ETHCC Interviews:
Kane, Warwick, and Suzu’s debate over reasonably sized houses on Crypto Twitter is discussed with Kane. Uri and Ellie from Starkware are asked about potential plans to create their own layer one or migrate away from Ethereum. Vitalik Buterin is interviewed about developer morale, the Ethereum roadmap, and his fashion sense.

RocketPool:
RocketPool is a decentralized validator network for Ethereum where users can deposit ETH and receive RETH in return. RETH can be used in DeFi, and node operators can charge a 15% staking reward fee. RETH can be bridged to Arbitrum using the ACROSS bridge.

Arbitrum:
Arbitrum is a leading roll-up solution with over 35,000 contracts and 1 million unique addresses. It offers fast, cheap, and secure cross-chain bridging through the ACROSS bridge.

Brave Browser:
Brave is a privacy-first browser that blocks ads, has a native Web3 wallet, and prioritizes user experience.

Ledger Hardware Wallets:
Ledger hardware wallets are a secure and convenient way to store crypto assets. The Ledger Live ecosystem provides a comprehensive suite of features for managing crypto assets.

MakerDAO:
MakerDAO is a decentralized autonomous organization that issues the DAI stablecoin. DAI is a tried and tested stablecoin with a strong track record. Maker is developing DAI portals to enable easy movement of DAI across different layer-two solutions.

Vitalik Buterin’s ECC Talk Preview:
Vitalik Buterin discussed the non-financial use cases of blockchain technology in his previous ECC talk, which sparked a surge of interest in decentralized social media protocols and soulbound tokens. In his upcoming talk, Buterin aims to focus on the long-term vision for the Ethereum protocol and the importance of valuing decentralization.

Addressing the Crypto Market Boom and Bust:
Buterin expressed relief over the calming down of the crypto market after the mania of 2021, acknowledging the downside of excessive hype and attention from unsavory characters and governments. He emphasized the need for the crypto space to develop and mature before gaining mainstream adoption.

Progress in Scalability Solutions:
Buterin highlighted advancements in scalability solutions, including roll-ups, Protodank sharding, Validiums, and ZK rollups/ZKVM. He emphasized the significance of compression and signature aggregation in reducing transaction data costs and improving roll-up efficiency. Buterin lauded the progress made by Optimism and Arbitrum in implementing these techniques and the development of ERC-4337 for account abstraction.

Benefits of ERC-4337 and Signature Aggregation:
ERC-4337 and signature aggregation enable smart contract wallets to specify signature aggregation methods, allowing miners/nodes to aggregate transactions and signatures, resulting in significant space savings. This optimization can potentially reduce rollup transaction sizes from 60-65 bytes to just one byte, leading to a five to ten times reduction in transaction costs.

Ongoing Ethereum Developments:
Buterin mentioned ongoing improvements to Ethereum software, including Protodank sharding, full dink sharding, and Volidiums, which aim to enhance the system’s scalability and capacity. He expressed optimism about Ethereum’s ability to handle the massive usage demands of mainstream adoption once these developments are fully implemented.

Long-Term Perspective on Market Cycles:
Buterin emphasized the importance of focusing on the pace of development rather than short-term price fluctuations for long-term crypto investors. He observed that the Ethereum community has made significant progress in building technology and infrastructure, even during market downturns.

Ethereum Development Speed:
Development of the Ethereum protocol has been accelerating due to an increase in researchers, developers, and overall effort. However, the speed is also slowed down by the desire for stability, testing, and the need to build surrounding infrastructure.

Ethereum’s Future:
Move fast and change things radically in the next few years to implement new consensus algorithms, sharding, and transaction inclusion models. Gradually move towards a more stable and dependable Layer 1 in the long term, with incremental, technical, and safety-oriented improvements.

Morale Among Ethereum Developers:
A genuine sense of high morale exists among Ethereum developers, driven by the approaching merge and the increasing likelihood of its success. The merge is expected to have a significant positive impact on morale and change the narrative surrounding Ethereum’s progress.

App Layer Lessons:
The app layer is a key area for learning lessons, as seen in the ICO mania and DeFi food farms of previous cycles. Lessons learned in 2021 include the need for tokenomics that encourage long-term holding, sustainable incentives, user-friendly interfaces, and consideration of regulatory and compliance issues.

Principles-Based Thinking Demoralized:
Vitalik Buterin suggests that the crypto community, particularly principles-based thinkers, faced a demoralizing situation due to the prevalence of unsustainable stablecoin yields. Principles-based thinkers emphasized the unsustainability of high yields, viewing them as scams or unsustainable schemes.

Yield Farming Craze and the Challenge to Principles:
In 2020 and 2021, the crypto space witnessed an ongoing yield farming craze, where projects offered incredibly high APYs, such as 90% on USDC. This trend challenged the principles-based approach, raising doubts about the validity of traditional financial principles in the crypto space.

The Luna Incident: A Rude Awakening:
The sudden collapse of the Luna stablecoin and the Terra ecosystem served as a stark reminder of the importance of principles-based thinking. The incident demonstrated that principles do matter in the crypto space and that the laws of economics and finance cannot be ignored.

Importance of the Timing of the Luna Crash:
Buterin expresses gratitude for the Luna incident occurring at a relatively early stage, preventing even more significant losses. He emphasizes the potential consequences if the crash had happened later when the market capitalization of the project had grown to $500 billion.

Potential Implications for Mainstream Adoption:
Buterin highlights the growing pressure on mainstream actors to take responsibility for crypto events if losses exceed $500 billion. He suggests that such a scenario could lead to a loss of room to maneuver for the crypto industry.

Regulatory Evil:
Vitalik Buterin believes that giving the crypto industry freedom while firewalled from reality is a better option than regulators dictating what it can and can’t do.

Luna’s Collapse:
The Luna collapse served as a reminder of the importance of reality, fundamentals, and principles in the crypto market.

Evaluating Investment Opportunities:
Buterin suggests considering the probability of negative events over a long period to assess the true value of investments, rather than solely focusing on short-term returns.

Refreshing Sanity:
Buterin suggests that sometimes, negative events and market crashes are necessary to bring sanity and caution back to the market.

Frontier and Risk:
The permanent frontier and its inherent risk can obscure the fact that the frontier is gradually moving, and the number of de-risked and safe aspects of crypto is increasing.

De-risking the Frontier:
Over time, specific aspects of the crypto frontier are becoming de-risked and safer, making them more suitable for mainstream adoption.

Crypto Safety Improvements:
The ability to hold cryptocurrencies safely has seen significant improvements over the years, with the rise of hardware wallets and the future promise of social recovery wallets. Multi-sig wallets for organizations have become mainstream, and individual multi-sigs are expected to follow suit once UX issues are resolved.

The Evolving Frontier of Crypto:
Despite the constant push for innovation and exploration in the crypto industry, the focus on safety and reliability has resulted in a shift from the Wild West mentality to a more settled and established landscape. This shift is analogous to the expansion of land in Singapore, where new territory is continuously created to accommodate growth.

Lack of News as a Sign of Progress:
The absence of news in the crypto industry can be an indicator of progress and stability. When safety and reliability become the norm, there are fewer incidents and controversies to report. Paying attention to what’s not being said can be revealing, as it highlights industries and sectors that have matured and settled down.

Surviving the Pitching Game at Conferences:
Vitalik Buterin suggests limiting conference attendance to avoid overwhelming pitching sessions. Conferences serve as a venue to connect with specific individuals rather than attending presentations. The high demand for conference attendance, with more people wanting to participate than capacity allows, contributes to the pitching culture.

Vitalik’s General Request:
Vitalik encourages the Ethereum community to elevate and support meaningful projects and individuals making a positive impact.

Value in Elevated Projects:
The ERC-4337 team, despite lacking a token or marketing, is developing revolutionary solutions that could enhance wallet safety and reduce optimistic roll-up costs.

Support for Activists:
Vitalik highlights the importance of supporting activists in countries where crypto offers a lifeline against de-platforming.

Positive Social Media Platforms:
He emphasizes the need for social media platforms that actively address toxicity and unproductive behavior, replacing it with positive mechanics.

Diverse Contributions:
Vitalik recognizes the contributions of various corners of the Ethereum ecosystem and encourages attention, funding, and moral support for those doing meaningful work.

Conclusion:
Vitalik’s advice remains consistent: elevate meaningful projects, support activists, and promote positive developments within the Ethereum community.