chrishobcroft

Ethereum is on a trajectory to become the Netscape of crypto. Historically foundational with its invention of the EVM, as Netscape did with JavaScript/SSL. Unfortunately destined for irrelevance due to an inability to focus on what matters. Just as Netscape wasted time on a rewrite from version 4 to 6 at a time when Microsoft was absolutely killing them, the EF insists on focusing on cypherpunk values at a pivotal time when the institutions are finally coming onchain - often to other networks. An EF determined to win would focus on how to make Ethereum the best chain for finance. That’s not what it’s doing today.

This mandate things sure does seem to be dividing opinion.

I've seen a lot more people dunking than celebrating and it makes sense, after all most of us in crypto "pivoted" to be absorbed by the existing world machine. I also don't think most of the commentators made it past the blog post to the actual manifesto/mandate, just a sign of times I guess, clicking one extra link and spending time to read through is tough. On a more serious note, EF currently is the only player with both the resources and network effects to not just keep cypherpunk dream alive but also to actually make it happen. Will this accrue to eth price wise short term? Certainly not. Will it accrue to it long term? Only if it wins (and wins under the conditions it set for itself, not because of being adopted by tradfi). Should we care about price at all? Personally think the goal here is more important I absolutely think that we should have somebody at least trying this on grand scale instead of pursuing financial applications (and I’m pretty aware how funny it must sound from CEO of prop trading firm that made it from financial applications of blockchains🙃). Rest of us can do what they do and choose to hold eth or not. If I’m honest, holding it is a very long shot, but there are way worse cults out there, so I’ll keep my eth for the culture and memes🫡

Today, the Foundation’s Board released the EF Mandate. This document, which was first intended for EF members, reaffirms the promise of Ethereum, and the role of EF within this ecosystem.

I feel like at every level we've implicitly made this decision that running a node is this oh so scary devops task that it is ok to leave to professionals. IT IS NOT. We need to reverse this. Running your own Ethereum infrastructure should be the basic right of every individual and household. "The hardware requirement is high, therefore it's okay for the devops skill and time requirements to also be high" is not an excuse. Even people who can afford high-end hardware, dedicated staking boxes, etc often do not have a lot of free time. Nodes should be easy.

I do find it kind of hilarious that the a main criticism of Ethereum has been that it remains laser focused on the reasons blockchains exists at all

I do find it kind of hilarious that the a main criticism of Ethereum has been that it remains laser focused on the reasons blockchains exists at all

Today, the Foundation’s Board released the EF Mandate. This document, which was first intended for EF members, reaffirms the promise of Ethereum, and the role of EF within this ecosystem.