Since the Merge upgrade, Ethereum's technological roadmap has been gradually fulfilling its promises. Many are concerned: how far can this path go?

In terms of energy efficiency, the data is quite impressive. After the Merge, energy consumption plummeted by 99.95%, effectively resolving environmental concerns. Compared to the high energy consumption characteristic of traditional PoW mechanisms, this transition is significant. Meanwhile, the staking mechanism provides a stable annualized yield of over 3.5%, continuously attracting funds to lock in at the protocol layer.

Looking at the application layer, Layer2 scaling solutions are now mature, with transaction performance improved by over a hundred times compared to the mainnet. This directly enhances user experience—faster transaction speeds and near-zero fees. The developer ecosystem is also expanding rapidly, with an annual growth rate exceeding 40%. In response, the total value locked in various DeFi protocols is approaching one hundred billion USD again.

Regarding technological prospects, innovations such as zk-Rollups, sharding solutions, and account abstraction are progressing simultaneously. The common goal of these breakthroughs is clear: Ethereum is evolving into the underlying network for global financial settlement, the foundational platform for decentralized applications, and a secure storage solution for digital assets.

Of course, skepticism has always existed. Will other public chains overtake Ethereum? Can Ethereum maintain its ecosystem advantage? The answers to these questions ultimately depend on the real on-chain performance—development activity, ecosystem vitality, and security records. Currently, Ethereum maintains a leading position in these dimensions.

From the perspective of technological iteration, the infrastructure for the next-generation internet is being built block by block. No matter how you view it, this transformation is underway.