From Global Computing Platform to Global Ledger: The Evolution of Ethereum's Role

On June 20, the founder of Ethereum expressed agreement with a statement discussing the Ethereum Layer 1 network as a "global ledger." This is a rare statement from him regarding the recent discussions on the macro positioning of Ethereum.

In the blockchain field, each public chain usually has its specific design positioning, which often determines the characteristics of its technical architecture and ecosystem. Since its inception, Ethereum's ultimate vision has been to build a "global computing platform": an open system that can run any smart contract and supports various Web3 applications. The founder of Ethereum has repeatedly emphasized that Ethereum is not just a payment network, but a general-purpose decentralized computing layer.

So, what exactly has happened behind the narrative shift from "global computing platform" to "global ledger"?

Ethereum: Upholding the Original Intention of a Global Computing Platform

Looking back at the development history of Ethereum, we will find that its main positioning, although it has not undergone drastic changes, has been in a state of dynamic evolution:

Since 2016, in every market cycle, Ethereum has been the leader of smart contract platforms, driving the birth of a large number of on-chain applications in the entire industry, from ERC20 tokens to decentralized finance (DeFi), and then to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchain games. Each wave of hotspots has showcased the charm of "on-chain computing power."

It can be said that smart contracts have always been at the core of Ethereum. This is also why its founder has repeatedly emphasized that Ethereum is a decentralized application platform, aimed at hosting various Web3 native logics, and not just asset transfers. However, at the same time, we have also seen challenges in reality.

The most criticized aspects are naturally the high Gas fees and low transaction processing speed (TPS), which have limited the large-scale implementation of truly complex computational logic. It is against this backdrop that Rollup technology gradually became mainstream starting in 2020, and after several years of development, Ethereum has also gradually established a "L1+L2" layered structure.

In this architecture, especially over the past two years, there have been increasing signs that Ethereum is demonstrating the potential to become a trusted, stable, sovereign-level "global ledger."

Positioning Reconstruction under L1+L2 Division of Labor

If I were to summarize this division of labor in one sentence, "The Ethereum mainnet is responsible for security and settlement, while L2 handles high-frequency interactions" would be quite accurate.

In short, a clear division of labor has emerged within the Ethereum ecosystem today, where the mainnet is responsible for providing security and final settlement infrastructure, while L2 handles most of the high-frequency trading and user operations.

This not only enhances scalability but also further strengthens the value capture logic of Ether, naturally positioning the Ethereum mainnet as a "global decentralized ledger". The more Layer 2 solutions there are, the more successful they are, and the more prosperous the ecosystem becomes, the higher the value of the Ethereum mainnet as a unified ledger.

After all, all L2 networks rely on it to serve as the "central bank" level settlement layer.

EIP-1559 is undoubtedly a key turning point in Ethereum's positioning. It not only introduces a base fee and a burning mechanism but also fundamentally reshapes the way Ethereum captures value, shifting from relying on the Gas revenue generated by massive transactions on the mainnet to depending on L2 for continuous "taxation".

In other words, in the past, users were direct clients of the mainnet, but now they have become agents for their respective L2s, responsible for providing services to users, collecting fees, and ultimately "paying" these fees to the mainnet in exchange for settlement rights. This mechanism design is very similar to the historical "tax farmer system":

• The mainnet becomes the final trusted ledger for transaction clearing and settlement, similar to a central bank;
• L2 acts like a commercial bank, responsible for high-frequency services aimed at users;
• Each L2 transaction that returns to the mainnet for verification will burn ETH, paying for the security of the ledger;

It can be said that Ethereum has not given up on the vision of a "global computing platform"; rather, the division of labor framework and development path of L1+L2 is guiding it to first become a "global ledger."

The Realization of "Global Ledger"

Another interesting observation is that each round of ETH's value explosion actually stems from the mainnet being "put to use" in its role as a ledger.

Just like the ERC20 wave in 2017 was the settlement layer for issuing tokens, the DeFi boom in 2020 was the funding settlement platform under smart contract combinations. Recently, if this wave explodes again due to traditional stock tokenization, real-world assets (RWA), and other financial assets being put on-chain, Ethereum is still that trusted ledger.

Because for traditional finance, computing power is certainly important, but what truly determines whether to migrate on-chain is always the "trust, finality, and security" of the ledger - this is the core point for compliant assets.

This is also why some trading platforms are choosing to launch stock token trading services based on certain L2s. Behind this is not only the recognition of the performance of the Rollup architecture, but more importantly, these trades will ultimately return to the Ethereum mainnet for settlement.

This also indicates that the performance, security, and compliance capabilities of existing L2 solutions are sufficient to meet the trading needs of core traditional financial assets. In a certain sense, this wave of "stock on-chain" has actually reinforced Ethereum's positioning as a global financial clearing and settlement infrastructure, further validating the feasibility and real demand for its "global ledger" role.

This is the realistic evolution path of Ethereum from a "global computing platform" to a "global ledger"—it no longer merely promises the future landscape of on-chain applications, but is increasingly being chosen by mainstream assets in the real world as the settlement endpoint.

From this perspective, such trends not only confirm the value of Ethereum L1 but will also profoundly reconstruct the value capture logic of L2, driving the entire Ethereum ecosystem to truly connect between technology and financial infrastructure.

In short, the narratives that can truly drive this chain towards hundreds of millions of users are not just about what Ethereum can do, but more importantly about what the real world is willing to do with Ethereum.