiuDYP pic.twitter.com/Wtdy3gPYWU

— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) October 13, 2024

So far, he’s converted a total of $2.78 million in memecoins into Ether and donated around $884,000 to various charities over the past nine days! This incredible effort highlights how blockchain technology can be harnessed for good.

Ethereum Community Aims to Reignite Decentralized Values

The Ethereum community is buzzing with a renewed focus on its original values—running nodes and staking from home. As concerns grow over the rise of outsourced block building, community members are questioning who truly controls the protocol. Superphiz has sparked this important conversation, while others, remind us that some are still actively building their own blocks. However, Hudson Jameson notes that the stability of solo staking has led to quieter discussions, with the initial excitement fading as success takes center stage.

I miss the days when our community ethos centered around running a node from home, staking from home, connecting to a local RPC endpoint, and holding your own keys.

I don't think these values are gone, but they seem quiet. How do we make them loud again?

— superphiz.eth 🦇🔊🛡️ (@superphiz) October 14, 2024

But the push for change is gaining momentum! Miners like are calling for more conversations about governance and ways to increase transaction capacity, especially for solo stakers facing the steep 32 ETH requirement. With alternatives like Rocketpool and Lido gaining traction, many believe it's time to revive that grassroots spirit.

Erigon- "Are We Ready for a Gas Limit Increase on Ethereum?"

Erigon.eth recently posted idea of increasing the gas limit to make transactions faster and more efficient. This discussion comes as hardware for running validators—those who help secure the network—has become cheaper and easier to use. Two proposals are being considered: one suggests reducing the time it takes to create new blocks (EIP-7782), while the other proposes gradually raising the gas limit over time (EIP-7783).

Are we finally ready for a gas limit increase?

(new post) 👇https://t.co/A6bOHJMulJ

— erigon.eth (@ErigonEth) October 14, 2024

When looking at the effects of a gas limit increase, it seems that storage space is not a big problem because technology is improving. However, there could be challenges with bandwidth, which is how much data can be handled at once, especially during busy times. Despite these concerns, it looks like any computation issues could be addressed with some adjustments. Many in the community believe that increasing the gas limit by up to 33% or even doubling it could really help make Ethereum work better, especially if done gradually with EIP-7783.

Vitalik on Blockspace Demand

Trent.eth raised concerns that the blob market may soon saturate, criticizing the community’s ongoing focus on fees and the overall roadmap. He advocates for moving beyond narrative debates to take decisive action.

Vitalik Buterin responds by pointing out a concerning shift in perspectives: a year ago, Layer 1 was viewed as extracting rent from Layer 2 solutions, but now the roles seem reversed. He emphasizes the need for stable economics to maintain predictable fees and community unity. As proposals like EIP-7762 are considered, the community is left wondering if a balance can be found that satisfies all stakeholders.

I do think that the status quo has a problem of variance: 12 months ago the conversation was L1 "extracting rent" from L2s, now it's the other way around. What we don't want is a mixed economy where the tax rate jumps from 5% to 95% depending on weather. If we can design…

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) October 11, 2024

Read more

• Unichain’s MEV Dilemma: Decentralization or Control

• Ethereum Bulletin #97: Ethereum’s Global Impact Unfolding

• Ethereum Bulletin #96: Developments in the Ethereum and Crypto Space

• Ethereum Bulletin #95

• EIP-4788 Integrating Beacon Chain Block Roots into Ethereum's EVM

• Understanding the BLOB Gas

• All you need to know about MEV