Over the years, Ethereum has established itself as a second-best competitor to Bitcoin in terms of technology, innovation, and use cases. If many people think of Bitcoin as “digital gold,” then Ethereum would be “digital silver.” However, like Bitcoin, Ethereum has also been the subject of a lot of criticism and attacks, with many claiming that its popularity will come to an end. The latest is a post on Twitter/X from Justin Bonn, in which he says Ethereum is “cooked.”
Justin Bons, founder and CIO of Cyber Capital, shared his views on the future of Ethereum, the role of layer 2 venture funding, and token dynamics, sparking a lively discussion on social media. His outspoken criticism of issues such as self-interest and centralization has raised questions about Ethereum's long-term reputation.
Bonds’ position on Ethereum on Twitter/X attracted dozens of comments from crypto enthusiasts, with some supporting his side and others disputing his views.
1/9) Ethereum is cooked
No one is extending L1 of ETH anymore as it has been corrupted by L2 VC funding and tokens. They won't allow it!
That's why there's no hope left for ETH.
Driving into irrelevance the quasi-religious word salad justifying Bitcoiner mediocrity: 🧵
— Justin Bons (@Justin_Bons) October 28, 2024
Bonds claims Ethereum is now 'irrelevant'
In a Twitter/X thread, Bonds lists several reasons why the Ethereum blockchain could be “cooked” and go down an irrelevant path. He said the main reason for its decline is self-interest, prioritizing the development of the layer 2 (L2) chain instead of expanding the base layer (L1).
Bonds further said that while Ethereum started as a beautiful blockchain, recent developments could push it into oblivion. He specifically highlighted the chain's L2, which can censor, steal and freeze users' funds. According to Bonds, these L2s are fragmented and centralized, which impacts the user experience and makes the Solana blockchain a better option.
Ether market cap currently at $314 billion. Chart: TradingView.com
Migrating from Uniswap to Unichain
Ethereum is also facing another significant problem as it transitions to its own blockchain, Unichain, with Uniswap. On October 10th of last year, UniSwap's parent company, UniSwap Labs, announced the launch of blockchain. This modern blockchain or rollup is built on the Ethereum blockchain and aims to share its profits with users who stake their UNI tokens.
Ether price down in the last week. Source: CoinGecko
Ethereum is expected to lose a significant source of revenue with this new arrangement. Traditionally, the majority of Uniswap's fee income is collected by ETH holders. According to Michael Nadeau, Uniswap earned about $1.3 billion from payment and transaction fees across five blockchains.
However, Uniswap and its token holders got “zero” from this revenue. In return, Ethereum validators were paid over $368 million for posting ETH to secure the blockchain. With the launch of Unichain, Uniswap takes this value and filters it to token holders.
If you think L2 is bearish $ETHthen you have to realize that it's very bearish, at least for alt-L1.
At least L2 has to pay for blobs once the goal is reached and all are using $ETH As the main on-chain currency.
L2 is also the fastest growing…
— AdrianoFeria.eth 🦇🔊 🛡️ (@AdrianoFeria) October 28, 2024
Ethereum receives community support
While Bonds' rant may have attracted a small number of supporters, many users on Twitter/X defended the Ethereum blockchain. For example, AdrianoFeria.eth attacked Bons for living in an alternate universe. He defended the Ethereum blockchain, arguing that the L2 chain should not be bearish on ETH L1, but should be bearish on all L1s.
He added that Solana is not the fastest growing chain and continued that Ethereum is still thriving thanks to inter-institutional partnerships. Some commented that Bonds is biased and will always take a hostile approach towards cryptocurrencies.
Some insiders say Uniswap's announcement makes it difficult to predict what will happen next. According to Waves' Sasha Ivanov, the transition is not expected to be complete until at least the end of the year. If that happens, the impact will depend on whether Uniswap bridges to the Ethereum blockchain or other smart contract-enabled chains.
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