The Ethereum ecosystem is undergoing a dual upgrade in security and user experience, propelling it toward becoming a trillion-dollar settlement layer. The Ronin sidechain’s announcement of transitioning from an independent blockchain to an Ethereum L2 solution marks the beginning of a "great return," reflecting Ethereum’s growing appeal in liquidity, security, and developer tools. Simultaneously, the Ethereum Foundation’s "Trillion-Dollar Security Plan" (1TS) has entered its second phase, shifting focus from底层 security to user experience and wallet safety. Key initiatives include:

• Establishing minimum security standards for wallets, requiring transparent transactions and intrusion-resistant interfaces;

• Addressing blind signing issues through projects like Verifier Alliance to improve transaction readability;

• Creating a smart contract vulnerability database to help developers detect risks early;

• Encouraging the development of minimalist wallets and enterprise-grade solutions to lower barriers to entry.

Wallets, as the first line of defense for users, are evolving from complex tools into "default-secure on-chain financial assistants." Wallets like imToken have already implemented features such as readable transactions, authorization management, and risk identification, aligning with Ethereum’s upgrade trajectory. In the future, Ethereum will further solidify its position as the default global entry point for applications by leveraging its security and experience advantages, attracting more capital, users, and developers back to its ecosystem.

Summary
Author: imToken

"Ronin is coming home to Ethereum."

On August 15, Ronin—a sidechain that had been expanding its DeFi and consumer DApp offerings just months earlier—suddenly announced its "return," planning to transition from an Ethereum sidechain to an L2 solution.

At the same time, the Ethereum Foundation is driving another milestone event: the official launch of the second phase of its "Trillion-Dollar Security Plan" (1TS), shifting focus from底层 consensus and security mechanisms to wallet user experience and application-layer usability.

These developments signal that the next wave of the Ethereum ecosystem—a dual upgrade in security and experience—is already underway.

1. Phase 2 of 1TS: Transitioning from Security to Experience
As early as May this year, the Ethereum Foundation (EF) unveiled the blueprint for its "Trillion-Dollar Security Plan" (1TS), with the goal of establishing Ethereum as the ultimate settlement layer capable of supporting billions of users and trillions of dollars in economic activity.

Subsequently, the EF adjusted its internal governance structure and released the first 1TS report in June, categorizing Ethereum’s main security challenges into six areas: user experience (UX), smart contract security, infrastructure and cloud security, consensus protocol security, security incident response and mitigation mechanisms, and social layer and governance security. This marked the beginning of Ethereum’s systematic approach to addressing ecological security challenges (for further reading, see "Is User Experience a Security Issue? Understanding the UX Challenges in Ethereum’s Trillion-Dollar Security Blueprint").

On August 20, the Ethereum Foundation announced the launch of Phase 2 of the 1TS plan, explicitly shifting its core focus from底层 security to user experience and wallet safety. Key actions include:

• Collaborating with Walletbeat to establish minimum security standards for Ethereum wallets, including requirements for transparent transactions and intrusion-resistant interfaces;

• Supporting projects like Verifier Alliance (VERA) to address blind signing issues and enhance transaction decoding capabilities;

• Creating an open-source smart contract vulnerability database to help developers detect code vulnerabilities before deployment;

Additionally, the EF encourages the community to develop "minimalist wallets" for non-technical users and enterprise-grade solutions that meet compliance and privacy needs, further reducing barriers to using Ethereum.

In other words, 1TS has moved from blueprint to implementation. Ethereum aims not only to remain the most secure infrastructure but also to become the most usable and trustworthy public foundation, creating a siphon effect. After all, wherever higher security standards and smoother user experiences are provided, capital, users, and developers will flock.

2. Security and Experience: Building a New Moat
"If users cannot understand the transactions they are signing or properly manage their keys, then no matter how secure Ethereum’s底层 is, their experience remains vulnerable." This statement underscores the fundamental goal of Phase 2 of 1TS: to transform interactions with wallets and applications from security challenges into "security guardrails."

Ronin’s "return" is a typical signal. It once left due to high gas fees and complex interactions to build an independent blockchain. But as Rollup technology matures and Ethereum upgrades both security and experience, Ronin realizes that reintegrating into the Ethereum ecosystem offers greater value:

Returning to Ethereum means immediate access to mature liquidity, unified standards, the richest developer tools, and the most robust security backing, thereby reducing costs and improving体验.

Rather than struggling independently, it is more beneficial to reconnect with Ethereum’s vast ecosystem.

From this perspective, if Phase 1 Ethereum won the trust of core applications like DeFi, stablecoins, and NFTs through "security," then Phase 2 demonstrates its siphon effect on user experience and ecological prosperity.

This is precisely the strategic intent of "Phase 2 of 1TS"—solutions for wallet blind signing, the introduction of minimum security standards, and the establishment of a vulnerability database are not just security measures but also experience upgrades. Together, they will lower user barriers, enabling Ethereum to transition from "only geeks and Crypto-native users can use it" to "anyone or any institution globally can use it with confidence."

Ronin is not the first, nor will it be the last. Today, it’s a gaming blockchain returning; tomorrow,更多公链 that once chose "independent development" may follow suit, transitioning to L2s on Ethereum. Ultimately, Ethereum’s position as a settlement layer will become more solid, and its ecological scale will expand further.

After security, experience is the new moat. Once Ethereum completes this moat, it will not only be the first choice for developers but also the default entry point for global users.

3. Wallets: The First Line of Defense for Trillion-Dollar Applications
If Ethereum’s 1TS is a systematic upgrade project, then wallets are the first cornerstone of this project. This is why the EF explicitly supports developers and contributors in establishing minimum security standards for wallets:

Promoting transaction readability and simulation to彻底解决 blind signing issues, while also creating vulnerability databases and developer tools to help wallets and DApps identify issues before launch. These actions essentially build "guardrails" for wallets, transforming them from mere entry points into trustworthy guardians of user asset security and experience.

From a user perspective, future wallets will no longer be "complex crypto tools" but will evolve into "default-secure on-chain financial assistants." From a developer perspective, wallet standardization and security mean that ecological applications can reach users faster and with lower risk.

For current wallet service providers, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. Taking imToken as an example, its continuous iterations around transaction readability, authorization management centers, and risk identification mechanisms align with the direction proposed by the EF:

• For common contract call requests, it has achieved readable signature requests, clearly displaying authorization targets, amounts, whether it is an infinite authorization, and other information, helping users identify the actual operation content and significantly reducing the risk of mistaken signatures due to lack of understanding;

• The authorization management page incorporates revoke functionality, allowing users to quickly view and manage all DApp authorization histories and supporting one-click revocation;

• It integrates an on-chain address blacklist system, DApp risk scoring mechanism, and third-party security services to identify malicious links, disguised frontends, phishing contracts, and other risk sources in advance;

Wallets are not just entry points; they are the first line of defense for Ethereum’s ability to support trillion-dollar applications. Those who率先对标 standards, establish guardrails, and respond systematically will become the true beneficiaries of the "great return."

Today’s Ethereum is no longer just "the world’s largest smart contract platform." It is steadily upgrading into a settlement layer and infrastructure for global trillion-dollar applications.

It is foreseeable that in the coming years, Ethereum will not only continue to dominate the crypto-financial world but also gradually integrate into broader real-world financial and daily application scenarios—from cross-border payments to corporate treasuries, from gaming and entertainment to social networks.

As witnesses, we will directly observe how trillion-dollar innovations and applications are redefined on Ethereum.