Vitalik Buterin refutes allegations of selling ETH for personal gain

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently addressed several controversies, including accusations of selling ETH for personal gain, claims that layer-2 blockchains could steal user funds, and criticism over Ethereum’s focus on decentralized finance. Buterin clarified that his ETH sales have been to support Web3 projects and philanthropy, not for personal gain, and he also reassured the crypto community about the security of layer-2 solutions. Additionally, Buterin shared his vision for future cities that combine democracy, capitalism, and decentralization, while the Ethereum developer and research community continues to grow.

Vitalik Buterin defends ETH sales

Co-founder of Ethereum Vitalik Buterin He recently responded to allegations that he sold millions of dollars worth of Ethereum (ETH) for personal gain. The controversy began when a member of the crypto community on X accused Buterin of dumping over $2 million worth of ETH shortly after making a bullish tweet. The on-chain analytics firm Look in chain He also shared that the same wallet address received 3,000 ETH from Buterin on August 9.

In response, Buterin clarified that he has not sold any ETH for personal gain since 2018. He explained that all ETH sales have been made to support various Web3 projects and philanthropic initiatives, including contributions to the Ethereum Ecosystem as well as biomedical research and development. Buterin said his actions were motivated solely by a desire to fund projects he considers valuable, rather than to profit from his holdings.

The Ethereum founder’s response attracted a lot of support from many in the cryptocurrency community. Some even encouraged Buterin to sell ETH for a profit if he chooses to do so. Moreover, some people believe that he deserved to enjoy the financial rewards of his contributions to the blockchain space.

In addition to addressing these accusations, Buterin also recently defended Ethereum against claims that the blockchain does not prioritize decentralized finance (DeFi). Kain WarwickThe inventor of yield farming criticized Buterin’s stance on DeFi, arguing that he underestimated its importance over the past five years.

Buterin responded by reaffirming his commitment to developing useful and sustainable applications in the Ethereum Network While maintaining its core principles of permissionlessness and decentralization, it also reiterated its lack of respect for projects that rely on temporary and unsustainable sources of traction.

Buterin debunks fears of layer 2 funds being stolen

Because Mumtazco-founder and CEO of Helius, also recently sparked a debate on X by suggesting that every major layer 2 blockchain “Technically it could steal funds from users.” This claim was countered by Vitalik Buterin, who clarified that this would require an extraordinarily high level of consensus, making it unlikely that any layer 2 solution could be adopted unilaterally. steal funds.

Buterin explained that a security council oversees the execution of governance on these chains and that this council must have at least a 75% voting threshold to make decisions. Additionally, a large portion of the council members, at least 26%, must be independent of the company behind the layer 2 solution.

In the case of DecisionA quorum blocking group includes members from outside Offchain Labs, the company behind the solution, ensuring a level of decentralization. Both Arbitrum and Optimism meet these requirements, according to Buterin, which makes the idea of ​​layer 2s stealing user funds seem very far-fetched.

Despite these assurances from Buterin, some users are still a bit skeptical about whether the quorum-blocking subset will actually act independently of the company. Buterin addressed these concerns by pointing to the current members of Arbitrum’s security council.

Cryptocurrency analyst Adam Cochran added to the debate by discussing the importance of considering the multiplier impact of a board, including the individual trust levels associated with its members and their respective goals and values. Cochran argued that the likelihood of user funds being stolen is much lower on boards comprised of diverse stakeholders with public reputations and track records, as the potential for collusion is minimized.

Vitalik Buterin on the cities of the future

Meanwhile, Vitalik Buterin recently proposed a visionary plan for a city that combined the principles of democracy, capitalism and decentralization. Their ideas were shared in response to a discussion on Farcaster about the concept of “for-profit cities.” These cities sound like corporate dystopias, but would instead treat city governance as an extension of the company.

Buterin advocated a hybrid model, where cities would serve both the public good and society. revenue Reasons. He believes that there is a need for public infrastructure that benefits all income levels and that it is important for cities to contribute positively to the nation and the world. Buterin also criticised the idea of ​​solving the homeless problem with superficial measures such as relocating people to other cities and instead proposed a more inclusive and sustainable approach.

In his ideal city, citizens will have greater access to assets that provide them with governance privileges, while landowners will face higher taxes but a smaller stake in land ownership. This, he argued, will align incentives with the city’s overall success.

Specifically, Buterin highlighted some of the benefits of land value taxes, which will encourage governments to focus on improving local public goods that increase land value, while allowing local property owners to retain the full value of their developments.

Buterin’s vision is very similar to a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), integrated with tax and benefit incentives. This approach, according to political theorycould effectively socialize the democratic process while maintaining a capitalist framework.

Ethereum Research Growth Increases

The development team behind Ethereum has seen impressive growth. In fact, the number of researchers contributing to the network has increased by over 2,100% over the past five years.

This increase, from about 25 researchers at the beginning of 2019 to around 550 at its peak in Q1 2024, indicates that there is still strong momentum for the world’s second-largest blockchain network. However, by Q2 2024, the number of researchers had decreased slightly to around 450.

Number of Ethereum researchers (Source: unknown)

This growth in the Ethereum research community was pointed out in a post by X by Emre Caliskanwho is an engineer at Electric Capital. The rise of developers is closely related to the pace of innovation at Ethereum, which has kept it at the forefront Blockchain technology.

As of July 1, Ethereum remains the leading blockchain in terms of monthly active developers. It has 2,788 full-time developers and over 8,865 developers in total, according to data from Developer Report.

Coinbase’s Base blockchain comes in second, with 889 full-time developers and 3,991 total developers. While Ethereum saw a 10% decline in annual developers, Base experienced a 14% increase. In the realm of contract deployers, Ethereum ranks sixth with 127,702 monthly deployers, while Base leads with over 862,000.

Contract implementers (Source: Token Terminal)

In terms of market performance, Ethnicity has seen a price increase of over 1245% over the past five years. The altcoin’s price rose from $168 in August 2019 to over $2450 in August 2024. Some analysts are also optimistic about More profitsand predict a possible rally above $3,000, although they suggest it could take until October for a bullish breakout to occur.