Introduction to Hashed CEO's Ten Thousand Word Report: Will the Minimalist Ethereum Become an Unprecedented Infrastructure?

Recently, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin outlined a series of blueprints in an article, aiming to take Ethereum towards minimalism, with the goal of structuring a blockchain as concise as Bitcoin. He even considered setting a maximum line of code limit, among other things. Simon Kim, CEO of the venture capital firm Hashed, gave a positive evaluation of Ethereum's minimalism proposal, stating that these upgrades would not affect tomorrow's coin price, but would provide support for the next ten years. He also dedicated an article to exploring the significance of these upgrades.

(Vitalik proposed a minimalist Ethereum development blueprint to reduce technical debt and lower development barriers)

Ethereum minimalism conforms to the simple paradox

Simon Kim introduces the "simple paradox" at the beginning of the article, stating that most innovative technologies start out simple but become increasingly complex over time. When complexity reaches its limit, they evolve back towards simplicity. The simple paradox is about solving complex problems, which often requires simpler methods.

And the Ethereum minimalism mentioned by Vitalik recently includes:

With 3-slot finality, proposals, voting, and finalization replace the complex current system, achievable in just about 200 lines of code.

Execution layer redesign: introducing a RISC-V based virtual machine to reduce complexity and enhance performance.

Protocol Standardization: Apply consistent formats, such as SSZ and a unified Merkle tree.

Minimal L1 philosophy: only retain necessary functions on L1; complex functions such as staking pools and tracking logic ( are transferred to L2 or off-chain to enhance simplicity and security.

The most widely used infrastructure in the internet age, yet developers have not profited from it.

This minimalist approach reminds Simon of the operating system Unix, which originates from minimalist philosophy. The philosophy behind Unix is "do one thing well and connect it well." Unix has fewer functions, but due to its modularity and simplicity, it can be infinitely expanded. However, Unix has also become the foundation for modern operating systems such as Linux, macOS, and Android.

Additionally, in the early 1970s communications protocol wars, TCP/IP was chosen for its simplicity and flexibility. The protocol was designed by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, and while it has fewer functions than the OSI model, it is easier to implement and more open, laying the foundation for various services such as email, streaming media, and cloud.

The early web technologies HTML and HTTP were developed by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990. They were very simple, allowing anyone to create and interpret them, which led to an explosive growth of the Internet.

Interestingly, in the above three cases, the developers did not profit from them, as there was no so-called Unix Foundation or tokenization, and both HTML and Git are open source.

Ethereum excels in clear value propositions, developer friendliness, and standardized token issuance.

Simon stated that the early success of Ethereum was also attributed to its clear and powerful vision of a "world computer." Although it has become slow and expensive, its early development momentum has successfully cultivated the surrounding ecosystem. Simon pointed out that the success of Ethereum can be summarized in three points: the clear value proposition of Turing-complete smart contracts, the developer-friendly Solidity language, and the standardization of token issuance )ERC-20(, which facilitates ecosystem expansion.

The result is that Ethereum has created new financial paradigms such as DeFi and NFTs, becoming the core infrastructure of Web3. Conversely, it also faces scalability and complexity issues.

Ethereum is facing competition from high-performance public chains.

Ethereum is currently facing severe challenges from the rapid development of high-performance L1 blockchains such as Solana, Sui, and Avalanche, all of which outperform Ethereum by dozens to hundreds of times in terms of performance. According to Electric Capital's 2024 Developer Report, Solana attracted 7,625 new developers in 2024, which is more than 1,000 more than Ethereum's 6,456. This is the first time since 2016 that Solana has surpassed Ethereum in developer attraction.

However, in terms of overall developer activity, Ethereum still maintains its lead. Ethereum leads Solana in metrics such as monthly active developers and code contributions, and it remains the blockchain with the most developers across all continents. Additionally, the number of contributors with more than two years of experience on Ethereum has reached an all-time high, accounting for 70% of all code contributions.

The developer ecosystem of Ethereum is continuously evolving. 56% of Ethereum developers are active on Layer 2 networks such as Base, Optimism, and Arbitrum, while re-staking protocols like EigenLayer have become the fastest-growing developer ecosystem in 2024, with the number of developers increasing by 167%. In terms of fees, Ethereum is also at a relative disadvantage. The gas fees of Ethereum are still significantly higher than those of competing blockchains, imposing an economic burden on users and developers. Ethereum is attempting to pursue scalability improvements through Layer 2.

Vitalik's minimalist strategy reveals that Ethereum and its competitors are not on the same dimension.

As these Blockchain competitors expand more features, faster speeds, and lower costs to win in the competition, Ethereum is clearly at a disadvantage in the performance race. However, the minimalist strategy proposed by Vitalik Buterin demonstrates a different dimensional approach. It focuses on long-term survival rather than short-term performance gains.

Minimizing verification costs: Complex consensus mechanisms and execution environments impose a heavy burden on validators and node operators. Simplifying Ethereum allows more people to participate in nodes, thus achieving true decentralization. While Solana has high hardware requirements for validators to achieve efficiency, the simplified Ethereum can allow network participation with fewer resources.

Long-term security enhancement: The more complex a system is, the higher the likelihood of errors and vulnerabilities. The simplification of Ethereum makes the codebase easier to understand and audit, enhancing security in the long run. Unlike Solana, which has experienced multiple network outages since 2021, simplified Ethereum can provide a more stable infrastructure.

Creating Cultural Value: Simplicity is not only a technical characteristic but also a cultural value. The reliability of Bitcoin as "digital gold" comes from its simple and immutable protocol. Ethereum's pursuit of simplification has created this cultural value, providing investors and developers with a long-term vision and stability.

Simplicity in establishing regulatory consensus: The simpler the protocol, the easier it is to reach social consensus during upgrades and changes. This is because all stakeholders can easily understand the necessity and direction of the changes. In complex systems like Avalanche or Solana, governance coordination may be more challenging.

Ethereum minimalism focuses on optimal infrastructure rather than optimal applications.

The minimalist nature of Ethereum is essentially committed to becoming the "best infrastructure" rather than the "best application", thus achieving the following differentiation:

L1 and L2 separation concept: Ethereum maintains a simple and stable base layer )L1(, while delegating the task of innovation and performance optimization to L2. This is similar to the role of TCP/IP in network architecture, keeping the basic structure simple while allowing various applications to be developed on top of it.

As a role of open-source standards: Simplified Ethereum provides a clear open-source standard that all L2 and DApps must adhere to. This offers consistency and interoperability for the entire ecosystem, maximizing network effects.

Value Proven Over Time: Ethereum was launched in 2015, having been tested in the market for a much longer period than Solana ) in 2020 or Sui ( in 2022. By simplifying, Ethereum can further enhance this time advantage. Simpler systems tend to maintain their fundamental value better over time.

Vitalik's claim is not only about architectural simplification; the simplification of Ethereum is also closely related to its economic model:

Enhancing the monetary properties of ETH: A simple protocol enhances the monetary properties of ETH, similar to the appeal of Bitcoin, making it more attractive as a digital asset. This clarity and predictability significantly boost institutional investors' confidence, as they prefer systems that can be thoroughly understood and assessed.

Improvement of the fee destruction mechanism: The fee destruction mechanism introduced after EIP-1559 operates more efficiently in a simplified environment, making the reduction in ETH supply more pronounced.

MEV Redistribution Efficiency: A simplified consensus mechanism can fairly distribute MEV ) maximum extractable value (, further improving network security incentives.

Hashed CEO offers advice from four perspectives

Ethereum has already established an active ecosystem with an economy worth hundreds of billions of dollars. The simplification process must maintain the functionality of existing applications and smart contracts. Therefore, Simon suggests:

Introduce an architecture that separates the simplified core from the backward-compatible layer.

Gradually transition old features to optional ways.

Provide developers with a clear migration path and ample preparation time.

Ethereum is not a centralized organization, but rather an ecosystem made up of diverse stakeholders. A broad consensus must be reached on simplification strategies. From this perspective, Simon also suggests:

Spread educational content about simplifying the long-term value of Ethereum.

Make decisions through a transparent governance process.

Encouraging the participation of all stakeholders, not just core developers, but also DApp developers, users, and validators.

Simon pointed out that people are concerned that overly simple systems may limit innovation. It is crucial to find the right balance between simplicity and functionality, so that it can:

Upholding the concept of "core simplicity, flexible expansion."

Encourage the implementation of innovative features on L2 solutions.

The core protocol only includes verified core functions.

A simplified codebase allows more people to understand and review it, but this alone does not guarantee security. Therefore, it is recommended:

Develop and apply formal verification tools.

Expand the ongoing security audit and bug bounty program.

Extend the open testnet and public verification period.

Simplifying Ethereum or becoming the first infrastructure that combines simplicity and value acquisition.

In conclusion, Simon points out that the history of technology offers a clear lesson: ultimately, what survives is not the coolest stuff, but the simplest stuff. Although Solana has currently shown impressive results in trading volume and developer appeal, the simplified path chosen by Ethereum seems somewhat out of place. However, this is a strategy aimed at long-term survival rather than short-term growth.

Simon pointed out that Ethereum is building the first infrastructure in history that combines simplicity with a value acquisition mechanism. Just as the technological miracle we call the internet began with a simple protocol known as TCP/IP, Ethereum is laying a solid foundation for all future Web3 innovations.

If Vitalik Buterin's vision becomes a reality, Ethereum will not only win in the cryptocurrency competition but also open a new chapter in the digital age. This journey towards simplicity faces many challenges, from maintaining backward compatibility to building community consensus, but the result will be the paradoxical victory of simplifying Ethereum: proving that the most powerful digital infrastructure is built on the simplest foundations.

This article introduces Hashed CEO's lengthy report, will the minimalist Ethereum become an unprecedented infrastructure? First appeared on Chain News ABMedia.