Even with significant progress in decentralization and scalability, there are several areas that need improvement for truly secure and widespread adoption. Here are the key ones:
1. Formal verification and security of smart contracts
Most hacks in the Ethereum ecosystem occur not due to vulnerabilities in the protocol itself, but due to bugs in smart contracts. It is necessary to:
Expand the use of formal verification, especially for DeFi protocols.
Simplify the development of secure contracts with safe standard libraries and audit tools built directly into the IDE.
Support developer education on security.
2. Resilience to MEV and centralization of validators
Ethereum after transitioning to Proof-of-Stake faced threats:
Centralization of validators in the hands of large staking providers.
Maximizing Extractable Value (MEV), which creates unfairness and potential transaction censorship.
Possible steps:
Active implementation of PBS (Proposer-Builder Separation).
Strengthening disincentives for MEV centralization.
Promote solo staking and client diversification.
3. Enhancing user security
Most users lose funds due to phishing, wallet usage errors, and unintended actions. Ethereum should:
Support the development of wallets with social/multi-signature (e.g., ERC-4337 / Account Abstraction).
Implement a level of trust for DApps, similar to HTTPS, with source code verification.
Simplify access recovery and key management.
4. Reducing technical complexity
For mass adoption, it is necessary to:
Abstract technical details (gas, nonce, etc.).
Develop user-friendly interfaces and unconscious interaction with the blockchain.
Expand localization and UX design for global reach.
5. Integration with legal infrastructure
If Ethereum aims for trillions, it must:
Be compliant with legal frameworks — support for KYC/AML may be optional, but compatibility with the law is important for institutions.
Provide users with transparent legal guarantees, especially in DAOs and tokenized assets.
If Ethereum can build a resilient infrastructure in these areas — it will truly become a backbone for systems on a global scale. The foundation's initiative is a step in the right direction, but there is still much 'architectural' work ahead.