This chapter describes the game theory and economic security modelling we were doing in the Fall of 2014. It recounts how the “bribing attacker model” led our research directly to a radical solution to the long range attack problem.

Chapter 2: The Bribing Attacker, Economic Security, and the Long Range Attack Problem

Vitalik and I had each been reasoning about incentives as part of our research before we ever met, so the proposition that “getting the incentives right” was crucial in proof-of-stake was never a matter of debate. We were never willing to take “half of the coins are honest” as a security assumption. (It’s in bold because it’s important.) We knew that we needed some kind of “incentive compatibility” between bonded node incentives and protocol security guarantees.

It was always our view that the protocol could be viewed as a game that could easily result in “bad outcomes” if the protocol’s incentives encouraged that behaviour. We regarded this as a potential security problem. Security deposits gave us a clear way to punish bad behaviour; slashing conditions, which are basically programs that decide whether to destroy the deposit.

We had long observed that Bitcoin was more secure when the price of bitcoin was higher, and less secure when it was lower. We also now knew that security deposits provided slasher with more economic efficiency than slasher only on rewards. It was clear to us that economic security existed and we made it a high priority.

The Bribing Attacker

I’m not sure how much background Vitalik had in game theory (though it was clear he had more than I did). My own game theory knowledge at the start of the story was even more minimal than it is at the end. But I knew how to recognize and calculate Nash Equilibriums. If you haven’t learned about Nash Equilibriums yet, this next paragraph is for you.

A Nash Equilibrium is a strategy profile (the players’ strategy choices) with a corresponding payoff (giving $ETH or taking$ETH away) where no players individually have an incentive to deviate. “Incentive to deviate” means “they get more $ETH if they somehow change what they’re doing”. If you remember that, and every time you hear “Nash Equilbrium” you thought “no points for individual strategy changes”, you’ll have it.

Some time in late summer of 2014, I first ran into “the bribing attacker model” when I made an offhand response to an economic security question Vitalik asked me on a Skype call (“I can just bribe them to do it”). I don’t know where I got the idea. Vitalik then asked me again about this maybe a week or two later, putting me on the spot to develop it further.

By bribing game participants you can modify a game’s payoffs, and through this operation change its Nash Equilibriums. Here’s how this might look:

The bribe attack changes the Nash Equilibrium of the Prisoner’s Dilemma game from (Up, Left) to (Down,Right). The bribing attacker in this example has a cost of 6 if (Down, Right) is played.

The bribing attacker was our first useful model of economic security.

Before the bribing attack, we usually thought about economic attacks as hostile takeovers by foreign, extra-protocol purchasers of tokens or mining power. A pile of external capital would have to come into the system to attack the blockchain. With the bribe attack, the question became “what is the price of bribing the currently existing nodes to get the desired outcome?”.

We hoped that the bribing attacks of our yet-to-be-defined proof-of-stake protocol would have to spend a lot of money to compensate for lost deposits.

Debate about “reasonableness” aside, this was our first step in learning to reason about economic security. It was fun and simple to use a bribing attacker. You just see how much you have to pay the players to do what the attacker wants. And we were already confident that we would be able to make sure that an attacker has to pay security-deposit-sized bribes to revert the chain in an attempted double-spend. We knew we could recognize “double-signing”. So we were pretty sure that this would give proof-of-stake a quantifiable economic security advantage over a proof-of-work protocol facing a bribing attacker.

The Bribing Economics of the Long Range Attack

Vitalik and I applied the bribing attacker to our proof-of-stake research. We found that PoS protocols without security deposits could be trivially defeated with small bribes. You simply pay coin holders to move their coins to new addresses and give you the key to their now empty addresses. (I’m not sure who originally thought of this idea.) Our insistence on using the briber model easily ruled out all of the proof-of-stake protocols we knew about. I liked that. (At the time we had not yet heard of Jae Kwon’s Tendermint, of Dominic William’s now-defunct Pebble, or of Nick Williamson’s Credits.)

This bribe attack also posed a challenge to security-deposit based proof-of-stake: The moment after a security deposit was returned to its original owner, the bribing adversary could buy the keys to their bonded stakeholder address at minimal cost.

This attack is identical to the long range attack. It is acquiring old keys to take control of the blockchain. It meant that the attacker can create “false histories” at will. But only if they start at a height from which all deposits are expired.

Before working on setting the incentives for our proof-of-stake protocol, therefore, we needed to address the long-range attack problem. If we didn’t address the long range attack problem, then it would be impossible for clients to reliably learn who really had the security deposits.

We did know that developer checkpoints could be used to deal with the long-range attack problem. We thought this was clearly way too centralized.

In the weeks following my conversion to proof-of-stake, while I was staying at Stephan Tual’s house outside of London, I discovered that there was a natural rule for client reasoning about security deposits. Signed commitments are only meaningful if the sender currently has a deposit. That is to say, after the deposit is withdrawn, the signatures from these nodes are no longer meaningful. Why would I trust you after you withdraw your deposit?

The bribing attack model demanded it. It would cost the bribing attacker almost nothing to break the commitments after the deposit is withdrawn.

This meant that a client would hold a list of bonded nodes, and stop blocks at the door if they were not signed by one of these nodes. Ignoring consensus messages from nodes who don’t currently have security deposits solves circumvents the long-range attack problem.  Instead of authenticating the current state based on the history starting from the genesis block, we authenticate it based on a list of who currently has deposits.

This is radically different from proof-of-work.

In PoW, a block is valid if it is chained to the genesis block, and if the block hash meets the difficulty requirement for its chain. In this security deposit-based model, a block is valid if it was created by a stakeholder with a currently existing deposit. This meant that you would need to have current information in order to authenticate the blockchain. This subjectivity has caused a lot of people a lot of concern, but it is necessary for security-deposit based proof-of-stake to be secure against the bribing attacker.

This realization made it very clear to me that the proof-of-work security model and the proof-of-stake security model are fundamentally not compatible. I therefore abandoned any serious use of “hybrid” PoW/PoS solutions. Trying to authenticate a proof-of-stake blockchain from genesis now seemed very obviously wrong.

Beyond changing the authentication model, however, we did need to provide a way to manage these lists of security deposits. We had to use signatures from bonded nodes to manage changes to the list of bonded nodes, and we had to do it after the bonded nodes come to consensus on these changes. Otherwise, clients would have different lists of bonded validators, and they would therefore be unable to agree on the state of Ethereum. 

Bond time needed to be made long, so that clients have time to learn about the new, incoming set of bonded stakeholders. As long as clients were online enough, they could keep up to date. I thought we would use twitter to share the bonded node list, or at least a hash, so that new and hibernating clients could get synchronized after their user enters a hash into the UI.

If you have the wrong validator list you can get man-in-the-middled. But it’s really not that bad. The argument was (and still is!) that you only need to be able to trust an external source for this information once. After that once, you will be able to update your list yourself – at least, if you are able to be online regularly enough to avoid the “long range” of withdrawn deposits.

I know that it might take some getting used to. But we can only rely on fresh security deposits. Vitalik was a bit uncomfortable with this argument at first, trying to hold onto the ability to authenticate from genesis, but eventually was convinced by the necessity of this kind of subjectivity in proof of stake protocols. Vitalik independently came up with his weak subjectivity scoring rule, which seemed to me like a perfectly reasonable alternative to my idea at the time, which was basically “have all the deposits sign every Nth block to update the bonded node list”.

With the nails in the nothing-at-stake and long-range attack coffins completely hammered in, we were ready to start choosing our slashing conditions.

The next chapter will document what we learned from our first struggles to define a consensus protocol by specifying slashing conditions. I’ll also tell you about what we learned from talking with fine people from our space about our research. The game theory and economic modelling story presented here will continue developing in Chapter 4.

NOTE: The views expressed here are solely my own personal views and do not represent those of the Ethereum Foundation. I am solely responsible for what I’ve written and am not am not acting as a spokesperson for the Foundation.

The following is a guest post and opinion from Michael Egorov, Founder of Curve Finance.

As DeFi edges closer to mainstream finance, it must balance neutrality, security, and throughput. In 2025, that balance is increasingly defined by two competing architectural visions.

The evolution of DeFi has always hinged on one core question: what kind of infrastructure do we want to build the future of finance on? As the space matures and edges toward integration with global financial systems, the urgency of this question only intensifies.

In 2025, this decision is no longer purely technical. It’s a contest between two visions: Ethereum’s modular, decentralization-first stack and Solana’s high-performance, monolithic approach. The outcome will help determine what the next phase of blockchain-based finance looks like—and shape the architecture of tomorrow’s global financial systems.

In this article, I share my perspective on how both networks are positioning themselves for the future, and which is more likely to emerge ahead in the long run.

Ethereum: The Foundation of Serious DeFi

Ethereum is more than just a blockchain—it’s the bedrock of modern DeFi. It’s where secure, composable applications can thrive and where long-term financial infrastructure is being built. Institutional players turn to Ethereum when they want to tokenize assets with confidence, and capital flows here for security. The fact that over 55% of total value locked (TVL) across major chains resides on Ethereum attests to its dominance.

Unlike Solana’s one-size-fits-all Layer 1, Ethereum has embraced a modular scaling approach. Layer 1 remains the core foundation, while Layer 2s handle specific workloads such as micro-transactions or gaming, avoiding congestion on the main chain. This structure preserves decentralization while enabling scale. With the rollout of Proto-Danksharding in early 2025, Layer 2 transaction costs have dropped significantly—cementing Ethereum’s lead in modular architecture.

That said, Ethereum’s model has trade-offs. Its reliance on Layer 2s can introduce fragmentation. Some DeFi primitives need to live on Layer 1 for full composability. While isolated applications like order book DEXs can function on L2s, these solutions often feel like a temporary fix, not a long-term design. Truly integrated DeFi demands synchronous, on-chain composability—which works best when everything operates at the same base layer.

But Ethereum’s greatest strength is its uncompromising commitment to decentralization. It is one of the most politically neutral blockchains in existence—a key trait in an increasingly regulated environment. Speed and user experience can be optimized over time, but decentralization is a founding principle. Once compromised, it’s nearly impossible to restore.

Developer experience is another edge. Writing smart contracts on Ethereum is significantly simpler than on Solana, enabling developers to produce secure, well-tested code. This maturity is part of the reason why Ethereum developers are comfortable making contracts immutable—there’s confidence in the security. It’s no coincidence that nearly every major DeFi innovation originated on Ethereum. With over 1,388 deployed protocols compared to Solana’s 232, the numbers speak for themselves.

When security, composability, and developer confidence align, the entire ecosystem benefits.

Solana: Fast and Efficient, But Centralized

Solana addresses the same scaling challenge from a different angle. Its monolithic architecture keeps everything on a single Layer 1. This offers tangible benefits: extremely fast transactions, low fees, and a seamless user experience.

From a raw performance standpoint, Solana is compelling—capable of processing 3,000–4,000 transactions per second (TPS) today, with expectations of reaching over 1 million TPS through the upcoming Firedancer validator. These numbers, based on testnet results, are impressive compared to Ethereum’s average of 15–30 TPS.

However, this performance comes with trade-offs. Solana’s design includes a leader node that sequences transactions. While this improves throughput, it introduces centralization risks. The network is distributed, but not truly decentralized. That distinction matters—especially in a world where institutions prioritize political neutrality and censorship resistance.

Still, not every use case requires deep decentralization. For example, internal CBDCs or consumer-facing applications in gaming and fintech may benefit from Solana’s throughput and UX. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see state-adapted versions of Solana deployed in controlled environments.

Yet despite Solana’s momentum, Ethereum remains the platform of choice for what I call “serious money.”

Structural Soundness vs. Mass Adoption

The core DeFi debate in 2025—and beyond—centers on what the sector should optimize for: structural integrity or mass adoption? Should we build resilient, decentralized, and composable systems, even if they’re slower and more complex? Or prioritize scale and UX at the expense of core crypto values?

Chasing adoption without structural soundness is short-sighted. If protocols compromise on security or decentralization, regulators will inevitably impose the same constraints that burden traditional finance. At that point, the promise of DeFi would be lost.

That’s why institutional capital continues to favor Ethereum—and why I believe that preference will hold. Neutrality and security can’t be retrofitted; they must be built into the base layer from the start.

If we want DeFi to outlast the hype cycles and form the backbone of a new global financial order, Ethereum offers the most robust path forward. It gives us the best shot at building financial rails that are resilient, secure, and unco-optable.

Mentioned in this article

My Neighbor Alice, the popular blockchain-based farming and builder game, has officially launched “Chapter One: A New Adventure,” marking its first full release after several alpha seasons. Built on the Chromia blockchain, the update introduces frictionless browser-based gameplay, wallet-optional access, and integrated token and NFT features—bringing the entire experience to players for the first time.

Key Highlights: My Neighbor Alice Chapter One Launch

• First public release after multiple alpha seasons

• Playable instantly in-browser—no downloads, wallets, or tokens needed

• Powered by Chromia’s gasless infrastructure and on-chain relational architecture

• ALICE token now live on Chromia mainnet with in-game use

• Pudgy Penguins NFT collaboration brings 40,000 companions into the game

Instant Browser-Based Access for Web3 Gaming

Players can now explore My Neighbor Alice directly in their browser, with no need to download software or connect a crypto wallet. Plus, a new mode enables users to begin playing immediately, and they can create a wallet at any time within the game to mint assets or save progress. This approach removes traditional onboarding friction and opens the game to a broader audience.

“This launch is more than just a game update. It is a proof point that Web3 can deliver the same user-friendly experience as Web2: no downloads, no wallets, just pure gameplay,” said Steve Haßenpflug, VP of Games at My Neighbor Alice. “With Chapter One, we are showcasing the future of gaming. Open, accessible, and built for the community.”

Source: My Neighbor Alice

Powered by Chromia’s On-Chain Architecture for Games

The full release uses Chromia, a Layer-1 relational blockchain platform with a modular framework for decentralized applications. Thanks to Chromia’s gasless interaction model, players avoid paying transaction fees when engaging with blockchain features.

All core game data, such as world state and player progress, is stored on-chain using Chromia’s relational architecture. That means the game reduces reliance on external servers and goes beyond the asset-only models common in many Web3 games, enabling a more persistent and decentralized experience.

“This launch is a major milestone, not only for My Neighbor Alice but for Chromia as a platform,” said Henrik Hjelte, Co-Founder of Chromia. “It shows how our architecture can power complex, persistent virtual worlds while keeping the experience smooth and intuitive.”

ALICE Token Integration and NFT Ecosystem Expansion

With the public release, the game now supports the ALICE token on the Chromia mainnet, enabling native functionality directly within gameplay. While ALICE isn’t required to play, it unlocks extra features and lets players engage more deeply with the in-game economy.

Players can buy, sell, and trade NFTs through the in-game marketplace, creating a dynamic, player-driven economy where they can also earn rewards and monetize their creations.

On top of that, My Neighbor Alice has introduced a collaboration with Pudgy Penguins, bringing all 40,000 NFTs from the collection into the game as fully animated 3D companions.

This expands the social layer of the game and shows its ability to integrate outside assets, boosting its broader community appeal.

The launch of Chapter One: A New Adventure moves My Neighbor Alice out of its testing phase and into full availability. By making the experience more accessible and lowering the barrier to entry, the game hopes to set an example for how Web3 titles can reach and retain mainstream audiences.

May 15th, 2025 – Abu Dhabi, UAE

MapleStory Universe brings player-owned economies to life as a blockchain-powered expansion of the 23-year old MMORPG IP, powered by its proprietary NXPC token

Now live on Bitget, Bithumb, Binance, Bybit, Gatei.o, KuCoin, Upbit – NXPC ranks among the most successful Web3 gaming token debuts

NEXPACE, the Web3 IP-expansion initiative backed by Nexon, today announced the official launch of MapleStory N, a blockchain-powered MMORPG. Together with the game, NEXPACE also debuted the NXPC token, integral to the MapleStory Universe (MSU) ecosystem, on seven leading exchanges, including Bitget, Bithumb, Binance, Bybit, Gateio, KuCoin, Upbit. This joint milestone marks a major step forward for NEXPACE’s MSU, bringing the iconic 23-year-old gaming IP to the blockchain for the first time.

MapleStory N blends the nostalgic 2D visuals and classic gameplay of the original MapleStory IP with new blockchain-native features such as NFTs, on-chain item mechanics, and open marketplaces. Players can complete quests, battle monsters, all while earning, crafting and trading assets that hold real world value. The broader MSU platform also introduces Synergy Apps, allowing fans, creators, and builders to develop their own content and decentralized applications. This reflects the legacy of the original MapleStory IP franchise, where user-generated games and creations flourished.

The NXPC token further marks a major evolution of MapleStory’s decades-old in-game economy by enabling true asset ownership and player-driven item markets. With MSU’s Fusion-Fission model, players can redeem NXPC for collections of NFTs (Fission) and exchange collections of NFTs back into NXPC (Fusion), creating a self-balancing system that curbs oversupply and supports long-term value. Beyond gameplay, NXPC powers a broader contributor reward system, incentivizing builders and creators to develop user-generated contributions that expand and enrich the MSU IP ecosystem.

Sunyoung Hwang, CEO of NEXPACE, explained, “The launch of MapleStory N and the NXPC marks a major evolution in how games are played and valued. MSU addresses long-standing issues in traditional gaming like item inflation and developer-controlled ecosystems, by giving real ownership to players. NXPC enables users to participate in a decentralized, self-sustaining ecosystem that rewards creativity, contribution, and engagement over speculation. Together, they form the engine of a community-led digital economy, reshaping how games are enjoyed and remembered.”

As the first implementation of NEXPACE’s virtual IP universe, MapleStory N and MSU sets the foundation for future blockchain-powered gaming experiences. Backed by Nexon’s portfolio of globally recognized gaming IPs, NEXPACE’s protocol is designed to support the expansion of these titles through decentralized economy and community-led creativity, evolving the gaming worlds beyond the traditional models.

The excitement surrounding MSU’s first blockchain game was clearly reflected in the recent OpenSea Primary Drop Campaign, held from May 6 to 12, which saw over 1 million mints. Built on a custom Layer 1 chain using Avalanche, powered by AvaCloud, the campaign also drove Avalanche Network to record its highest number of Unique Active Wallets since the campaign’s launch day. MapleStory N is now live and available on PC.

MSU is now reshaping the Web3 gaming landscape, launching its NXPC token across seven major exchanges and showcasing one of the most impactful blockchain gaming debuts in recent years.

About NEXPACE

NEXPACE, an innovative blockchain company based in Abu Dhabi, pioneers an IP-expansion initiative powered by blockchain technology and NFTs to build a community-driven ecosystem. With a mission to redefine interactive entertainment, NEXPACE creates a vibrant space for exploring, sharing, and engaging with diverse content and gameplay crafted by community members.

At the heart of NEXPACE’s ecosystem are principles of transparency, security, and trust, empowering creators to freely share their ideas and enabling users to enjoy immersive experiences. By fostering a culture of creative expression, NEXPACE envisions a secure, collaborative environment that unites ecosystem participants in a thriving digital community. 

For more information, users can visit: Website | Medium | X/Twitter | Discord 

Contact

MapleStory Universe PR Manager
Bee Shin
Wachsman
bee.shin@wachsman.com

Hamster Kombat, a popular Telegram-based tap-to-earn game, is taking the world of Web3 entertainment to new heights with the launch of its very own Layer-2 network. Built on The Open Network (TON), this new infrastructure—known as the Hamster Network—offers an efficient, scalable, and low-cost solution for game developers and decentralized applications (dApps).

The initiative aligns closely with the broader “HamsterVerse” ecosystem, promising fresh opportunities for gamers, creators, and the nearly one billion Telegram users who may soon discover the next generation of blockchain gaming.

A Leap Forward With TON

When the Hamster Kombat team unveiled their Layer-2 solution, they did so with the support of TON, a blockchain platform recognized for its speed, scalability, and user-friendly architecture. By leveraging the TON Virtual Machine (TVM) and fully compatible smart contracts, the Hamster Network is built to handle fast in-game transactions at a fraction of the usual blockchain costs. Transaction proofs are anchored back to TON’s Layer-1 so security and decentralization aren’t compromised.

The choice of TON as a foundational layer is an important strategic move. Telegram has already integrated mini-apps within its messaging platform, allowing diverse projects to reach countless users around the globe. By embedding the Hamster Network into this ecosystem, Hamster Kombat aims to reduce complexity for both developers and players—potentially onboarding millions more into the world of Web3.

Building Blocks of the Hamster Network

Beyond its gaming-centric philosophy, the Hamster Network introduces essential tools and services that benefit creators and users alike. Some of the core features include:

1. Native Wallet: A native wallet allows players to store, send and receive digital assets directly on the Hamster Network. This native integration is designed to make crypto transactions smooth even for those who don’t know how on-chain mechanics work.

2. Bridging Solutions: An asset bridge is provided for moving tokens between the Hamster Network and TON’s main chain. This interoperability keeps the network connected to the broader crypto world while preserving the speed and low costs.

3. Decentralized Exchange (DEX): The built-in DEX facilitates easy trading of tokens within the Hamster Network. Game tokens like HMSTR can be swapped directly on the chain, making it simpler for players to exchange rewards or diversify their holdings.

Stress Testing With “Hamster Boost”

To improve the networks infrastructure, the Hamster Kombat team has launched “Hamster Boost”, a blockchain testing initiative. Through various quests early adopters are requested to stress test the network by sending transactions, finding bugs and suggesting improvements. As a reward they can earn bounties and other goodies. By crowdsourcing quality assurance, the team aims to reinforce network stability before reaching a wider audience.

Enter the HamsterVerse

The Hamster Network launch is a pivotal element in the broader HamsterVerse—a connected realm of games and dApps built around the HMSTR token. Earlier this year, Hamster Kombat rebranded its signature tap-to-earn game into Hamster Kombat: GameDev Heroes, shifting the storyline toward running and expanding a virtual game studio. Other titles, such as Hamster Fight Club and Hamster King, are also in development, promising diverse gameplay experiences under one unified ecosystem.

By expanding this suite of Telegram-friendly titles, the HamsterVerse appeals to casual players and crypto enthusiasts alike. Each game is contributing to the HMSTR token economy and users can earn and spend them as they explore new adventures.

Surging Popularity and Token Performance

Hamster Kombat experienced a meteoric rise last year, briefly amassing over 300 million players. Although interest dipped following the initial HMSTR token airdrop—where some participants received only small allocations—community engagement has seen renewed momentum with the recent Layer-2 launch and the introduction of new gameplay seasons. HMSTR token is still below all time high but has proven to be resilient in a volatile market with new updates and increased utility in the HamsterVerse.

The Road Ahead

With the integration of Telegram’s mini-apps and the robust infrastructure provided by TON, Hamster Kombat’s Layer-2 network is forging a path that could shape the future of Web3 gaming. Multiple developers are already building on the Hamster Network, signaling potential for diverse and engaging content beyond the core tap-to-earn experience.

The Hamster Kombat team envisions a fully decentralized environment where every facet of the gaming process—from character creation to token distribution—resides on smart contracts. By putting creativity in the hands of developers and community members, the Hamster Network and the broader HamsterVerse will redefine online entertainment one tap at a time.

Final Thoughts

Hamster Kombat’s move to launch a Layer-2 network on TON positions the project at the forefront of a new era in blockchain gaming. With fast, cost-effective transactions and a growing catalog of interactive Telegram mini-apps, the Hamster Network strives to lower barriers for gamers, creators, and crypto newcomers. As more developers come on board, observers can expect a steady stream of fresh, immersive experiences—expanding the HamsterVerse and possibly reshaping the future of decentralized entertainment.

My dear Ethereum community,

Today, I’m excited to turn the page and share that I will be closing this chapter as Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation soon and stepping into a new role as its President. This new opportunity will allow me to continue supporting EF’s institutional relationships, and to expand the reach of our vision and culture more broadly. I’m feeling deeply grateful and enthusiastic for what’s ahead, and while I made this decision a year ago, recent events have given me the perfect opportunity to reflect on what truly matters to me.

These past few weeks have illuminated something profound about Ethereum — a truth that becomes clearest in moments of tension, when debates arise over the network’s performance or ETH’s market value. Across the globe, teams and individuals speak of Ethereum as if it were their own, yet this very tension is where our greatest strength lies: Ethereum belongs to everyone precisely because it belongs to no one. Our culture of permissionlessness doesn’t just tolerate disagreement — it grows stronger through it. And in the midst of it all, we’ve seen new, hopeful energy emerge, reminding me that it’s often in darkness that we notice the north star—something we too often take for granted.

I’d like to borrow from Stewart Brand’s Pace Layering to explain how I view things in Ethereum. He presents a framework for how the world works, which was inspired by Brian Eno’s Shearing Layers. Over time, this model has shaped the thinking of a diverse group of influential people, technologists, artists, futurists, and organizations alike.

Upholding Ethereum’s Values

Where does Ethereum fit within these layers? Is it in the fast-moving outer layers, where rapid experimentation happens? Or at the core, where nature and culture evolve more slowly? I don’t think the answer lies entirely in either. If we want Ethereum to be more than a short-term product, if we want it to weave into the fabric of the world for the long term, we need all layers, moving at all paces. And if we don’t want Ethereum to ever be confined to a short-term product of one company, then all layers cannot—and should not—be dominated by EF.

The Ethereum Foundation works to identify gaps and imbalances across these layers. EF’s role has never been to control or own all domains in Ethereum. Instead, our responsibility—our accountability—lies in upholding Ethereum’s values. Through both our actions and our non-actions, we are accountable for ensuring that Ethereum remains resilient, not just as a network, but as a broader ecosystem of people, ideas, and values—never reduced to a single organization’s product.

The value of credible neutrality doesn’t mean treating everything equally, it means making principled choices that protect Ethereum’s integrity at its core. Our philosophy of subtraction is often misunderstood: It is not minimalism, nor does it mean doing less for the sake of it. It is a form of subtractive design thinking that focuses on outcomes rather than rigid methods. Subtraction is not the process, but the result we strive for: a landscape with fewer imbalances, and less centralization that could compromise Ethereum’s values. Instead of assuming that less is always better, this mindset recognizes that achieving balance often requires thoughtful complexity or adding new mechanisms to ensure that no one entity, EF included, dominates Ethereum’s evolution.

Guided by philosophy

EF has helped bootstrap new projects, new organizations and new heroes by owning only what we were best suited to own. Countless decisions, guided by this philosophy, have helped Ethereum become the largest ecosystem of its kind while keeping its potential infinite. Ethereum can do everything, be everywhere, and serve everyone, with each domain powered by the brightest minds, and above all, it must remain free from capture. These values are our north star, and this is how we achieve the original vision of Ethereum as the world computer.

This philosophy flows through everything we do.

Some examples of where our actions have impacted Ethereum R&D and infrastructure:

• Instead of controlling, we steward All Core Dev calls to create space for technical decisions to emerge through community wisdom.
• We promote client diversity, not just in number, but for clients to be successful and maintained by different teams across the ecosystem to avoid single points of failure. The client incentive program has also been supporting client teams in their work.
• We support the coordination of R&D interop retreats, knowing that real breakthroughs happen when diverse teams cross-pollinate ideas.
• Some efforts begin as seeds that we plant—like Account Abstraction or cross-L2 coordination, but they are designed to grow beyond our initial tending and now flourish through community cultivation.
• The Merge, and the shift to proof of stake, was nothing short of a mission-impossible. Not only because it had to be executed seamlessly while thousands of applications continued running, but because it required a delicate balance: leadership without control, coordination without centralization.

Devcon has grown into something truly unique within the Ethereum ecosystem. It is not a normal conference, and it provides a space where community hubs and domain-specific events are led by those driving progress in their own corners of the ecosystem. We focus on nurturing leadership within diverse communities, empowering them to shape their own visions and connect with their people. Although this approach makes coordination more complex, demands more time and resources, and requires us to embrace a level of unpredictability, we believe this is the best way to reflect what Ethereum truly is—a network of independent yet interconnected communities, each contributing to the whole. Devconnect, which we’ve hosted since 2021, is a natural extension of this philosophy: creating spaces for deep, focused collaboration while allowing different communities to lead in their own way.

In executing our efforts with this philosophy, I have encouraged our team to keep a key principle in mind: EF must keep evolving, just as Ethereum itself is a living, dynamic entity. However, we must avoid evolving like a traditional corporation, because our goal isn’t for EF to “win” – it is for Ethereum to win over the long-term while staying true to its core values. As the ecosystem’s needs evolve, our focus shifts from simply asking, “How can EF execute this?” to “How can Ethereum accomplish this, and what role should EF play?” This doesn’t mean stepping back; rather, we step forward with purpose, strategy, and intention, always guided by our mission to preserve the integrity and values of Ethereum.

Irreplaceably Unique

It’s been amazing to witness this growth of the ecosystem. Seven years ago, when I joined EF, Ethereum had fewer voices. Participation—both in building and securing the network—was concentrated in fewer hands and regions. Back then, as an Eclectic Dreamer (a title I preferred over Executive Director), I often asked myself: What makes Ethereum not just different, but irreplaceably unique? The answer was always clear yet profound: true resilience, rooted in Ethereum’s values. Ethereum doesn’t grow like a machine; it grows like a garden, strengthened by its biodiversity, flourishing because the game as a whole is infinite. This vision—the Infinite Garden—was born from that realization. Today, Ethereum thrives as a collage of voices: core developers and researchers refining the protocol, L2 teams enabling scalability, application builders bridging Ethereum to the real world, and local communities shaping its future in their own ways. This richness—where technical and social innovation intertwine and influence each other—isn’t just a feature of Ethereum; it’s the reason it endures.

When we hear “decentralization is the only way to build in my country” from someone in a place where democracy is broken, it reminds us how Ethereum’s technical choices carry profound human implications. While this infinite game cannot be played by EF alone, we remain committed to upholding the values that allow Ethereum’s technical and social innovation to continue to serve humanity.

Thank you

When I first discussed the possibility of transitioning to President with Vitalik a year ago, it was with the intention of continuing to nurture the unique culture of Ethereum, and serving as a voice to bridge the gap between Ethereum and the broader global community. As in the Pace Layering, culture moves the slowest, yet it provides a strong foundation for everything that follows (“If the slow parts are not occasionally frustrating, they are not doing their job – SB”). Culture endures far beyond market cycles, sustains us through winter, and propels us through spring.

Thank you to every single person who was part of my journey during my last seven years, and to those who encouraged me to stay true to myself. Growing EF and supporting Ethereum often required unconventional approaches, and decisions that challenged traditional organizational wisdom. I’m deeply grateful to those who inspired me to stay bold, and to trust that pursuing our values would light the path forward. It has never been an easy ride, and I could not have made it without you. And my deep appreciation to everyone at the Ethereum Foundation, past and present, who patiently and courageously participated in this extraordinary and unconventional journey together.

Thank you to all of you who keep reminding me why we are here in the first place.

Let’s continue building in the garden.

—

Aya Miyaguchi

Devcon has always been a living reflection of Ethereum’s growth, challenges, and community ambitions. It showcases the most pressing topics, the newest innovations, and the people building the future of decentralized technology. As Ethereum grows, so too does Devcon.

Two years ago, right before Devcon VI in Bogotá, the Merge took Ethereum’s consensus from proof of work to proof of stake. Devcon VI focused not only on the achievement of this milestone, but also on the next innovations: early Layer-2 development, the introduction of Account Abstraction (AA), and the rise of zero knowledge proofs (ZKPs) as an expansion of Ethereum.

Fast forward to today, Devcon SEA celebrated the ecosystem’s readiness to take on the next big challenges. The content demonstrated how far Ethereum has come, how Ethereum’s L1 and L2s have advanced, how UX is improving, and how second-generation cryptographic primitives are enabling new types of applications. The tone has shifted from addressing foundational challenges to leveraging Ethereum for real-world impact.

In this blog post, we’ll explore how Ethereum has grown since Devcon VI, what the key outcomes of Devcon SEA are, which challenges remain, and how you can contribute so that we can celebrate the next chapter of Ethereum when we meet for Devcon again.

Looking back to Devcon VI: How far we have come

Setting the stage, let’s reflect on where we were just two years ago: Devcon VI was held in Bogotá, Colombia, in October 2022. It brought the Ethereum community together to address key technical and governance challenges. At the time, the Merge had just happened, and the event reflected the celebration of this transformative milestone and focused on rising innovative technologies.

Devcon VI introduced major themes for the first time, and terms that many hadn’t been familiar with back then:

• Zero Knowledge Proofs were introduced to much of the Ethereum ecosystem. They were just becoming practical and people started to understand their capabilities. There was no mention yet of other cryptographic primitives like Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) or Multi-Party Computation (MPC).
• Account Abstraction was new and just announced. Most people hadn’t heard of EIP-4337, which hadn’t been implemented at that time.
• The Layer 2 ecosystem was in its early stages with only a few prominent L2s like Arbitrum and Optimism, and the L2-centric roadmap was kicked off.
• Staking infrastructure was nascent and there were still uncertainties, with staking withdrawals not yet enabled.
• Censorship resistance, while an old topic, was on everyone’s mind with discussions around OFAC compliance and Tornado Cash sanctions

Devcon SEA: Ethereum’s infrastructure is ready, now it’s time for impact

Devcon SEA was held in Bangkok, Thailand, in November of 2024. Attendance doubled compared to Devcon VI (12,500 vs 6,000 attendees), demonstrating Ethereum’s growth and community strength. One major goal of Devcon SEA was to bring the entire Ethereum ecosystem together in one place, foster collaboration, and cross-pollination, and realign the community to improve Ethereum for real use cases and impact on the world.

Since Devcon VI, the continued use of PoS plus other upgrades like Shanghai and Shapella have reduced energy use, gas fees, and improved UX. The L2 landscape has expanded, with total value locked in Ethereum L2 networks surpassing $51.5 billion, a 205$16.6 billion in November 2023. Ethereum’s integration of ZKPs has advanced, and we now see more real-world use cases, with DeFi and stablecoins maturing, and gaming, digital identity, quadratic funding, and prediction markets emerging.

But over the past two years, the Ethereum community has also debated its direction and priorities. While Layer 2s are key for scaling, the rise of new L2s introduced diverse subcultures, sparking discussions about how to maintain unity. Many called for a return to Ethereum’s cypherpunk roots, focusing on privacy, decentralization, and credible neutrality – values that some felt were overshadowed by viewing Ethereum as a product rather than a protocol. There was a shared urgency to realign on a unified purpose.

Devcon SEA aimed to address these debates by inviting the best in the ecosystem to share their insights on the most relevant topics. Over 300 hours of content from ecosystem experts, 17 Community Hubs organized by the community, 70 Impact Spaces, and thousands of conversations in between sessions were held in the long hallways.

Devcon SEA sparked conversations about the most pressing challenges for Ethereum, controversies as well as achievements, and some big announcements were made too. Justin Drake outlined his vision of a Beam Chain, and the Argot Collective, which is a new organization embodying many of our shared values of Ethereum, introduced itself.

Read on to discover the major outcomes of Devcon SEA, and which talks you should watch to get up to speed if you want to contribute to the remaining challenges within the respective topics.

Ethereum has scaled and Layer 2s are net positive for Ethereum

Proto-danksharding, EIP-4844, blobs, and the roll-up centric roadmap – The scaling solutions highlighted at Devcon SEA showed how far Ethereum has come. Layer 2s, which are scaling Ethereum, see real adoption. Daily user activity has exploded in size, and the total value locked is growing steadily. We have low fees, and you can send 1, 100, or 1 million dollars for less than a cent. All L2s are and will be secured by the Ethereum L1 Mainnet, which is durable and secure with over 1 million validators and has never gone down since its launch in 2015.

There’s still much to do to realize the rollup-centric roadmap, reduce fragmentation, and increase security. Watch the below talks to figure out how to contribute to solving these challenges for Ethereum’s next chapter:

Ethereum is cypherpunk

Devcon SEA reminded us why we are here, and why we are building a decentralized future, focusing on values like credible neutrality, privacy, censorship resistance, open access, and a cooperative mindset. Devcon SEA had a full programming track dedicated to this philosophy, and the Hacktivism Hub, organized by the community.

Talks to watch to keep up with the cypherpunk manifesto:

Apart from cypherpunk values, philosophy and ethos played a big role at Devcon SEA. With Aya Miyaguchi, the executive director of the Ethereum Foundation, expanding on the philosophy of subtraction with her talk “Redefining boundaries in the infinite garden,” explaining how the Ethereum Foundation works, and a full programming day dedicated to d/acc (defensive acceleration), the philosophy first introduced by Vitalik Buterin, focusing on Ethereum as a defensive technology, accompanied by talks about biodefense, decentralized AI, neurotech, and public epistemics.

UX is getting ready for mass adoption

ERC 4337, ERC 7683, EIP 7702, ERC 3668 are just a few examples of how Ethereum is becoming ready for users. Gas fees are low, UX is improving, and Devcon SEA made us excited for Ethereum feeling like one chain again. The community organized the Account Abstraction and Adoption Hubs and many talks were focused on making Ethereum approachable to mainstream audiences.

Social recovery is just the start. Watch the below talks to learn how you can contribute to improving Ethereum’s UX, especially if you’re developing a rollup or a wallet, to get on speed with recent developments in UX and Account Abstraction:

The time for real-world applications is now

Ethereum is for users, and the app ecosystem has never been stronger than today, though still, we are just tapping into Ethereum’s possibilities for real-world applications. Ethereum is made for many things, and it’s a multi-purpose platform.

Ethereum is home to its most mature use cases: DeFi and stablecoins. DeFi is financial services and tools built on Ethereum that everyone in the world has access to and that give people greater control over their money. Ethereum has hundreds of teams working on DeFi protocols. Stablecoins, too, give every human the freedom to transact and send value anywhere in the world.

Ethereum is also where new use cases happen and new things are being invented, it is “where ideas enter production” (Josh Stark). We have decentralized social platforms, on-chain games, digital identity with ENS, Anon Adhaar, and zk passport, real-world infrastructure, quadratic funding with Gitcoin and clr.fund, and prediction markets like Polymarket.

If you were wondering what are the apps that are currently being built on Ethereum, or if you need inspiration to build more dapps, here are some talks to watch:

Economics of Ethereum and ETH

The discussions at Devcon SEA reaffirmed the non-speculative value of Ethereum and ETH in the digital economy, with its sound economic principles, robust incentives and alignment with long-term goals for decentralized ecosystems.

Talks to watch:

Second-generation cryptography enables new types of applications

Devcon SEA featured thousands of cryptographic plushy frogs, distributed by the 0xPARC team around the Frogcrypto Hub. Attendees collected frogs, and every time they scanned the QR code, they received a provable object data (POD). Each Devcon ticket was a POD inside of Zupass, an application that enables users to securely store and manage Proof-Carrying Data (PCD). These cryptographic principles have been theoretical for many years and are finally becoming possible, and combined with Ethereum, we are now able to build applications that were never possible before. While at Devcon VI only ZKPs were on everyone’s lips, as of very recent a new generation of cryptographic primitives like FHE and MPC are being used to create decentralized, privacy-preserving computation and interoperability, unlocking innovative and complex use cases for Ethereum-based consumer applications.

We are only now realizing how much is possible with second-generation cryptographic primitives and possibilities are extending our imagination. We need more people building and combining ZKPs, second-gen crypto and Ethereum. If you want to do that, watch:

Ethereum is frontier tech

Devcon SEA was also a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration, where Ethereum was discussed alongside other frontier technologies and in the context of the future of our society.

These sessions highlighted Ethereum’s ability to inspire and integrate with broader technological and societal challenges:

The Ethereum community is strong and global

The Ethereum community is not only growing, it is expanding globally: At Devcon SEA, we welcomed 12,500 attendees with 60% experiencing their first-ever Devcon. Participants represented 135 countries, making this the most global and diverse Devcon to date.

The Ethereum community is not only diverse in nationalities and ethnicities – the interests, identities, and focus areas are manifold with developers, protocol researchers, stakers, degens, regens, activists, artists, educators, and many more being part of the Ethereum community.
Devcon SEA featured 17 Community Hubs, from the DeSci Hub, Global Majority Hub, and Onchain Creators Hub, to the Governance Geeks Hub, these were manifestations of the diversity and ways to get involved in the Ethereum community. The Community Gardeners Hub focused on Ethereum community builders from all around the world. In 2024, 73 local Ethereum events in 44 countries were organized around the globe. Our community is decentralized and global, as Ethereum itself.

Now is your chance to shape the future of Ethereum ahead to Devcon 8

Devcon SEA was not just a snapshot of where Ethereum stands today, it offers a vision of where it could go tomorrow. Devcon SEA showed how Ethereum is bringing ideas into action, and every participant carries the lessons learned at Devcon to continue spreading the word and advancing Ethereum’s mission. And who knows, the next person to impact the future of Ethereum may have first learned about it at Devcon SEA.

Devcon SEA photos and resources

• Find photos from Devcon SEA here.
• You can search and watch all talks in the Devcon Passport app.
• DEVAi is available to answer all Devcon-related questions, and will soon have access to all talk transcripts. You can already get summaries of all talks in the Passport app.
• Want to share more insights about Devcon talks? Go to the Devcon Collab Portal.

What’s next?

Tl;dr:

• Devconnect 2025
• Devcon 2026

Devconnect is the other, completely different event that the Ethereum Foundation organizes. While Devcon is the large event that brings everyone together in one venue, Devconnect is more decentralized. Devconnect comprises many different events, focused on different Ethereum topics, organized by experts in those fields. Devconnect is the time to go deep into the topic you’re most familiar with or want to become an expert in, and join day-long events focused on that domain.

Where will Devconnect 2025 and Devcon 8 take place? You will need to wait just a little bit longer to find that out, and in the meantime, you can create your proposal for Devcon, Devconnect, or other Ethereum events to take place in your city.

Until next time, xoxo

Deva the Devcon Unicorn & the Devcon team