"One Trillion Dollar Safety Plan"! Ethereum aims to be the "Settlement Layer of the Future", targeting RWA.

The core emphasis is on highlighting the stable uptime of Ethereum over the past decade and the decentralized collection of validators, thereby demonstrating its capability to secure trillion-dollar value.

Written by: Bao Yilong

Source: Wall Street Journal

Ethereum is undergoing a public "self-reinvention," hoping to solidify its position as the future settlement layer through the "trillion-dollar security plan" and betting on the tokenization of real-world assets.

On May 14, Ethereum announced a trillion-dollar security plan on its official blog, aiming to position Ethereum as the future settlement layer for individuals and institutions, in response to the mainstream trend of tokenizing real-world assets (RWA). The core of this initiative emphasizes Ethereum's decade-long stable uptime and decentralized validators collection to demonstrate its capability to secure trillion-dollar levels of value.

According to the official announcement from Ethereum, the "Trillion Dollar Security Plan" consists of three parts:

• Illustrate the security advantages and attack vector landscape of various fields and layers of the Ethereum technology stack. Collect opinions from the entire ecosystem and compile them into a security overview report to help us identify key areas of focus.
• Implement improvements in key areas identified in the map drawing overview. We will work closely with the ecosystem to implement recent high-priority remediation measures and allocate funds for long-term improvement projects.
• Communicate Ethereum's security more effectively. Users of all kinds should be able to understand, utilize, and benefit from Ethereum's strong security foundation. Anyone should be able to assess Ethereum's security standards and compare them with those of other blockchains and traditional systems.

However, this ambitious vision has also raised questions. Arca's research director Katie Talati believes that:

This seems more like a marketing strategy rather than a true technological innovation. Relying solely on this statement is not enough to regain the attention of developers and users. Nevertheless, the long-term development of Ethereum is still worth paying attention to, especially after improvements in user experience and user interface, which may attract more developers.

Some media have pointed out that it is still unknown whether institutional investors will buy into this. The U.S. spot Ether ETF has not yet gained widespread recognition from institutions, with nearly 40 million dollars in net outflow as of May 15, while 12 spot Bitcoin funds had a net inflow of 8 billion dollars during the same period.

Although ETFs and staking yields are expected to enhance the appeal of Ethereum, it remains to be seen whether institutional buyers will be swayed by the abstract narrative of security. They may be more interested in yields, price appreciation, and the assurances provided by Ethereum's development roadmap.

Ethereum's Predicament: Facing Challenges from Solana

According to media reports, although Ethereum has been making continuous technical progress, the performance of its native token Ether has been unsatisfactory.

Since the merger of the original Ethereum mainnet (ETH1) and the Beacon Chain (ETH2) in 2022, Ethereum's performance has lagged behind Bitcoin. Worse still, Ethereum's appeal among developers and users is waning, while more attractive competitors like Solana are rising.

According to reports citing data from Electric Capital, the number of active developers on Solana increased by 83% in 2024, while Ethereum saw a decline of 17%. Solana has attracted a younger, more experimental user base due to lower fees, active collaborations, and the promotion of meme coins, also garnering investor interest and driving its token price to a historic high.

Supporters of Ethereum are seeking change. The new organization Etherealize, backed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and led by Vivek Raman, aims to give a voice to Ethereum among Washington and institutional investors. Raman stated:

The security of blockchain is the most important quality to ensure trust, and Ethereum's goal is to become "digital oil," complementing Bitcoin's "digital gold" to form a balanced digital asset portfolio.

Reports indicate that Ethereum is trying to position itself as a solid, secure, but "boring" infrastructure. In the long run, this may be feasible. However, in this market filled with the "degen culture" (high risk, high reward) chasing short-term gains, Ethereum's "trillion-dollar" vision may be premature.