Cysic Lianchuang: The future of Ethereum expansion lies in hardware, not software

Author: Cysic co-founder Leo Fan, CoinTelegraph; Compiler: Baishui, Golden Finance

Running Ethereum today is like playing a modern game on a 1980s laptop - the outdated hardware struggles to load, lags endlessly, and is likely to collapse under the weight of new demands. Ethereum's infrastructure, designed for a simpler blockchain era, has fallen behind the times, processing only 10 to 62 transactions per second, far below the thousands needed for mainstream adoption.

Meanwhile, Solana is gaining mainstream popularity with sub-second block times and near-zero fees, as seen in the surge in wallet downloads during the TRUMP launch. Ethereum remains hampered by high gas fees and congestion, forcing users and developers to turn to faster alternatives.

If its scaling bottlenecks are not addressed, Ethereum risks falling behind. While Ethereum’s layer 2 (L2) rollups have eased network congestion, they are ultimately only stopgap measures that provide temporary relief. The software-first approach has encountered teething problems with interoperability and scalability, raising questions about Ethereum’s long-term sustainability and relevance.

Many L2s are designed to accommodate the native network and are unable to support real-time applications such as decentralized gaming or cross-border payments. If Ethereum wants to remain at the forefront of the blockchain space, a fundamental shift is needed. The solution lies not in incremental software updates, but in hardware acceleration.

Marrying Ethereum’s Vision with Hardware

Vitalik Buterin’s Verge milestone envisions Ethereum achieving full node validation on consumer-grade devices, a key step toward the broader goals of blockchain accessibility and decentralization. Buterin stressed the need to move away from patchwork solutions and toward building a comprehensive computing infrastructure to realize this vision. Specialized hardware, such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), is key: it increases transaction processing speed, reduces latency, and optimizes energy use. It lays the foundation for sustainable Ethereum scaling, ensuring that the network evolves without compromising its core principles.

Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade also doesn’t fully address its fundamental scaling challenges, highlighting the urgency of enhancing scalability and stability. The key optimizations introduced—account abstraction and enhanced validator operations—are designed to improve Ethereum’s efficiency and user experience, but will not significantly increase transaction throughput or reduce network latency.

Without specialized hardware, Ethereum could fall behind, weakening its position as the settlement layer for blockchain communities. Investing in hardware-native solutions will enable Ethereum to scale effectively while upholding its commitment to decentralization and supporting a growing user base.

Mainstream Adoption and Real-World Applications

The impact of hardware scaling solutions extends far beyond Ethereum itself. TradFi participants are exploring blockchain-based cross-border payments, which require real-time processing. Due to scalability issues inherited from the main layer, L2 alone cannot scale effectively to meet pure TradFi needs. With cross-border transaction volume reaching $190.1 trillion in 2023 and expected to continue to grow in 2025, it is clear that: Hardware acceleration is essential to incentivizing institutional blockchain adoption.

Beyond finance, hardware optimizations are also enhancing blockchain’s usefulness across industries, accelerating mainstream adoption. One notable example is healthcare, where accelerated blockchain infrastructure can improve the security and privacy of patient data. For the gaming industry, which relies on dynamic interactions, blockchain networks can help respond to users’ actions in real time.

The AI ​​Factor

Blockchain doesn’t operate in isolation; it competes with compute-intensive industries, such as 2024’s buzzword, artificial intelligence. The rise of AI has reshaped industries, but it’s also becoming a fierce competitor for blockchain in terms of power and equipment. Data centers like Hut 8 and Coin Scientific are prioritizing AI workloads, which can generate 25 times more revenue than Bitcoin mining. These moves highlight the growing pressure on blockchain networks to optimize resource efficiency or risk being sidelined in the race for computing dominance.

Critics claim Ethereum is “slowly dying”. Ethereum was once the birthplace of decentralized finance (DeFi) innovation, but its scalability issues have hampered its ability to compete with DeFi. Ethereum must adopt specialized hardware to address its inefficient infrastructure, enable faster transactions, and reduce energy consumption. In doing so, Ethereum has a chance to tackle the growth of artificial intelligence and maintain its competitive advantage in mainstream adoption.

Now is the time to invest in hardware

Ethereum relies heavily on L2 to scale, but they remain temporary solutions that fail to meet the basic operational needs of the network. Hardware solutions are now non-negotiable for Ethereum to maintain its position as a blockchain innovation leader. From enabling seamless TradFi integration to supporting real-time interactions in gaming and healthcare, specialized hardware solves the fundamental problems of Ethereum’s infrastructure inefficiencies. Without decisive investment in hardware acceleration, Ethereum may stagnate while competitors rise.

Ethereum doesn’t need another short-term patch. It needs a lasting solution. The next wave of blockchain adoption requires infrastructure that can support it, and that means investing in hardware now.