Ethereum Developer Conference: Underlying Divisions and Tension

From May 19 to 23, 2023, the 5-day Ethereum 2023 Developer Community Conference concluded in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. During the conference, there were a total of 48 roadshows and 53 themed sharing sessions, along with various technical exchanges and social activities organized by multiple DAOs and investors outside the venue.

During this high-intensity and high-density interaction, it seems that conflicts of opinion and ideological differences gradually emerged among the participants, especially the tension between practitioners in the Chinese-speaking community and their counterparts in Europe and the United States was more pronounced. The generation of this tense atmosphere is closely related to the content of the meeting, the organizational form, and the composition of the participants.

Zuzalu becomes the focus

The core participants of this conference mainly include Vitalik Buterin and his team, the Ethereum Foundation, the Ethereum community, Zuzalu developers, and various digital nomads. They are gathered in the Zuzalu project initiated by Vitalik and others, which is a new type of pop-up city community experiment located in the Sea Forest resort area of Montenegro.

Zuzalu aims to communicate decisions through co-creation and symbiosis to address the development direction and issues of the Web3 industry over the next decade. Vitalik personally invested 2 million dollars to fund eligible organizations, projects, or developers to participate in Zuzalu and provide necessary support. This diverse combination of participants not only emphasizes the importance of underlying technology but also highlights the significance of infrastructure such as account abstraction and user privacy.

Although Zuzalu, as a hipster-style social experiment, has attracted significant attention within the developer community, it has also faced criticism for being overly centralized in its organization, having nepotism in its selection process, and showcasing a Silicon Valley elitist lifestyle.

The Predicament of Chinese-speaking Participants

Another notable group is the participants from Asia, who actively seek to expand their influence and value in the global market. In particular, representatives of Chinese projects have a strong focus and insight into user growth and product experience, providing rich possibilities for blockchain development.

However, due to the differences between their innovative practices and the mainstream ideas of the Ethereum community, these participants generally feel that their views and voices are not adequately understood and valued. This sentiment may manifest as a deep-seated dissatisfaction and frustration, adding an indescribable tension to the atmosphere of the meeting.

The Outbreak of Conflict

This potential contradiction reached a climax during a chance event. According to an anonymous attendee, when seeking a photo with Vitalik, they were refused, and the other party said: "no Chinese, thank you, but sorry." The attendee expressed understanding of this attitude, as many Chinese-language projects had previously sought to take photos with Vitalik for project endorsement.

This event has sparked controversy within the Chinese community, and the emotions seem to have not dissipated after the meeting. On the contrary, it has left a deeper mark in the minds of the attendees, indicating that the global market dynamics of the future will need to confront not only surface issues but also this kind of invisible pressure, competition, and tension.

Overemphasis on ZK Infrastructure Projects

Ethereum has been committed to addressing fundamental challenges such as scalability, account abstraction, and user privacy. While these efforts pave the way for future innovations, they may struggle to create a distinct new narrative in the short term. Ethereum's decisions on ZK infrastructure projects seem to be driven more by technological possibilities rather than the potential of the existing user base and application ecosystem.

Despite the significant investment in underlying technology and infrastructure by Ethereum, there is still considerable room for improvement in user experience and the application layer. Entrepreneurs in Europe and the Middle East are overly focused on infrastructure and B2B service development, neglecting potential projects that could drive new narratives in the industry. The Ethereum community needs more support for projects that emphasize user experience and product design to meet the needs of current and future users.

The Web3 industry has moved past the stage of natural user growth. New users need a broader range of application scenarios to fully utilize the improved infrastructure, which is a fundamental principle.

Beware of the New Centralization Trend

The investment from the European and American venture capital circles in infrastructure projects is increasing, leading to soaring valuations of related projects. However, many projects have yet to demonstrate significant differentiation advantages and can only rely on airdrop expectations to attract and retain users. This has created a tense and anxious atmosphere in the bear market.

Viewing new infrastructure projects as a means to lock in liquidity may reflect path-dependent thinking or may be a reluctant choice. Although this strategy may be effective in the short term, it could stifle innovation, lead to an overly centralized ecosystem, and even trigger market instability in the long run.

We need to find healthier and more sustainable ways to manage and increase liquidity, such as encouraging competition and innovation, as well as establishing robust risk management mechanisms.

Ethereum's Development Path

In this EDCON, the key topics of Ethereum's own development include Roll-up scaling, zkEVM roadmap, account abstraction, user privacy, etc. Ethereum has been progressively advancing its key infrastructure and has achieved good delivery results.

The technological advancements of Ethereum have also impacted various participants in the ecosystem, from the PoS transition affecting the miner community, to scaling solutions aimed at developers, and now directly serving ordinary users with AA and the construction of on-chain privacy infrastructure.

Ethereum is paving the way for the next breakthrough project or paradigm in its own way. In this process, the Ethereum Foundation and Vitalik's core circle must have many strategic considerations in the prioritization of technological advancements and product iterations.

According to the classification of the meeting agenda topics, we can see the current focus and energy allocation of Ethereum. Clearly, it is time to vigorously promote account abstraction and user privacy. This makes sense— the industry needs to first ensure that the underlying architecture can handle massive traffic and an enormous number of transactions, and then optimize the user interface and establish unified standards.

Vigilance Against Ponzi Culture

The overseas developer community has shown vigilance and concern regarding Ponzi culture. Among entrepreneurs in the Asia-Pacific region, FOMO and Ponzi are seen as important manifestations of market operation capabilities in the early stages of project growth. However, outside of the Asia-Pacific region, most people seem to focus only on the process of project asset prices declining from their peak, underestimating the positive impact of the initial growth from 0 to 100.

The entire industry needs better consensus and community mechanisms to constrain project parties, requiring them to strengthen self-regulation and self-discipline. At the same time, investors also need to enhance their discernment abilities to better assess the reliability and risks of projects.

In the future, with the improvement of infrastructure and the influx of greater traffic, the following response strategies may be gradually refined:

1. Enhance the self-regulatory capacity of the industry
2. Strengthen investor education and public awareness
3. Improve technical supervision measures
4. Strengthen laws and regulations
5. Encourage transparency and accountability

East-West Communication: How to Communicate More Effectively?

The Ethereum Foundation has shown some self-centered attitudes during the event, and seems to lack sensitivity towards application development. Chinese and Asia-Pacific entrepreneurs may feel that their perspectives and contributions are not sufficiently valued and understood. This reflects the need for the Ethereum community to embrace more diverse voices, to gain a deeper understanding and support for user-oriented applications, in order to enhance the overall health and prosperity of the ecosystem.

At the same time, while Chinese projects emphasize user growth and product experience, their core narratives at an abstract level are often not strong enough, and the founders' imaginative needs often surpass thinking based on actual scenarios, highlighting the need for improvement in their international product positioning.

The collision and tension this time, although seemingly conflicting, can also be seen as a valuable opportunity for learning and growth. It provides a platform for communication and understanding of different thinking patterns, cultures, and values, allowing all parties the chance to reassess their views and assumptions.