On June 20, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin re-evaluated a post by ConsenSys founder Joseph Lubin, stating that 'Ethereum Layer 1 (Ethereum L1) is the world ledger.'

This is also a rare statement from Vitalik regarding recent discussions on Ethereum's overall economic narrative.

It is well known that in the blockchain world, each public chain basically has a design positioning, which often lays the foundation for its technical architecture and ecological style.

For example, since its inception, Ethereum's ultimate vision has been to build a 'world computer': an open platform that can run any smart contract and carry various Web3 application logics. Vitalik has also pointed out that Ethereum is not just a payment network; it is a universal decentralized computing layer.

So now, what kind of narrative evolution has occurred from 'world computer' to 'world ledger'?

One, Ethereum: The original intention of the world computer.

In fact, not only Ethereum but even Bitcoin, which initially clearly proposed the vision of 'Electronic Cash,' has seen its payment positioning gradually fade as its scale grows and the market evolves, shifting towards a value storage-centric 'digital gold.'

Objectively speaking, this transformation itself is a pragmatic choice, as BTC, being the representative of crypto assets breaking through boundaries, has already been substantially incorporated into the balance sheets of mainstream financial institutions, gradually becoming one of the core assets of TradFi.

Looking back at the development path of Ethereum, we find that although the main line has not undergone drastic changes in grand narratives, it has long been in a state of continuous dynamic evolution:

Since 2016, with each market cycle evolution, Ethereum has been at the forefront of all smart contract platforms, leading to the birth of a large number of on-chain applications, from ERC-20 to DeFi, and then to NFTs and blockchain games. Each round of hotspots has validated the charm of 'on-chain computing power.'

It can be said that smart contracts have always been at its core, which is why Vitalik has repeatedly emphasized that Ethereum is a decentralized application platform aimed at carrying various Web3 native logics, not just asset transfers. However, at the same time, we also see contradictions in reality.

The most criticized issues are naturally the previously high gas fees and low TPS performance problems, which limited the large-scale landing of truly complex computing logic. It was against this backdrop that from 2020 onwards, Rollup technology gradually entered the scene, and after five years of development, Ethereum has gradually established a 'L1 + L2' layered structure.

Under this structure, especially over the past two years, more and more signs indicate that Ethereum is showing signs of becoming a trusted, stable, sovereign-level 'world ledger.'

Two, narrative restructuring under the division of L1 + L2.

If we summarize this division of labor in one sentence, 'the Ethereum mainnet is responsible for security and settlement, while L2 handles high-frequency interactions' should be just right.

In simple terms, the Ethereum ecosystem has formed a clear division of labor, where the mainnet is responsible for providing security and final settlement infrastructure, while L2s (like Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, etc.) undertake most 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 L2s there are, the more successful and prosperous the ecosystem, the higher the value of the Ethereum mainnet as a unified large ledger.

After all, all L2 networks rely on it as a 'central bank' level settlement layer.

As Web3 researcher Haotian said, EIP-1559 is undoubtedly a key turning point in Ethereum's narrative. It not only introduced the Base Fee and burning mechanism but also deeply reshaped the way Ethereum captures value, shifting it from relying on a large number of transactions on the mainnet for gas income to relying on L2 for continuous 'taxation.'

In other words, in the past, users were direct customers of the mainnet, but now they have become the respective agents of L2, responsible for providing services to users, collecting fees, and ultimately 'paying' costs to the mainnet in exchange for settlement rights. This mechanism design is very similar to the historical 'tax farmer system':

  • The mainnet has become the final trusted ledger for transaction clearing and settlement, akin to a central bank;

  • L2 is like a commercial bank, responsible for high-frequency services to users;

  • And each L2 transaction, when verified back to the mainnet, will burn ETH to pay for the ledger's security;

It can be said that Ethereum has not abandoned the vision of a 'world computer'; rather, the division of labor structure and development path of L1 + L2 is guiding it to first become a 'world ledger'.

Three, the realism of the 'world ledger' being grounded.

Another interesting observation dimension is that each round of Ether's value explosion actually stems from the mainnet's role as a ledger being 'utilized'.

For example, the 2017 ERC-20 wave was the clearing and settlement layer for issuing tokens, the 2020 DeFi Summer was a funding settlement platform under smart contract combinations, and recently, this wave of tokenization of U.S. stocks and RWA on-chain has once again exploded, with Ethereum still being that trusted ledger.

Because for TradFi, computing power is certainly important, but what truly determines whether to migrate on-chain is always the ledger's 'trust, finality, and security'—this is the core foothold of compliant assets.

This is also why platforms like Robinhood have chosen to launch U.S. stock token trading services based on L2s like Arbitrum. Behind this is not only recognition of the performance of the Rollup architecture but, more importantly, that these transactions 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 sense, this wave of 'U.S. stocks on-chain' has actually strengthened Ethereum's positioning as a global financial clearing and settlement infrastructure and further validated the feasibility and real demand for its 'world ledger' role.

This is the realistic path of evolution for Ethereum from 'world computer' to 'world ledger'—it no longer merely promises a future on-chain application landscape but is being chosen as a settlement endpoint by more and more mainstream assets in the real world.

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 integrate 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 about:

What does the real world want to do with Ethereum?

  • This article is authorized for reprinting from: (PANews)

  • Original title: (From World Computer to World Ledger, How Will Ethereum Become an On-Chain Central Bank?)

  • Original author: imToken

'From 'World Computer' to 'World Ledger'! How will Ethereum become an on-chain central bank?' This article was first published in 'Crypto City'.