Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, has confirmed that he has not taken any profits from his personal holding of ETH since 2018. This revelation comes after news outlets reported significant transfers of ETH from Buterin's wallet to centralized exchanges, totaling nearly $4 million in September alone. Typically, when founders sell off their tokens, it is seen as a bearish sign, indicating a lack of confidence in the project's future. As a result, Ethereum has experienced a 6% decline in the past two weeks, dropping from its peak of over $1,700 at the beginning of the month.
Buterin recently addressed concerns about Ethereum's future during an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on the decentralized social platform, Farcaster. He expressed worry about the possibility of cryptocurrencies stagnating while technological innovation focuses more on artificial intelligence. Moreover, he raised suspicions about the motives driving major players in the industry. Despite these concerns, Buterin finds motivation in the unique position of the Ethereum community, emphasizing their ability to contribute valuable technology to an increasingly complex world.
Regarding Ethereum's development path, Buterin explained that the decision to prioritize an expanded Layer 2 ecosystem over sharding at the Layer 1 level was driven by the core team's focus on transitioning the network to a proof of stake consensus. He believes that the development of Layer 2 infrastructure would not have progressed as rapidly if sharding had been pursued. Additionally, Buterin mentioned a growing movement for greater standardization across the Layer 2 ecosystem, highlighting features such as account abstraction, EVM compatibility, cross-domain wallet standardization, and the potential future inclusion of a ZK-EVM at the Layer 1 level.