Let's be honest, folks. But now the Ethereum ecosystem as a whole is starting to feel a little… retro. Like that band you used to love in college that's still touring, but only plays the deep cuts because they haven't had a hit in two decades. Dankrad Feist, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, basically just said the same thing: evolve boldly, or become obsolete in 5-10 years. Five to ten years! In crypto time, that's an eternity.

Is Ethereum Becoming Your Dad?

Think about it. Ethereum was the OG smart contract platform. It gave birth to the NFT craze, DeFi summer, and a myriad of other innovations. The effort is severely hampered by technical debt, as well as prohibitively high “gas” fees. No, really—who thought to name that stupid thing like that? To us, layer-2 solutions just seem like bandaids on a gaping wound. Her UI would get higher TPS than most of these scaling solutions.

A jpeg of a rock sells for over $300,000—like the purchase price of a good used small car! Minting that same jpeg on Ethereum now costs the equivalent of a five-star meal. It's absurd! It actually doesn’t seem that hard building a vibrant artistic community. Each purchase feels like a highway robbery before you step on the rickety bridge. It's like trying to throw a rave in a library - the energy just isn't there.

And that energy is crucial. Ethereum has to be the bell of the ball again. It needs to be the haven for artists and creators. They’ll want to go there because it’s cool, it’s cutting-edge, and it’s no freaking brainer fun! Right now, it feels a bit…corporate.

100x Gas? Or 100x Meh?

Feist’s EIP 7938 would increase the gas limit by 100x, and eventually 1000x. Okay, technically impressive. But is it inspiring? So, does it awaken your inner artist, and if so, how do you get him or her coding right away? Or, as the first test of your product, does it actually get you excited enough to meme it yourself?

This isn’t about just numbers. It's about culture. It's about meme-worthiness. It’s about the inspiration you carry when you know you’re living in the middle of a major revolution. Increasing the gas limit seems like a bureaucratic fix to a very artistically creative challenge.

Ethereum doesn’t just require an code amendment. It’s requiring a digital overhaul. Picture that much hipster chaos and you’re getting warmer. Think less “enterprise blockchain solution” and more “psychedelic NFT explosion.” Let’s face it, the crypto market loves a drama, nonsense, and a healthy helping of internet chaos. We must reclaim some of that effort and funnel it back into Ethereum’s core development.

Perhaps we should all be taking a page out of Dogecoin’s playbook. From a meme, one coin went to the moon! What if Ethereum’s scaling solutions were sh*tcoins. What if EIP-7938 was accompanied by a viral video of Vitalik Buterin riding a unicorn through a rainbow-colored gas cloud? (Fine, perhaps not quite that in depth, but you catch our drift.)

This worry about liquidity fragmentation across separate layer-2 solutions is understandable. It’s not only about the money issue, it’s about the lack of attention. If artists spread across a dozen different chains and scaling solutions, the community loses its connective tissue.

Liquidity Fragmentation = Creative Fragmentation

It would be similar to trying to create a robust art scene while locating every gallery out-of-state. The energy dissipates. The connections are lost. The memes don't get shared.

We need a solution that keeps everyone together, that fosters collaboration and creativity, and that doesn't make artists feel like they're constantly jumping through hoops to showcase their work.

Ethereum needs to embrace its inner weirdo. It has to give up the charade of being the responsible grownup and rediscover its role as the wild, crazy game-changing disruptor. It’s time to embrace the meme. It's time to get weird. Help Ethereum avoid a meme-worthy dinosaur transformation, before Ethereum turns into your dad’s favorite blockchain. And nobody wants that.

  • Problem: Ethereum Scaling Stagnation
  • Solution: Meme-Driven Development
  • Result: Cultural Renaissance

Ethereum needs to embrace its inner weirdo. It needs to stop trying to be the responsible adult and start being the wild, unpredictable innovator again. It’s time to embrace the meme. It's time to get weird. It’s time for a meme-worthy makeover, before Ethereum becomes your dad's favorite blockchain. And nobody wants that.