Ethereum Co-Founder Buterin Acknowledges Bitcoin's Protocol Simplicity Advantage Ethereum Price Rises 0.99%

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has publicly acknowledged that Bitcoin (BTC) holds certain advantages over Ethereum in specific areas of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. This acknowledgment came during a broader discussion on X (formerly Twitter) on June 4, where users were debating Ethereum’s current technical strengths and limitations.

Buterin highlighted that Bitcoin leads in terms of protocol simplicity, lower frequency of network updates, and a higher current node count. He also noted that Bitcoin has a reduced reliance on third-party Remote Procedure Call (RPC) services, which some Ethereum applications currently depend on. These advantages, according to Buterin, make Bitcoin a more straightforward and less complex network compared to Ethereum.

However, Buterin also reaffirmed Ethereum’s dominance in areas such as censorship resistance and overall protocol-level security. He credited the network’s continuous upgrades, including the shift to Proof of Stake and the development of rollups, for significantly strengthening Ethereum’s decentralization and its capacity for trustless transaction execution. These upgrades have made Ethereum a more secure and censorship-resistant platform, which is crucial for its users and developers.

Buterin also addressed the current state of Ethereum’s Layer 2 (L2) scalability stack, acknowledging that it continues to face major development hurdles. He challenged the idea that cross-chain interoperability between L2s has been fully resolved, stating that existing L2 networks do not yet provide the same deeply trustless and censorship-resistant experience that users get on Ethereum’s Layer 1 (L1). Buterin emphasized the “no regression principle,” which states that Ethereum’s native L1 transfers must serve as the benchmark for security, trustlessness, and decentralization that L2s should aspire to, not fall short of.

On the market front, Ethereum’s price has shown a small recovery. At the time of writing, ETH was trading at $2,640.55, marking a 0.99% increase over the previous 24 hours. Its market capitalization has climbed to $318.77 billion, reflecting a similar 0.97% gain. However, daily trading volume for ETH fell by 17.20% to $16.61 billion. This drop in volume suggests a possible slowdown in immediate buying activity.

ETH’s intraday movement showed a slight dip before it began to ascend in the early evening of June 3. The price peaked above $2,650 before entering a phase of minor volatility. A continued upward trend then resumed around 3:00 AM on June 4, with the asset forming higher lows into the midday trading session. The current volume-to-market-cap ratio for ETH stands at 4.98%, a figure that points to relatively low market liquidity at the moment. Ethereum’s circulating and total supply remain fixed at 120.72 million ETH, with no maximum cap currently in place.

In summary, Buterin’s acknowledgment of Bitcoin’s advantages in simplicity, node count, and RPC independence highlights the strengths of both cryptocurrencies in different areas. While Bitcoin excels in these aspects, Ethereum continues to lead in censorship resistance and protocol security. The ongoing development of Ethereum’s Layer 2 scalability stack and its continuous upgrades are crucial for maintaining its position as a leading blockchain platform. The modest gains in Ethereum’s price and the drop in trading volume suggest a cautious market sentiment, with potential for further developments in the near future.