Has Ethereum's Roadmap Gone Off Track? Max Resnick on the Importance of Ethereum L1Max Resnick is an Ethereum researcher and member of the Special Mechanisms group (@specialmech). In a recent episode of the Bankless podcast, he expressed views that diverged from the mainstream, sparking a discussion about whether Ethereum's roadmap has strayed from its original course
Has Ethereum's Roadmap Gone Off Track? Max Resnick on the Importance of Ethereum L1
Max Resnick is an Ethereum researcher and member of the Special Mechanisms group (@specialmech). In a recent episode of the Bankless podcast, he expressed views that diverged from the mainstream, sparking a discussion about whether Ethereum's roadmap has strayed from its original course.
Resnick argues that the Ethereum community has become overly focused on Layer 2 solutions (L2), neglecting the importance of improving the Ethereum base layer (L1). This has resulted in L1 struggling to support the application needs of key areas like DeFi. He calls for a renewed prioritization of Ethereum L1's decentralization and performance optimization, rather than solely relying on L2s. He believes the Ethereum roadmap should be redesigned with block time reduction as its paramount consideration.
Resnick's opinions have spurred vigorous debate, raising several core questions:
1. Has Ethereum's roadmap lost its way?
2. Are L2 solutions extensions of Ethereum? Are they hindering users, transactions, and value flow to the Ethereum mainnet?
3. Is there a disconnect between the current state of Optimistic Rollups, controlled by centralized sequencers, and Ethereum's goals? What are the consequences if left unchecked?
4. If these concerns are not just FUD, what should we do about them?
Here are the key points Resnick made during the conversation:
Ethereum's Roadmap Has Gone Off Track:
Resnick believes that Ethereum's roadmap has deviated from its original goals of decentralization and censorship resistance, focusing excessively on L2 solutions while neglecting Layer 1 development. He argues that after The Merge, the Ethereum Foundation (EF) has been searching for direction but ultimately prioritized the wrong path.
Challenges Posed by L2s:
Resnick fears that the control wielded by centralized sequencers is undermining Ethereum's vision of decentralization. While acknowledging that Layer 2 solutions can lower transaction costs, he points out several issues:
Centralized Sequencers: Most sequencers in the current L2 ecosystem are centralized, contradicting Ethereum's decentralization goals.
Decentralized Sequencers: Resnick emphasizes the criticality of driving L2 decentralization for sequencers, but many projects claim decentralization without truly implementing it.
Relationship with L1: Resnick questions whether L2s are truly extensions of Ethereum, arguing that current L2s act more like independent chains, failing to fully leverage the security of Ethereum's L1.
Prioritizing Layer 1:
Resnick advocates for prioritizing improvements to Layer 1's capacity and speed, ensuring it can support core applications like DeFi without complete reliance on L2s. He believes Ethereum L1 is good enough, but clearly it's not good enough yet.
ZK Rollups vs. Optimistic Rollups:
Resnick believes the current roadmap favors Optimistic Rollups, while ZK Rollups, a technically superior solution, are not receiving enough attention. He argues that ZK Rollups can better compress state, occupy less bandwidth, and ultimately address bandwidth limitations.
Worst-Case Scenario Concerns:
Resnick worries that if the growth of centralized L2s is allowed to continue, Ethereum could become excessively reliant on these centralized sequencers, leading to a loss of its decentralized essence. He believes the world would be very bleak if most transactions happen on centralized servers like Base.
Disagreement Over Timeline for L2 Decentralization:
There's a debate within the Ethereum community about the timeline for L2 decentralization. Some believe these technologies should be given more time to gradually mature, while Resnick argues that some Rollups might have no intention of decentralizing at all.
Ideal Path:
Resnick believes the ideal path involves everyone working towards the same goal: DeFi, a decentralized ecosystem, censorship resistance, trusted neutrality, and Ethereum as the currency. He believes achieving this target requires these changes:
Shorter Block Times: Resnick considers Ethereum's current 12-second block time to be lagging behind other projects and demands a swift reduction in block time.
Increased Censorship Resistance: Resnick believes Ethereum needs better real-time censorship resistance, enabling users to pay a sufficiently high fee to be included in the next block. This fee shouldn't be so high that it makes basic DeFi activity impossible.
Increased Throughput: Resnick believes Ethereum should be able to support 100x or even 1000x the current usage volume, ensuring that when people have great application ideas, they choose to build on Ethereum rather than elsewhere.
Potential of BasedRollups:
Resnick views BasedRollups as a potential solution to the L2-L1 relationship problem. BasedRollups have their sequencing entirely driven by the base L1, meaning they have a formal alignment with Ethereum L1 in terms of block space and economics. Resnick believes that despite some challenges, BasedRollups hold significant promise.
Value of ETH:
Resnick argues that if Ethereum L1 becomes the primary place where people trade, then ETH will become valuable. He believes that ETH, as a useful asset used for transactions, trading tokens on Uniswap, or taking out loans, makes the "digital oil" argument more appealing to him.
Call to Action for the Ethereum Community:
Resnick urges the Ethereum community to re-prioritize L1 development and drive L2 decentralization. He believes that Ethereum must act quickly to maintain its leading position in the competitive blockchain landscape.
Resnick's perspectives invite reflection on Ethereum's roadmap. His central argument is that the Ethereum community should place greater emphasis on L1 development and ensure that L2 growth genuinely enhances Ethereum's decentralization and censorship resistance.
This article also explores the L2-L1 relationship, the value of ETH, and the potential of BasedRollups. It provides insights into the future direction of Ethereum and raises questions worth pondering.
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