Author: Jessy (@susanliu33), Jinse Finance

Vitalik has been absent 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 rate continued to decline, with whales from the ICO period fleeing, retail investors panicking, and FUD voices growing louder.

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

During Vitalik's 20-day absence 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 memes on the BSC chain, leveraging the investment from an 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 drive 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 God", now called "Little V"

Before, people called him "Vitalik" and saw him as a spiritual leader guiding crypto's development. Now people call him "Little V" and want him to "get out" of Ethereum.

Vitalik's most recent media focus was in early February. At that time, the community was filled with FUD about Ethereum. Facing questioning, rational advice, 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 demands for innovation at the Ethereum Foundation, Vitalik expressed exhaustion with advice from those who know nothing about the foundation's internal workings.

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It was unimaginable two years ago that Vitalik would become the target of criticism.

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Looking back at the history of crypto development, the most important innovations leading industry development in the past decade mostly occurred on Ethereum, known as the "world computer": Ethereum widely adopted smart contracts, providing a platform for DeFi innovations like liquidity mining, building various Layer 2 solutions such as Rollups and Plasma, and practicing DAO governance models.

Currently, DeFi projects from the Trump family, Sony's Layer 2, Deutsche Bank's Layer 2, and increasingly more institutions are building Web3 applications and infrastructure solutions on Ethereum. Ethereum's ecosystem is mature and leading in technical resource reserves, development team support, on-chain fund volume, and client security.

Moreover, Vitalik is not just realizing his technical ideals through Ethereum, but also embedding his social ideals, extending beyond Ethereum. Concepts he advocates like decentralization, censorship resistance, and Quadratic Voting involve democratic practices, internet structure, and business and public welfare organizations, making his influence transcend 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 mainnet upgrade. 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, technically, it will improve Ethereum network's performance and stability; economically, it will change Ethereum's staking economic model, affecting its supply-demand relationship and market price; and at the application level, it can attract more developers and users to the Ethereum ecosystem, driving decentralized application innovation and development.

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

This upgrade may become a catalyst for approving staking ETFs.

There is an industry consensus that a key reason current Ethereum spot ETFs are less attractive 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 inflow and potentially drive up Ethereum's price.

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

However, the truth is that these expected Ethereum transformations are merely improvements on a foreseeable path. These changes are just 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 remains at 2021 levels.

Once the first choice for building smart contract platforms, now, as blockchain infrastructure has developed comprehensively with more and better, cheaper platform public chains available, Ethereum is no longer the only option. In this cycle, public chains like Solana, Sui, and TON have each developed their unique ecosystem characteristics. Top Ethereum Layer 2 solutions like Base have also achieved their own successes.

Demystifying Vitalik is good for an industry. As the industry matures and Ethereum no longer dominates, more emerging players can compete, which can inspire a richer ecosystem. As a diverse 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 Ethereum itself or Vitalik's work is about laying the foundation for crypto.

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

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

Those feeling lost and angry in the crypto community will also make a choice after looking inside themselves: either stay and become a "builder", patiently creating something new in the barren landscape, or leave and become a shrewd "speculator" chasing the next trend.