Jessy（@susanliu33），Jinse Finance

Vitalik disappeared from X for over 20 days.

During these 20 days, Ethereum's price repeatedly broke through investors' psychological barriers. On March 12, the ETH/BTC exchange rate hit a new low of 0.022676, the lowest since June 2020. The ETH/BTC exchange rate continued to decline, with whales from the ICO period fleeing, retail investors panicking, and FUD voices constant.

In February, a dispute erupted within the Ethereum community. The community wanted Vitalik to lower his noble head and see what the industry is currently doing. Facing criticism, Vitalik stated that he does not believe the current PVP trend is the best product for blockchain, and he and Ethereum are committed to creating better products.

During these 20 days when Vitalik was absent from the network, Binance's two founders CZ and He Yi led the way in playing memes on X, sparking a "white canvas trend" of BSC chain memes, leveraging the investment from the Abu Dhabi investment institution.

In this cycle, the MEME track is booming with PVP prevalent, and crazy gambling emotions flood the crypto community. Beyond this, a broader sense of confusion shrouds the crypto community, with the true innovation that could lead the industry forward having disappeared.

The industry is barren, with MEME becoming the main narrative. People began to reminisce about the DeFi summer of 2020 on Ethereum.

Previously called "V神", now called "Little V"

Before, people called him "V神" and treated him as a spiritual leader, relying on him to point out the direction of crypto development. Now people call him "Little V" and tell him to "get out" of Ethereum.

Vitalik's most recent focus of public opinion was in early February. At that time, the community was filled with FUD voices about Ethereum. Facing questioning, rational suggestions, or emotional abuse, Vitalik ultimately responded on X, essentially saying: He does not agree that the current PVP model is the best product, and he pursues better products. Regarding everyone's demands for Ethereum Foundation innovation and responsibilities, Vitalik also expressed his exhaustion with suggestions from those who know nothing about the foundation's internal workings.

Currently, DeFi projects from the Trump family, Solana's Layer2, Deutsche Bank's Layer2, and many other major institutions are building Web3 applications and infrastructure solutions on Ethereum. Ethereum's ecosystem is mature and leading in terms of technical resource reserves, development team support, on-chain fund volume, and client security.

Moreover, Vitalik is not only realizing his technical ideals through Ethereum, but also placing his social ideals on Ethereum, and not limiting himself to Ethereum. His advocated concepts such as decentralization, resistance to censorship, and quadratic voting involve democratic practices, internet structure, and business and public welfare organizations. This makes his influence extend beyond the crypto community.

Is Ethereum really beyond salvation?

Are there still expectations for Ethereum? The answer is yes.

In April, Ethereum will welcome the Pectra upgrade mainnet launch. This upgrade combines changes in the execution layer (Prague upgrade) and consensus layer (Electra upgrade). Pectra introduces 11 key Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), aimed at enhancing scalability, staking flexibility, and user experience. Overall, after this upgrade, at the technical level, it will improve Ethereum network's performance and stability; at the economic level, it will change Ethereum's staking economic model, which will affect Ethereum's supply and demand and market price; at the application level, it can attract more developers and users to the Ethereum ecosystem, promoting the innovation and development of decentralized applications.

In the United States, a staking Ethereum spot ETF may also be approved. In the first quarter of 2025, asset management company 21Shares, representing the CBOE BZX exchange, submitted an application to introduce staking functionality to its Ethereum spot ETF. Additionally, Fidelity submitted an S-1 form for the proposed Ethereum spot ETF, including staking functionality. Grayscale has also applied to provide staking functionality for the Ethereum spot ETF.

The implementation of the Pectra upgrade is expected to shorten Ethereum's unstaking period, which was initially a major obstacle to introducing staking for spot ETFs. The subsequent upgrade may become a catalyst for pushing through staking ETFs.

There is a consensus in the industry that one major reason for the current weak attractiveness of Ethereum spot ETFs is the lack of staking functionality. The launch of staking functionality will allow Ethereum spot ETF holders to receive staking rewards. After staking, investors will obtain 3-3.5% annual returns. With the launch of staking-enabled Ethereum spot ETFs, it may significantly increase capital inflows into Ethereum spot ETFs, thereby driving up Ethereum's price.

These two factors are substantial positive signals for Ethereum's price this year.

However, the truth is that these expected transformations for Ethereum are just some improvements on a foreseeable path. These changes are merely making the highway wider and smoother. This is not a disruptive industry innovation or a groundbreaking product or application.

Ethereum's use cases have actually reached their peak. In this cycle, no project with widespread participation has emerged on the Ethereum mainnet, and its price has not exceeded previous highs. Its highest TVL is still at the 2021 level.

Once the first choice for building smart contract platforms, now that the infrastructure of the blockchain world has developed comprehensively with more and better, cheaper platform public chains to choose from, Ethereum is no longer the only option. In this cycle, public chains like Solana, Sui, and TON have each developed their own ecosystem characteristics. Top Ethereum Layer2 solutions like Base have also achieved their own successes.

Demystifying Vitalik is good for an industry. As the industry matures and Ethereum is no longer dominant, more emerging players can compete, which can stimulate a richer ecosystem. As a rich blockchain ecosystem is established, Ethereum's importance in the industry will naturally decline.

Vitalik once said in an interview with Duan Media, "My life is about being a bridge for all things." Since 2015, the Ethereum Foundation has spent more on external funding than internal operations. These fundings have connected more teams and promoted the development of various crypto projects. Whether it's Ethereum itself or what Vitalik has done, it's about laying the foundation for crypto.

Neither Ethereum nor Vitalik himself should bear the burden of people's confusion about the industry's lack of innovation.

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

Those who are confused and angry in the crypto community will also make a choice after looking into their hearts: whether to stay and become a "builder", patiently creating something new on the barren ground, or to leave and become a shrewd "speculator" chasing the next trend.