The Fight for Ethereum’s Soul | A Cointelegraph Documentary

Challenges and Competition - Ethereum faces challenges from faster, cheaper Layer 1 blockchains, creating misaligned incentives due to its dependence on Layer 2 solutions [2] - Alternative Layer 1s have threatened Ethereum's position, impacting its perception and dominance as the go-to smart contract blockchain [2][10][11] - Ethereum's valuation experienced a downturn, raising concerns about the Layer 2 ecosystem [11] - There are concerns that the Ethereum Foundation (EF) may be moving too slowly and that changes may be "too little, too late" [26] Ethereum Foundation and Community - Longtime developers are pressuring the Ethereum Foundation for more activity, accountability, and transparency [4] - The Ethereum Community Foundation was formed to address areas where the EF has not delivered [15][27] - The Ethereum Foundation introduced an 18-month treasury policy to manage its $970 million reserves [25] - The EF began staking ETH and deploying assets, including depositing 45,000 ETH to Aave and Compound, to generate sustainable revenues [26] Technological Advancements and Future Focus - The Pectra upgrade in May 2025 introduced 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) aimed at improving scalability, user experience, and staking efficiency [36] - Layer 2 transaction fees dropped by more than 90% due to the Denkun upgrade, which introduced blobs [37] - The industry is focusing on interoperability, tooling, and standards to create a unified Ethereum ecosystem [39] ETH Price and Institutional Adoption - The price of ETH is considered integral to the security of Ethereum, as it funds validators [5][14][15] - Wall Street firms' on-chain holdings are worth more than $18 billion midway through 2025, signaling institutional interest [21] - Bitmine doubled down on an Ethereum Treasury reserve strategy, now holding over 566,000 ETH [56] - Sharpink Gaming announced a $425 million private equity deal to launch an ETH-based corporate treasury strategy [57] Real World Assets (RWA) and Tokenization - Over 90% of tokenized real-world assets are being built on Ethereum [46] - Robinhood launched its own Ethereum-based Layer 2 aimed at RWA and securities tokenization [47]