Ethereum at a crossroads.

While Bitcoin gains ground as a safe haven, and investors show interest in new platforms like Solana or demonstrate renewed enthusiasm for Ripple, the network created by Vitalik Buterin finds itself in a gray area.

Immersed in a state of uncertainty, the network that once stood out as the second most important in the market now struggles to shine. All this amid the rise of new networks that emerged with the goal of competing with Ethereum and have ended up gaining the ground that the platform left vacant, almost without realizing it.

The situation has reached a critical point, prompting a more active participation from Buterin, who has ended up acknowledging that one of Ethereum's problems is its technological complexity. Hence his promise that the network will become "as simple as Bitcoin."

A possibility that he foresees could be fulfilled in about 5 years if some changes he proposed in a document shared on his official site are applied.

He recalled what he described as one of the best things about Bitcoin, considering "how incredibly simple" the protocol of the pioneering network is.

This is a recognition of Bitcoin that contrasts with the ambitious roadmap that Ethereum has followed over the past few years, filled with complexities, technical innovations, developments in its main chain, and layer two (L2) solutions.

All of this has been detrimental to the main network, as community members have been pointing out.

All of this occurs amid centralized governance and strong resistance to creating more efficient mechanisms that allow the community to actively participate in the development of the protocol. Something that Vitalik now acknowledges in his writing, which he aptly titles "Simplifying L1."

"Bitcoin has already won," they comment in the ecosystem, reflecting the perception that Satoshi Nakamoto's creation, due to its minimalist design and pioneering position.