Paradigm Urges Faster Ethereum Development, Calls for Increased Upgrade Cadence
Paradigm, a leading crypto-focused venture capital firm, is calling on the Ethereum community to accelerate the pace of development for the world's second-largest cryptocurrency. In a recent post co-authored by several top executives, Paradigm argues that Ethereum should prioritize shipping more frequent upgrades and improvements, rather than slowing down development in an attempt to preserve its decentralized nature.
Beyond the Debate: Focusing on Speed, Regardless of Direction
The post acknowledges the ongoing debate about Ethereum's long-term vision but emphasizes the need for speed regardless of the chosen path. "There is reasonable debate about what Ethereum's north star should be," the authors state. "But wherever you think Ethereum should go, surely it is better to get there faster...We think Ethereum should be focused on reaching the efficient frontier of what's possible before arguing — hypothetically — about how we would choose between our values once we've hit those limits."
More Than One Major Upgrade Per Year: A Call for Faster Innovation
Paradigm directly advocates for Ethereum to implement more than one major upgrade per year, pushing back against the idea that slowing down or "ossifying" the core protocol is the best way to protect its decentralization. They argue that the core development process itself is a form of off-chain governance, reflecting input from a wide range of stakeholders. "Ossifying the core protocol would mean abandoning that governance mechanism and Ethereum's ability to evolve in response to changes in the market," they write.
"Non-Controversial Improvements": Low-Hanging Fruit for Faster Scaling
The post highlights several "non-controversial improvements" that could be implemented quickly, such as repricing opcodes to improve scaling without altering the block gas limit, enhancing the user experience of batched transactions through account abstraction, and further developing rollups to meet growing demand.
Reth: Paradigm's Contribution to the Ethereum Ecosystem
Paradigm also showcases its own contribution to Ethereum development: Reth, an Ethereum client that currently holds a 2% market share. The firm positions Reth as an "SDK for building 'EVM-core' nodes," inviting researchers to collaborate on prototyping new features to improve Ethereum's performance, censorship resistance, and future-proofing.
Investing in Ethereum's Future: Paradigm's Commitment
The call for accelerated development comes from a position of influence. Paradigm recently co-led a $150 million Series C funding round for Phantom, a popular crypto wallet that has expanded from Solana to support Ethereum, highlighting the firm's commitment to the Ethereum ecosystem.