Interview with Vitalik Buterin: Discussing the Bear Market in Encryption, the Development of Ethereum, and Community Expectations

In a recent interview, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin shared his views on the current encryption market, the development of Ethereum, and the future of the community.

Encryption Market Status

Vitalik believes that the current Bear Market environment has brought calm back to the encryption field. He pointed out that the past year has attracted a lot of attention to the encryption industry, but it has also brought some negative effects:

• The industry's commitments are too many and difficult to fulfill.
• Attracted some bad elements
• Has attracted excessive attention from regulators

He believes that now is a good time for the encryption industry to return to its essence and prepare for future development.

Ethereum Technological Progress

Talking about technological development, Vitalik stated that Ethereum still has a long way to go in terms of scalability, but significant progress has been made. He mentioned the development of technologies such as Rollups, sharding, Volidium, and zkEVM.

He particularly emphasized the importance of the ERC-4337 account abstraction proposal, which will help improve wallet security.

Ethereum Development Rhythm

Regarding the development speed of Ethereum, Vitalik believes there are two opposing forces at play:

1. The community continues to see an influx of excellent researchers and developers, driving accelerated development.
2. Caution is needed to avoid mistakes, which requires slowing down.

He believes that this balance is healthy, as it can ensure safety while promoting innovation.

The Impact of The Merge

Vitalik expects that the implementation of The Merge will greatly boost community morale. He believes that from a psychological and narrative perspective, The Merge has not yet been fully priced in by the market, and its actual occurrence may have a significant impact on the price of Ether.

Caution Towards High-Yield Projects

Reflecting on the Terra collapse, Vitalik stated that it reminded people of the importance of principles. He believes that any project promising an annual return of over 10% should be treated with caution, as they are either unsustainable or may be a scam.

Expectations for the Community

Vitalik encourages community members to focus on creating meaningful things. He praised teams that, like ERC-4337, do not issue tokens or rely on marketing gimmicks, but instead focus on solving real problems.

He suggested that the project team should not focus too much on token issuance, but rather look at how to solve real problems through innovative mechanisms, such as reducing harmful content.

Vitalik stated that he is willing to help valuable projects in any way he can, whether it be through raising awareness, seeking funding, or connecting like-minded individuals.