🧐 Ethereum's Crossroads: The RISC-V Revolution, L2 Evolution, and the Commitment to Decentralization —

As whales frequently exchange Ethereum, where do we go from here?

I just had a chat with @BTCdayu about our attitude towards Ethereum:

As veterans in the industry, we are actually the sentimental type; after years of ups and downs, we prefer to see the essence of things;

Dayu said that his faith in blockchain is stronger than in Bitcoin —

I think this is a very geeky statement,

And it is precisely because of this mindset that we continue to explore the industry beyond just buying $BTC, seeking out more interesting and potentially valuable connections worth going all in on again;

For many years, Ethereum has been our first choice,

Because it has accomplished so much that is truly related to the keyword "decentralization." Almost every paradigm shift in the blockchain world has Ethereum's shadow behind it, allowing many to see the dawn of the future world;

However, in this bull market, $ETH has started to decline, leading many to question whether its path and direction are correct: not only has its growth lagged, but its direction has also become unclear: on one side, there are high Gas fees and low TPS, while on the other side, Solana, SUI, and TON are fiercely challenging user experience boundaries;

Even when FUD is rampant, many believe that the so-called Ethereum world computer is just another scam like EOS;

Thus, the market has seen so-called mocking voices, even coining a very ironic term: E-Guardians;

I don't know why such a term exists, or the attacks; blockchain should be an inclusive world. I really like Ethereum, but I can also see many problems it has, which does not prevent me from pointing out its issues or even helping it improve;

The main point is that currently, there is nothing in the blockchain world that can match Ethereum's decentralization; its value still remains.

As for the price, having experienced three rounds of bull and bear markets, we are used to the ups and downs. In the WEB3 world, it just lacks a concept of speculation and a few green, shining bullish candles; when that happens, everyone will flock in!

So similarly, I have been closely watching every move of Ethereum;

Today, Dayu also mentioned this point —

Vitalik's proposal: to replace the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with the RISC-V instruction set architecture.

I believe this is essentially an attempt at "underlying reconstruction," giving Ethereum the performance potential of modern computing architectures, especially in terms of data availability sampling and maintaining competitive block production markets.

How to put it, this is not a simple upgrade, but a "system reinstallation" operation that could potentially overturn the underlying logic of the entire chain.

First, let's discuss the pros and cons:

If successful:

✅ Mainnet speed increases by 100 times, Gas fees decrease by 1000 times;

✅ ZK efficiency leaps, ETH can directly compete with SOL/SUI;

✅ Decentralization + ecological moat × ecological accumulation = a true structural leap;

But the cost may be:

⚠ Community division, developer exodus;

⚠ New security risks, compatibility disasters;

⚠ All historical contracts and tools may need to be reconstructed, ecological turbulence is inevitable;

So clearly, whether to take this step and how to do it will certainly face a lot of obstacles and opposition, especially since L2 development is thriving; can L2 still continue if this happens?

This makes me start to think seriously:

If the RISC-V plan really succeeds, what will happen to the existing L2s on Ethereum? I believe fundamentally, L2 will not disappear!

If Ethereum's mainnet performance really improves by 100 times and Gas fees drop by 1000 times, it will fundamentally shake the existence basis of current L2s, and general-purpose L2s will face a survival crisis as their pricing premiums get compressed.

But I think there is no need to be pessimistic; this does not mean L2 will disappear, but rather it will be reshuffled and evolve, for example, the possible evolution —

🔹 General-purpose L2s will face compressed premiums and must move towards differentiation/alliance, such as modular federated routes like OP Stack and Base;

🔹 ZK L2s will have more strategic value: privacy, security, combined with AI;

🔹 Appchain/L3s are expected to rise: each chain is a "dedicated execution environment," not a microcosm of ETH, but an expansion of functional layers;

Of course, what ultimately remains is not TPS or TVL, but brand recognition, developer ecology, and user experience;

Of course, none of this happens overnight. If we extend our time perspective:

📌 Short-term: The difficulty of implementing RISC-V is extremely high, and the market is still focused on optimizing EVM;

📌 Mid-term: It may become an optional execution plugin for the Rollup ecosystem;

📌 Long-term: If modularization takes shape, RISC-V may become the core of the next generation zk-native VM;

Ultimately, EVM is a past achievement, while RISC-V is a future ambition.

Should Ethereum "reinstall the system"? We may be standing at the threshold of a truly structural turning point.

Yesterday, @lanhubiji tweeted: Recently, ETH whales have been frequently exchanging hands: some whales (even ancient whales) are selling in large quantities, while others are accumulating heavily; it's that season of mutual greetings again.

I actually enjoy seeing this phenomenon of "handovers."

Why?

Because it often means: value recognition is being redistributed, and market faith is being rebuilt.

In the past few years, many early whales had ETH costs of only a few or a dozen dollars, and it was common for old addresses to activate and sell thousands of coins at a time; for them, ETH was "position," not "faith."

But the new buyers are different.

They are a group of people who, after experiencing multiple cycles of DeFi, NFT, Rollup, and re-staking, still choose to heavily invest in ETH. They see the sovereign settlement layer of the decentralized world, the mother of L2, the base of DA modules, the greatest common divisor of the future blockchain and AI/privacy integration, and they are newcomers who have witnessed Ethereum's journey step by step;

This is a migration of "new generation faith capital."

In the short term, ETH's price fluctuations may be limited due to these selling pressures, but from a long-term structural perspective, this kind of active handover, non-forced liquidation flow, is actually a signal of "healthy chips."

It is important to know that the core driving force of a real bull market is not liquidity, but the increasing number of buyers willing to hold long-term.

When old speculators leave, new builders, strategic capital, and deeply engaged ecological participants enter —

The future of ETH is even more worth looking forward to.

So, every time whales exchange hands, I see it as a good opportunity for the ETH community to "reshuffle on-chain."

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