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Ethereum ‘Almost Full’ Says Vitalik Buterin As Bitcoin Dev Slates Supporters

Anja van Oosterhout | Aug 20, 2019 | 10:00

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Ethereum naysayers were out in force as the week began after co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned that the network’s blockchain was “almost full.”

Buterin: ETH ‘Already Expensive’

In an interview with Canadian mainstream news outlet The Star, Buterin, discussed the future of Ethereum, along with the problems cryptocurrency faces on the path to broader adoption. 

Using his project as an example, Buterin said that capacity on the Ethereum network was nearing its maximum, and that continued new users would push up fees. 

“Scalability is a big bottleneck because the Ethereum blockchain is almost full. If you’re a bigger organization, the calculus is that if we join, it will not only be more full but we will be competing with everyone for transaction space,” he told the publication. 

“It’s already expensive and it will be even five times more expensive because of us. There is pressure keeping people from joining, but improvements in scalability can do a lot in improving that.”

Ethereum is on the cusp of major improvements precisely with the aim of preparing it for an influx of users with various goals beyond simply sending funds. 

As Bitcoinist reported, the incoming updates, which together form what is known as Ethereum 2.0, will change Ethereum’s consensus model altogether.

“The main problem with the current blockchain is this idea that every computer has to verify every transaction,” Buterin continued about the current status quo. 

“If we can move to networks where every computer on average verifies only a small portion of transactions then it can be done better.”

Wertheimer Slams Ethereum for Role In ICO Craze

Asked whether security would suffer as a result of such changes, he replied any sacrifice would be “fairly modest.”

“Scaleability is not the only problem. There are still challenges with usability, with account security and with privacy that are improving,” he added.

Recent drops in the value of Ethereum’s native token Ether 00 have nonetheless compounded its publicity issues, particularly in the eyes of major Bitcoin advocates.

ETH/BTC currently trades at 0.018 BTC, the pair’s lowest level since March 2017. Compared with when the market was booming in late 2017 thanks to the ICO phenomenon, a huge amount of value has evaporated.

This, according to developer Udi Wertheimer, is unforgivable. 

“It’s time for the ETH gang to wake up, smell the ashes, and take some responsibility,” he wrote in a series of strongly-worded tweets over the weekend. 

“Their 2017 ‘blockchain everything’ narrative failed miserably and cost retail investors BILLIONS, dumped into scams supported by ETH naiveté[.] We’re toxic? How dare you? Where’s your post mortem?”

What do you think about Ethereum’s future? Let us know in the comments below!

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