Reasoning Behind Ethereum's Sluggish Progress Over the Years, as Explained by Joseph Lubin, Co-founder of Ethereum
In the dynamic world of cryptocurrencies, Ethereum continues to make significant strides, positioning itself as a leading player in the digital asset market.
Ethereum's Development Focus
Ethereum is currently focused on several major technological upgrades and ecosystem growth initiatives. The Ethereum Foundation is advancing the integration of a native zkEVM (Zero-Knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine) directly into Layer 1, aiming for mainnet deployment between Q4 2025 and Q2 2026. This innovation is expected to significantly improve block verification speed and reduce zero-knowledge proof verification costs.
In addition, development is underway on a new RISC-V-based execution architecture, starting in late 2025 and spanning until 2030. This shift promises a 3–5x improvement in smart contract execution efficiency and a 50–70% reduction in gas costs.
Upcoming hard forks, such as the Fusaka upgrade, scheduled for November 2025, aim to enhance scalability, efficiency, and resilience with 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals. Developers are also discussing faster upgrade cycles and further optimizations to boost DeFi usability and overall performance.
Ethereum's Market Performance
Ethereum has significantly outperformed Bitcoin recently, gaining 77% in the period leading up to July 2025 compared to Bitcoin, whose dominance dropped by 8.5% since late June. The ETH/BTC ratio has grown 40% over the past month, reflecting Ethereum’s relative strength. Some analysts now forecast conservative ETH price targets above $8,000, with optimistic scenarios reaching $13,000+ by late 2025.
The surge in Ethereum's performance can be attributed to rising ETF inflows, improving fundamentals, and rotating capital from Bitcoin to altcoins. Ethereum is increasingly seen as a core infrastructure layer for tokenized assets, payments, and stablecoins, especially after regulatory developments like the GENIUS Act in the U.S.
Comparison with Solana
While Ethereum’s ecosystem and upgrades are driving price momentum, Solana is also gaining attention for its high throughput (over 44% of meaningful blockchain activity) and upcoming Alpenglow upgrade, which aims to speed up finality and reduce validator costs. However, Coinbase analysts note that such fundamental changes in Solana are unlikely to impact its price in the short term, whereas Ethereum’s technological roadmap and ETF/institutional flows are having a more immediate effect on market dynamics.
Summary
| Aspect | Ethereum | Bitcoin | Solana | |-----------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------|-----------------------------------------| | Price Trend | Strong outperformance vs. BTC; bullish targets ($8K–$13K+) | Declining dominance | High throughput, but less price impact | | Tech Focus | zkEVM, RISC-V architecture, Fusaka/Glamsterdam upgrades | Limited major upgrades | Alpenglow consensus upgrade | | Institutional Demand | Rising ETF inflows, stablecoin/RWA focus | Stable, but rotating out | Growing, but less than ETH | | Ecosystem Activity | High, driven by DeFi, stablecoins, tokenization | Store of value, payments | High throughput, niche applications |
Conclusion
Ethereum’s current development focus is on scalability, efficiency, and expanding its use cases through advanced cryptography and execution architectures. These upgrades, combined with strong institutional and ETF inflows, have propelled ETH to outperform Bitcoin and maintain a leading position relative to other smart contract platforms like Solana—despite Solana’s technical strengths in throughput. The evolving roadmap and market dynamics suggest Ethereum is well-positioned for continued growth, though the crypto market remains highly volatile and subject to macroeconomic influences.
Note: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always conduct your own research before making financial decisions.
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- The Ethereum Foundation's integration of a native zkEVM into Layer 1 is expected to improve block verification speed and reduce zero-knowledge proof verification costs, which could attract more crypto investors and traders.
- The surge in Ethereum's performance can be attributed to rising ETF inflows, improving fundamentals, and rotating capital from Bitcoin to altcoins, solidifying its status as a core infrastructure layer for tokenized assets, payments, and stablecoins.
- While Solana exhibits strong technical strengths in throughput, analysts suggest that Ethereum's technological roadmap, ETF inflows, and institutional support are having a more immediate effect on market dynamics, making Ethereum more appealing to crypto traders and investors.
