Ethereum's Strategic Vision: Embracing The 'World Computer' Concept

According to PANews, Ethereum is at a pivotal moment, requiring a clear and grand vision to guide its future development. Drawing parallels to Yuval Noah Harari's 'Sapiens,' the article suggests that just as humans organize around shared abstract ideas, blockchain technology, particularly Ethereum, needs a compelling 'why' to inspire builders and users, fostering collaboration and growth. Ethereum's historical advantages have included its first-mover status as a smart contract platform, a smaller ecosystem that allowed for faster development, and short-term goals like the Merge that unified the community. However, as Ethereum has grown into a $450 billion asset with hundreds of teams, each with its own incentives, the lack of a unified vision risks fragmentation both socially and technically. This fragmentation could slow innovation and weaken Ethereum's ability to attract users and maintain influence. The shift to a rollup-centric roadmap has placed Ethereum in a complex position. On the positive side, this transition has attracted numerous developers to build applications on rollups or develop rollups themselves, potentially preventing the fragmentation of Ethereum's influence. However, rollups also divert MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) and revenue away from Ethereum's base layer. In the long term, value could flow to the base layer through cross-chain MEV, hotspot congestion fees, and monetary value. Yet, if all applications migrate to Layer 2, congestion fees may vanish, and cross-chain MEV currently benefits external bridges and liquidity providers rather than Ethereum. The narrative of monetary value is unsustainable, as Bitcoin dominates this space, attracting institutional and national attention. The article argues that Ethereum needs a grand vision to unify consensus, with the 'World Computer' concept serving as an ideal guiding goal. Unlike the rollup-centric approach, the 'World Computer' positions Ethereum's Layer 1 as the optimal platform for both native applications and rollups. This vision does not push applications away from Layer 1 but makes it an equally attractive development choice, thereby retaining developers and maintaining ecosystem cohesion. Applications on Layer 1 preserve value for Ethereum, cross-chain MEV is captured by Ethereum rather than external bridges, and ETH as a core asset continues to appreciate through its use as gas fees in applications and Layer 2. This approach ensures value flows into Ethereum's ecosystem and directly empowers the ETH token. Embracing this direction in every upgrade and priority decision will help Ethereum accelerate innovation, maintain influence, and solidify its position in the long term. It is time to choose a clear direction and ensure that the symbol representing Ethereum remains ETH.