ETHcc 6 Reflections: A Call for Maturity and Pragmatism

We are pleased to present an insightful piece from our founder, Lars Seier Christiansen, who recently took part in Ethereum Community Conference (ETHcc) that unfolded in Paris from July 17 to 20. Lars engaged in numerous discussions, thought-provoking sessions, and immersed himself in the rich intellectual exchange that characterizes this annual event.

This following reflection offers his candid thoughts and key takeaways from the conference, serving to highlight both the current accomplishments within the Ethereum community and the potential trajectories for its future development:

“I’ve just returned from EthCC6, held in the heart of Paris. The true essence of such prestigious conferences, as we all know, lies not within the boundaries of the conference halls, but outside — engaging with thought leaders, VCs, use case presenters, and general enthusiasts.

The past week reaffirmed my growing sense of a paradox in the blockchain industry. It’s a thrilling time where we stand on the cusp of maturation, yet I can’t help but feel that we may be slightly off track about the environment we operate in and what the future truly holds for blockchain.

Let’s delve into my reflections — as I remind myself, I may be wrong, but long-term foresight has proven me right quite often.

The irony didn’t escape me at the Ethereum Conference; the focus was hardly on Ethereum itself, but instead on the Layer-2 (L2) infrastructure built atop Ethereum. We’re ardently striving to fix what Ethereum falls short on — scalability, unpredictable fees, and the basic feature set of an early Layer-1 (L1) technology that we all are stubbornly determined to use.

L2 solutions are crucial, addressing scalability issues, lack of integrated zero-knowledge proofs, absence of finality, and more. Yet, I fear we overlook the unintended mutation of the core concept of a central, trustable blockchain. We’re inadvertently adding layers of complexity, potential failure points, and integration risks, seemingly replicating the pitfalls of an obsolete or non-existent legacy system.

Surely, if L2s offer valuable additions, wouldn’t it be more beneficial to anchor them to a robust, feature-rich L1, rather than Ethereum with all its limitations? A L1 with better programming languages, finality, lower fees, and genuine scalability? Why neglect the notion that an L1 can be built to meet the majority of these needs, leaving L2s to address only the unique value-adds absent in the L1? Why expend all our energy in revamping an outdated base layer?

Let me assure you, a truly functional, robust L1 is not a pipe dream. We’re building one at Concordium — a scalable, low-fee, final L1 that assures privacy. We’re not alone; several teams are creating L1s vastly superior to Ethereum. However, the Ethereum community’s determination is admirable, if misguided. Ethereum’s rescue, regardless of the resources squandered, seems to be a dogged pursuit, distracting from potentially more beneficial engagements with a well-structured L1.

The future of blockchain lies in real-world adoption at an industrial scale, not in the fleeting world of crypto hype and speculation. It’s about bolstering data security, eliminating single-points-of-failure, revolutionizing logistics chains, democratizing markets through tokenization, providing immediate, deterministically finalized settlements, and enabling compliance with inevitable regulations. It’s about harmoniously merging ID, accountability, and privacy. All this, trust me, can be achieved at the L1 level.

It’s high time for the industry to grow up, accept the world around it, and integrate itself into it. It saddens me to witness so many bright minds focusing on the wrong things. Yet, I believe reality will correct the course. The corporate interest in practical applications of blockchain in real-world processes is only growing, even as crypto speculation wanes.

Lessons from the early Internet era, when it was at a similar maturity stage, are enlightening. Most projects that crashed during 2000/2001 didn’t recover. While the Internet made a comeback, it was largely driven by new, more thoughtful projects that better grasped the real value of this transformative technology. The resilient entity was the idea of the Internet itself, the infrastructure part. The same will hold true for blockchain. The challenge now is to create the right infrastructure, and then fascinating use cases will naturally follow. The future of blockchain rests on well-designed, modern L1s.

Expectations of a broad-based rally, where everything that crashed just leaps to new all-time highs, are fundamentally flawed. The Top 100 on CoinMarketCap will look vastly different in a few years. Thus, as we stand on the brink of dramatic changes, I urge you to be thoughtful about where you build, invest, and apply your intellect in the coming years.”

Lars Seier Christensen is the Founder of Concordium, a next-generation blockchain focused on large-scale enterprise applications. He is a seasoned entrepreneur with years of experience in the tech and blockchain industries. The opinions expressed in this article are his own.

Connect with Lars on LinkedIn and Twitter to keep up with his latest insights on the future of blockchain.