Vitalik Buterin Advocates for ETH-Centric Incentives in Ethereum’s Scaling Plans
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has called for scaling strategies and network applications to focus more on supporting ether (ETH), the blockchain’s native asset, to bolster its value and utility. Buterin shared his views in a blog post on Friday, emphasizing the need for ETH to play a central role in the ecosystem’s scaling and application layers.
“We should pursue a multi-pronged strategy to solidify ETH as a triple-point asset,” Buterin wrote, referencing its role as collateral, a medium of exchange, and a store of value. He also urged the Ethereum community to adopt policies that promote ETH as the primary asset across Layer 1 (L1) and Layer 2 (L2) solutions, supporting its use as the main collateral for applications.
Buterin proposed that Layer 2 networks allocate a portion of their fees to ETH through mechanisms like burning fees, permanently staking ETH, or directing proceeds toward funding public goods within the Ethereum ecosystem.
This comes amid growing criticism of the Ethereum Foundation, which faces scrutiny as ETH has struggled to maintain market share and prominence. The ether-bitcoin ratio has dropped to its lowest levels since 2021, with Bitcoin recently hitting a record high of $109,000, delivering a 160% return over the past year. By contrast, ETH has risen just 40% in the same period and remains 30% below its 2021 peak, according to CoinDesk data.
Buterin also suggested increasing Ethereum’s blob count while setting a minimum price for blobs as another potential revenue source. “If the average blob fee of the last 30 days holds steady and the blob count increases to 128, Ethereum could burn 713,000 ETH annually,” Buterin explained. However, he cautioned that this scenario depends on sustained demand and should not be relied upon as a sole strategy to boost ETH’s value.
Blobs, a type of transaction with extra attached data, differ from standard transactions because they only occupy mainnet space temporarily (for 18 days). Their usage has surged since November, with the daily tally averaging a record 21,000 blobs. Two prominent Layer 2 networks, Coinbase’s BASE and World Chain, accounted for 55% of this activity, highlighting the growing reliance on Layer 2 scaling solutions.
Buterin’s comments underscore the need for Ethereum’s scaling roadmap to integrate measures that directly enhance the value of ETH, ensuring the network’s competitiveness in an increasingly crowded crypto market.
