Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin reacted to some of his earlier beliefs in a new year’s tweetstorm. Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
Buterin talked about the rise of cryptocurrency in Argentina, how Stablecoins are thriving there, how Ethereum scaling is still a major concern for him and bitcoin cash’s performance.
As part of a new year’s tweetstorm, Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, discussed some of his earlier opinions on some topics and how these stand against the current state of affairs of the crypto world. In his opening remarks, Buterin recalled an article that talked about the potential of bitcoin for Argentinians and Iranians back in 2019. He concluded that bitcoin is uncensorable and has an international character rather than scarce.
Apparently, Buterin’s vision on this was “generally correct”. He Stated, Overall, yes. Cryptocurrency adoption is high, but Stablecoin adoption is high too; many businesses trade in USDT. However, if the USD shows more problems, that could change.
The Stablecoin sector has grown substantially throughout the year, with Tether, the largest Stablecoin, reaching a market cap of $78 billion. Decentralized alternatives such as UST, the main Stablecoin of Terra, have also prospered, reaching a market cap of $10 billion.
Buterin acknowledges he was wrong when he considered the problem of Ethereum scaling back in 2015. He shared a screenshot of an Ethereum slideshow roadmap where the time estimated to implement proof-of-stake consensus was six to twelve months. Ethereum 2.0, which will implement the change from proof of work to proof of stake consensus, was launched last year.
As a result of underestimating the complexity of software development, Buterin asserts that the Ethereum team is now focused on simplicity, the design of these solutions, and the final product. He also addresses his famous five cents commentary, stating: The internet of money should not cost more than 5 cents per transaction. That was the goal in 2017, and it’s still the goal today. That’s why we’re spending so much time working on scalability.
Additionally, he commented on the current state of bitcoin cash (BCH). While he was more inclined to support the big block side in the scaling war and was optimistic about the project, he now considers it “mostly a failure.”
On this note, he explained his reasoning, noting that: Even good-hearted communities formed around rebellions often struggle long term since they tend to value bravery over competence and are united around resistance rather than a coherent strategy.
