Vitalik Buterin Urges Ethereum Ecosystem to Prioritize ETH in Scaling and Revenue Models
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has called on the ecosystem to strengthen the role of ether (ETH) in scaling plans and application development, advocating for a unified strategy to boost the asset’s value and utility. Buterin shared his vision in a blog post on Friday, emphasizing ETH’s importance as a foundational asset in the network’s long-term success.
“A multi-pronged approach is essential to establish ETH as a triple-point asset and cement its role in both Layer 1 and Layer 2 economies,” Buterin wrote. He proposed incentivizing Layer 2 networks to allocate a portion of their fees to ETH through mechanisms like fee burning, staking proceeds permanently, or reinvesting into public goods that support the Ethereum ecosystem.
This renewed focus on ETH comes amid mounting pressure as the asset loses market share to competitors. The ether-bitcoin ratio has fallen to 2021 levels, with Bitcoin recently hitting a record high of $109,000, delivering a 160% gain over the past year. By contrast, ETH has risen just 40% during the same period and is trading 30% below its 2021 peak, CoinDesk data shows.
Buterin also highlighted Ethereum blobs as a potential revenue driver. He suggested increasing blob counts and setting minimum fees for their usage. “If the current demand for blobs holds steady and the count increases to 128, Ethereum could burn 713,000 ETH annually,” Buterin explained. However, he noted that such a scenario is not guaranteed and should be part of a broader strategy.
Blobs are specialized transactions with additional data that temporarily occupy mainnet space for 18 days. Usage has hit record levels, with an average of 21,000 blobs processed daily since November. Two Layer 2 networks, Coinbase’s BASE and World Chain, account for 55% of this activity, underscoring the importance of Layer 2 scalability in Ethereum’s roadmap.
Buterin’s recommendations aim to align the ecosystem around ETH as a core asset, leveraging innovations in scaling and economic models to enhance its value proposition and maintain Ethereum’s leadership in the evolving blockchain space.
