As Ethereum gradually shifts to a Rollup-centric development roadmap, the importance of its protocol changes is gradually decreasing. This article delves into the reasons for this shift and its potential impact on the ecosystem. By analyzing the changing priorities of Ethereum protocol developers, the author reveals that as Rollup matures, the direct impact of protocol-level changes on users will decrease. The article also quotes the views of Aya Miyaguchi, executive director of the Ethereum Foundation, emphasizing the risks and necessity of reducing the roles of protocols and foundations. At the same time, this article points out that the core building blocks of future finance are being built outside the protocol, and Rollup and other innovative technologies will gradually surpass the importance of Ethereum upgrades in the ecosystem.
The Rollup-Powered Future
Shifting priorities in protocol development
At the EthCC conference, Christine Kim discussed the development roadmap centered on Rollup. As Ethereum protocol developers focus more and more on optimizing data availability (DA), other parts of the Ethereum ecosystem will pay less attention to and participate in protocol development.
Ethereum as an execution layer will become less relevant to users as users migrate to Rollup as the primary touchpoint for value transfer and interaction with decentralized applications (dapps). The primary responsibility for improving the user experience (such as transaction speed, ordering, and confirmation) will fall primarily on Rollup development teams. Therefore, the most important upgrades for users will happen on Rollup, not Ethereum.
Importance of Rollup
As protocol developers increasingly focus on optimizing data availability (DA), the technology needed to achieve breakthroughs in Ethereum’s user experience will be primarily built by Rollup teams rather than client teams. With all the buzzwords that attract investor and developer attention on EthCC, such as Maximum Extractable Value (MEV), Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs), Account Abstraction, Intent, and Pre-Confirmation, the relevance of Ethereum as a DA layer is waning, while the relevance of Rollup as the execution environment for the next wave of major cryptocurrency adopters is increasing.
Core developer transition
As protocol developers focus more and more on optimizing for data availability (DA), their visibility and influence on the values and ethos that drive product and application development on Ethereum will decrease. Already high-profile Ethereum core developers, such as Ben Edgington and Protolambda, and client teams such as Prysmatic Labs, have reached this conclusion and are now working full-time on the Rollup team.
The impact of protocol changes has weakened
For most of Ethereum’s history, code changes activated via hard forks have had a direct impact on user behavior. Protocol developers have adjusted the prices of certain opcodes, introduced new precompiles, and removed features like gas refunds. While many Rollups today take great care to mimic Ethereum’s execution environment, their maturity will lead to greater deviations as Ethereum is reshaped into a DA layer.
The need for decentralization
The mentality of reducing the role of the protocol to help expand its coverage is risky, but also necessary for decentralization. Aya Miyaguchi, Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation, explained her vision for the Ethereum Foundation: "The best part of Ethereum is its decentralization, and because of that, the ecosystem has its own unique challenges. I see subtraction as a strategy to achieve two main goals. ... The first goal is to find the right balance. Building an Ethereum Foundation empire and solving all problems ourselves may make us look good in the short term, but it will make others feel that this ecosystem is not built for everyone, and the Ethereum Foundation will also become a single point of failure. If we keep adding, the ecosystem will always depend on the Ethereum Foundation."
Evolution of the ecosystem
There was a ton of side events at EthCC, which is not a new phenomenon during Europe’s largest Ethereum conference. However, this year the side events were even more important than in previous years, becoming the main event showcasing new ideas, experimental technologies, and important discussions most relevant to Ethereum users.
While protocol developers were well represented at EthCC, and the topic of Ethereum as a protocol was the headline topic on the EthCC agenda, it was not the focus of many attendees during conference week, and this is because the building blocks of future finance are being built elsewhere, outside of the protocol. Therefore, even though Ethereum protocol developers may make radical and ambitious code changes to the core protocol, their relevance in the ecosystem should diminish over time. It is time for the impact of innovative solutions and new technologies built on Rollups and beyond to surpass the importance of Ethereum upgrades.
