EigenLayer founders debate: ETH will ultimately defeat SOL

Original Title: ETH vs SOL

Original Source: Sreeram Kannan, Founder of EigenLayer

Compiled by: xiaozou, Jinse Finance

Note: Who will be the ultimate winner in the battle between ETH and SOL? Two weeks ago, Sreeram Kannan, the founder of EigenLayer, debated with Lily Liu from the Solana Foundation at Crypto Research Day 2024, and Sreeram Kannan believes that ETH will win.

On October 16, EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan published a summary of the key points from his debate with Lily Liu. This article is compiled by xiaozou from Jinse Finance.

Reasons why ETH will win:

· ETH: Nested coordination + Asynchronous scaling

· SOL: Fast, but the complete replication model limits growth

· L2s: Viewed as a weakness, but in fact, they are ETH's hypersonic missiles

· Culture: ETH values > personal gains (this is important!)

· Vision: ETH = World Computer, SOL = Fast version of NASDAQ

· Trade-offs: ETH builds trust, SOL iterates quickly

Don't jump to conclusions just yet; there's more to come…

1. Core Argument: ETH L2 Architecture = Nested Coordination Mechanism

Self-enforcing (Fork: can only fork when the block is verifiable by end users) takes about a few days. Majoritarian (validators complete a block) takes a few minutes. Committee (Eigenlayer validator committee provides rapid economic finality) takes 1 second. Authoritarian (sorter provides instant confirmation) takes 10 seconds.

The result is an Instagram-scale user experience and Bitcoin-scale self-verification!

2. ETH Baseline? Trust comes from predictability.

Imagine 500 people arguing over the slightest change. Sounds like a nightmare, right? But that's ETH's advantage.

ETH has built long-term trust. You can be sure the rules won't change overnight.

What about SOL? An organization can change the rules at any time. The boundaries between protocols and applications are blurred.

3. What are SOL's constraints? Complete replication (like all other cryptocurrencies).

Every node must download the entire data system throughput < single node bandwidth. The more nodes, the greater the throughput.

This is a scalability dead end.

What is ETH's answer? Danksharding.

n nodes * 10MB/s = n * 10MB/s throughput. More nodes = more throughput. For 1M validators, we're talking about theoretical TB/s. This is not a typo.

EigenDA is making all of this a reality. Right now.

L2: ETH's Secret Weapon

Instant confirmation (100ms) borrows security from ETH and is now the best place to build most applications.

4. Culture > Strategy

ETH culture > SOL strategy. Why? Because of shared values: anti-censorship, open innovation, trusted neutrality.

These are not just trendy buzzwords. They are the foundation of trust.

5. ETH's Vision: World Computer

Not just faster payments. We're talking about applications with reliable commitments.

Imagine a crypto-native version of Facebook promising: "We will not change the privacy policy without the consent of the majority of users."

How is this done? By making computation verifiable on ETH. Users can trust the commitments. No more web2 "take it or leave it" ultimatums. This is the power of ETH's World Computer vision.

6. Self-verification: ETH's North Star

Every user should verify the complete system. Sounds crazy? Maybe. But this is the key to true decentralization. This constraint initially limited throughput.

Rollups cracked this code, changing the game:

Maintain self-verification while significantly increasing user verification proof, rather than all data.

7. Asynchronous vs Synchronous Composability

ETH: Asynchronous composability

SOL: Synchronous composability

Most real-world applications require asynchronous composability. Think of MMO games.

8. Asset Entry and Liquidity

SOL: A large pool

ETH: Distributed across L2

SOL seems simpler. But there's a problem: single point of failure.

ETH may seem more decentralized.

But that's not the case. It is resilient.

ETH = Programmable currency across all L2s.

Long-term resilience > short-term convenience.

9. Ecosystem Development: ETH's Advantage

Why are we developing EigenLayer on ETH? Simple. For predictability.

You know the rules of the game on ETH. They won't change overnight. What about the ETH chain itself? It won't steal your lunch either.

Of course, Solana has speed advantages, but there's a problem: an organization can absorb any brilliant idea.

Where are the boundaries between protocols and applications? Neither you nor I can figure it out.

ETH is an open playground. Develop innovations based on L2. You can sleep easy.

Your ideas are always your ideas.

What’s the result? ETH attracts serious builders. Visionaries come together for the long haul.

10. ETH vs SOL Conclusion

SOL = Sprinter

ETH = Marathon runner

In the cryptocurrency space, we are in it for the long haul.

The future is not a choice between "speed or security," but rather a combination of "speed and security."

ETH + EigenLayer achieves this.

We are not just building on ETH; we are rapidly pushing its development forward.