From Technological Idealist to Controversial Figure: Vitalik and the Transformation Journey of Ethereum

Vitalik has recently vanished from social media for over 20 days. During this period, the price of Ethereum has repeatedly fallen below the psychological threshold of investors, with the ETH/BTC exchange rate dropping to 0.022676 on March 12, marking a new low since June 2020. The ETH/BTC exchange rate continues to decline, with early large holders fleeing and retail investors panicking, leading to a surge in negative sentiment.

In February, a controversy erupted within the Ethereum community. In response to criticism, Vitalik stated that he does not believe the current popular PVP model is the best product for blockchain, and he and Ethereum continue to pursue higher quality products.

At the same time, the founders of a certain trading platform are playing memes on social media, stirring up a wave of on-chain Meme fever with the investment from investment institutions.

The current round of the Meme track is booming, PVP is prevalent, and a gambler's mentality pervades the crypto community. In addition, a pervasive sense of confusion shrouds the industry, and the true innovations that could lead to the vigorous development of the industry seem to have disappeared.

The industry is desolate, and Memes have become the main narrative. People begin to reminisce about the summer of 2020 when Ethereum DeFi was booming.

From "V God" to "Little V"

Once, people referred to him as "V God" and regarded him as a spiritual leader, relying on him to guide the direction of cryptocurrency development. Now people call him "Little V" and want him to "get out" of Ethereum.

Vitalik recently became the focus of public opinion at the beginning of February. At that time, there were many doubts about Ethereum within the community. In response to the criticism, suggestions, or insults, Vitalik ultimately stated on social media that he does not agree that the current PVP model is the best product, but rather he is pursuing a better product. Regarding the calls for innovation from the Ethereum Foundation, Vitalik also expressed his helplessness towards the suggestions from those who do not understand the situation.

Vitalik became the target of criticism, which was unimaginable two years ago.

Groups often crave a powerful leader, eagerly needing an object of worship to gain psychological support and guidance. This drives them to idolize, magnifying a person's virtues infinitely, shaping an all-powerful "god". Once this constructed "god" fails to meet the overly high expectations of the public, the group's attitude shifts very quickly and brutally. They instantly turn from blind worship to fierce criticism, forcefully pushing the "god" off the pedestal, expressing their disappointment and anger through insults and defamation.

Vitalik has completely gone through a process of being deified and demonized by the crypto community. Once upon a time, within the crypto community, Vitalik's statements and thoughts pointed the direction for the industry. He was enthusiastic about expressing various ideas, such as the concepts of SBT and network states from a few years ago, which were either proposed or strongly supported by him. Under his promotion, these new concepts once became the trend pursued and practiced by industry projects.

Especially during bear markets, major project teams will lay out tracks where bull markets may erupt. At that time, Vitalik was optimistic about Web3 social, and entrepreneurs flocked to it, but after a brief surge during the bear market, it all returned to calm.

As the bull market arrives, the directions that Vitalik "pointed out" during the bear market have not led to a significant explosion in the application layer during the bull market. Chaos and confusion have become the feelings of most project teams.

Without real innovation and a new narrative that can invigorate the industry, the glory of the DeFi Summer that once happened on Ethereum has not appeared again in the crypto industry.

The blockchain infrastructure has been completed, the highways have been built, but there are no cars to drive on them. The core contradiction in the current blockchain industry is no longer related to infrastructure. Instead, it is about what changes blockchain can bring to human life or products that can change the world. What is the answer to this question?

If the answer is payment, that was given by Bitcoin back in 2008; if it's DeFi, then that was the answer provided by Ethereum in 2020. Currently, the most practical application in the crypto space can be said to be stablecoins, which are genuinely transforming the traditional world in areas like cross-border payments.

In addition, what other innovations are there in the blockchain industry? During this cycle, asset launch platforms on various chains have become popular, but this is only an innovation in the way assets are issued; the core of the casino has just been given a new look. Another area of significant attention is the blockchain AI track, which has seen substantial financing, but the bubble has been burst by some groundbreaking results. A more prominent issue is that the narrative still centers around AI, and blockchain technology merely provides support for AI, such as on-chain identity and building economic systems. This is not a crypto-native track.

In a haze of confusion, gambling seems to be regarded as the best product in the crypto industry. Faced with many advising Vitalik himself and Ethereum to invest more in the "casino" gameplay, Vitalik refused, saying, "If I look deep inside, I will find something worth fighting for."

Vitalik has also enjoyed the feeling of being put on a pedestal, and when he was pulled down from it, people saw his side as an ordinary person. To some, this side appears to be stubborn, arrogant, and dismissive of others' opinions. But it is precisely these traits that allowed him to create Ethereum.

Childhood Passion Achieves Future Aspirations

Someone once said, "What you did as a child that made time fly and brought you joy, that is the answer to what you should pursue in life."

For Vitalik, the things worth striving for were already written in his childhood experiences. At the age of 4, he received a computer from his father. While other children played games, he was fascinated by Excel software and soon was able to write automatic calculation programs using Excel. At 7, he created a "Rabbit Encyclopedia" document filled with charts and mathematical formulas, which subsequently confirmed his talents in mathematics and programming. By the age of 10, his mental arithmetic speed was more than double that of his peers. Starting from 11, he began to study subjects such as mathematics, programming, and economics in advance in the "Genius Class."

Programming technology itself makes Vitalik happy, and his pursuit is to change the world with technology. Compared to some speculators in the crypto circle, he has maintained a relatively conservative attitude.

In 2018, when Ethereum's price plummeted and faced skepticism, Vitalik warned against letting Ethereum become a "tulip" for speculators to profit from. Just like then, he also considered leaving Ethereum, "Should I drop ethereum and work for Google".

Whenever the coin price is sluggish, doubts about Ethereum arise. In the face of the community's skepticism and insults, Vitalik often has the thought of "leaving."

Vitalik has always adhered to his beliefs. His commitment to technology and vigilance against "bubbles" has never wavered. It is this persistence that has brought transformation and innovation to the crypto world.

Looking back at the history of cryptocurrency development, important innovations that have propelled the industry forward have mostly occurred on Ethereum, known as the "world computer," over the past decade: the widespread adoption of smart contracts, providing a platform for the prosperity of innovative financial mechanisms like DeFi, the establishment of various layer two solutions such as Rollups and Plasma, and the practice of DAO governance models.

More and more institutions are building Web3 applications and infrastructure solutions on Ethereum. The Ethereum ecosystem is mature and leading in terms of technical resources, developer team support, on-chain funding scale, and client security.

Vitalik not only realizes his technical ideals through Ethereum but also places his social ideals upon it, extending even beyond Ethereum. The concepts he advocates, such as decentralization, resistance to censorship, and quadratic voting, relate to democratic practices, internet structure, and both commercial and nonprofit organizations. This has allowed his influence to extend beyond the crypto community.

The future of Ethereum is still worth looking forward to

Is there still hope for Ethereum? The answer is yes.

In April, Ethereum will welcome the launch of the Pectra upgrade on the mainnet. This change, which integrates the execution layer and consensus layer, introduces 11 key improvement proposals aimed at enhancing scalability, staking flexibility, and user experience. Overall, this upgrade will improve network performance and stability on a technical level; change the staking economic model on an economic level, affecting supply and demand relationships and market prices; and attract more developers and users on an application level, promoting innovation and development of decentralized applications.

In the United States, a stakeable Ether spot ETF may also be approved. In the first quarter of 2025, an asset management company submitted an application on behalf of a certain exchange, planning to introduce staking functionality into its spot Ether ETF. In addition, other institutions have submitted applications for proposed Ether spot ETFs that include staking functionality.

The Pectra upgrade is expected to shorten the unbinding period for Ethereum staking, which was a major obstacle when staking was introduced for the spot ETF.

This upgrade may become a catalyst for the approval of staking ETFs.

It is widely believed in the industry that one major reason for the weak attractiveness of the current Ethereum spot ETF is the lack of staking functionality. Once the staking feature is launched, ETF holders will be able to receive staking rewards, with an annual return rate of about 3-3.5%. The launch of a stakable Ethereum spot ETF may significantly increase capital inflows, thereby driving up the price of Ethereum.

These two points are substantial favorable factors that are foreseeable this year.

However, another fact is that these anticipated changes are merely improvements along a foreseeable path. These enhancements are just making the highway wider and smoother, rather than being disruptive industry innovations or groundbreaking product applications.

The use cases of Ethereum seem to have peaked. In this cycle, there have been no projects with widespread participation on the Ethereum main chain, and the price has not exceeded historical highs. Its TVL peak still remains at 2021.

It was once the preferred choice for building smart contract platforms. Nowadays, with the improvement of blockchain infrastructure, there are more excellent and low-cost public chains available to choose from, and Ethereum is no longer the only option. In this cycle, some emerging public chains have developed their own ecological characteristics. The leading Ethereum Layer 2 solutions have also achieved their own accomplishments.

Vitalik's decentralization is a good thing for the industry's development, indicating that the industry is gradually maturing. Ethereum is no longer the only dominant player, and more rising stars can compete with it, stimulating a richer ecosystem. With the establishment of a diversified blockchain ecosystem, Ethereum's importance in the industry will inevitably decline relatively.

Vitalik once said in an interview, "My life is about being a bridge for everything." Since 2015, the Ethereum Foundation has funded more than its internal operating expenses. These grants have allowed Ethereum to connect more teams and promote the development of various projects in the crypto industry. Whether it's Ethereum itself or what Vitalik has done, it is foundational work for the crypto space.

Ethereum and Vitalik himself should not bear the confusion and anger of people regarding the lack of innovation in the entire industry.

"If you look inside yourself, you will find things worth fighting for too." Vitalik, who knows what he should strive for, will surely return after a brief disappointment.

People who are confused and angry in the crypto community will also make a choice after introspection: to stay and become a "builder," calmly creating new things in the desolation, or to leave and chase the next opportunity, continuing to be a shrewd "speculator."