Ethereum vs Solana, Vitalik Buterin: They are more "centralized", we rely on Layer2 to improve efficiency

V God points directly to the centralization issue of Solana

As the encryption currency market continues to heat up, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin recently responded to the common controversy of 'Ethereum vs Solana', stating that Solana's Proof of Stake (PoS) mechanism is more centralized than Ethereum. In a recent interview, the 30-year-old blockchain pioneer pointed out that the complexity of running Solana Nodes is much higher than that of Ethereum Nodes, and many community projects in the Solana ecosystem are directly supported by the Solana Foundation, demonstrating its more centralized nature. These remarks have sparked extensive discussions in the blockchain community, especially against the backdrop of the growing demand for high-performance blockchains in the current market.

Emphasizing the importance of Decentralization again

Vitalik stated that Solana focuses mainly on the application layer, particularly discussing the issue of DePIN (Decentralization Physical Infrastructure), and collaborating with large enterprises to sell hardware, as well as partnering with telecommunications companies to establish new networks.

"The demand for Decentralization in these applications is much lower than that of Ethereum," he commented. When discussing Ethereum's advantages, Vitalik particularly emphasized its long-term commitment to Decentralization, neutrality, and security. It is worth noting that Vitalik also mentioned Ethereum's significant progress in addressing centralization issues. For example, three years ago, the Ethereum network heavily relied on the Geth and Prysm clients, but now no single client has a network share of more than 52%, indicating that the system is gradually moving towards a higher level of Decentralization."

Another prominent example of Ethereum's progress in Decentralization is the Tornado Cash controversy. When certain cryptocurrency transactions are censored, many people worry that Ethereum may lose its neutrality. However, over the past two years, the proportion of blocks reviewing such transactions has decreased significantly from over 80% to between 20% and 50%. This improvement trend demonstrates the resilience of the Ethereum network in maintaining Decentralization and resisting censorship. Vitalik further stated that by comparing the Decentralization of Ethereum PoS Mining Pool with BTC Mining Pool, the data shows that Ethereum is actually more Decentralized than BTC.

Layer2 solution improves performance

On the issue of performance, Vitalik admitted that Ethereum Layer1 may not be able to meet the demand for processing 100 transactions per second (TPS). However, he proposed two possible solutions: developers can choose to switch to high-performance blockchains, or use Ethereum Layer2, such as Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, or MegaETH. This layered architecture design allows Ethereum to achieve higher transaction processing capacity without sacrificing Decentralization.

The core concept of Ether Square adopting this design is to let Layer 1 focus on becoming a decentralized, neutral and secure base layer, similar to Bitcoin's positioning, and leave the improvement of transaction speed and efficiency to Layer 2 to provide a smooth user experience for mainstream users. Vitalik uses the prediction market platform Polymarket as an example to illustrate the practical application value of Layer2 solutions. He mentioned that he has long been interested in market prediction platforms, but when he used platforms such as Augur in his early days, he did not experience well because of the high cost of Laundering. In contrast, Polymarket has gained widespread popularity thanks to "lower Money Laundering and faster transaction confirmations."

The future development of Ethereum?

In today's rapidly evolving Blockchain technology, the balance between efficiency and Decentralization has always been the focus of industry follow. Vitalik acknowledges that for high-performance applications like games, Ethereum Layer1 may not be the most ideal choice, which is why Ethereum relies on Layer2. This pragmatic attitude and clear technical roadmap demonstrate Ethereum's unique advantage in facing market competition. By continuously optimizing the Layer2 ecosystem, Ethereum is proving that it can meet the efficiency needs of modern Blockchain applications while maintaining the essence of Decentralization.

"Ethereum vs Solana, Vitalik Buterin: They are more 'centralized', we rely on Layer2 to improve efficiency' This article was first published in 'encryption city'