Many people regard Vitalik Buterin's emphasis on Ethereum as the "world ledger" as a completely new strategic adjustment. However, in fact, this transformation had already been completed the moment EIP-1559 was launched. The 50% dominant share of stablecoins on Ethereum merely reinforces its positioning as a financial settlement layer. Let me elaborate:

1. The core of EIP-1559 is not to reduce Gas fees, but to redefine the value capture mechanism of the Ethereum mainnet, establishing a new model where Ethereum no longer captures value through the increased gas consumption of transaction volume.

Previously, all transactions (DeFi, NFT, GameFi, etc.) were crowded on the mainnet, which led to significant ETH Gas consumption. The data shows that in 2021, the average daily Burn of ETH was nearly several thousand. At that time, the Ethereum mainnet was extremely congested, and Layer2 had no choice but to join the Gas War when submitting batch data validation to the mainnet, resulting in high and unpredictable costs.

However, EIP-1559 changed the rules of the game: after introducing the predictable Base fee mechanism, the cost of batch submission of Layer2 on the mainnet became stable and controllable. This directly lowered the operational threshold for Layer2, allowing more Layer2 to rely solely on Ethereum for final settlement.

On the surface, EIP-1559 facilitated Layer2, but in reality, it deeply transformed the value capture logic of Ethereum: from the "consumption-based growth" relying on high-frequency transactions on the mainnet to the "taxation-based growth" relying on Layer2 settlement needs.

Think about it, previously users paid the Ethereum mainnet directly for computing services, which was a buyer-seller relationship. Now, Layer2 earns user fees but must regularly "submit" batch data to the mainnet and Burn ETH, creating a tribute relationship.

This is very similar to how local banks handle daily transactions, but large cross-bank settlements must be confirmed through the central bank system. The central bank does not serve ordinary users directly, but all banks have to "pay taxes" to the central bank and be regulated.

This is a typical positioning of the "world ledger".

1. According to DeFiLlama data, the total market value of global stablecoins currently exceeds 250 billion US dollars, with Ethereum accounting for 50% of the share, a proportion that has not decreased but increased after the launch of EIP-1559. Why is Ethereum so attractive to capital? The answer is actually very simple: an irreplaceable safety premium.

Specifically, USDT has accumulated 62.99 billion US dollars on Ethereum, and USDC has 38.15 billion US dollars. In contrast, the total amount of stablecoins on Solana is only 1.07 billion US dollars, and BNB Chain has only 1.04 billion US dollars. The two combined are not even a fraction of Ethereum's amount.

So, why do stablecoin issuers choose Ethereum?

It is definitely not because it is cheap, nor is it because it is fast. It is simply because the nearly 100 billion US dollars of ETH staked provides an economic security that is unparalleled. The cost of attacking Ethereum is exorbitantly high, which is a very important consideration for institutions managing assets worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

With the accumulation of a large amount of stablecoin funds, the Ethereum ecosystem has formed a self-reinforcing growth flywheel effect:

More stablecoins → Deeper liquidity → More DeFi protocols choose Ethereum → Generate more stablecoin demand → Attract more capital inflows.

From this perspective, the large-scale aggregation of stablecoins on Ethereum is actually the result of global liquidity voting with its feet, and it is also a market confirmation of its positioning as the world ledger.

1. When the Ethereum mainnet focuses on being a "central bank" level settlement layer, the strategic positioning of the entire Ethereum ecosystem becomes very clear: Base, Arbitrum, Optimism are responsible for high-frequency transactions, and the Ethereum mainnet focuses on final settlement, with clear and efficient division of labor. And every settlement from Layer2 back to the mainnet will continue to Burn ETH, making this deflationary flywheel spin faster and faster.

Look, when it comes to this point, many Ethereum defenders may feel hurt. If that's the case, why hasn't Layer2 contributed to the deflation of the Ethereum mainnet, but instead become a "vampire" that overdraws the value of the Ethereum mainnet?

The actual data is very harsh: the former glory of the Ethereum mainnet burning several thousand ETH per day no longer exists. What about now? The average daily Burn volume has shrunk dramatically, sometimes even less than a few hundred ETH. Meanwhile, Arbitrum processes millions of transactions per day, Base has become a super-profit machine with the traffic diversion from Coinbase, and Optimism is also making a fortune.

Where is the problem? Users have all moved to Layer2, and the mainnet has become an "empty city". Layer2 collects millions of dollars in fees every day into its own pocket, but the "protection money" given to the mainnet is pitiful.

However, this problem cannot shake the established position of Ethereum as the world ledger. The large accumulation of stablecoins, nearly 100 billion US dollars of security (28% of the supply is staked), and the world's largest DeFi ecosystem all prove that capital has chosen the settlement authority of Ethereum, not the trading prosperity of the Layer2 ecosystem.

Nowadays, Vitalik Buterin seems to have realized this problem and is trying to improve the performance of the Ethereum mainnet again, not wanting Layer2 to become a burden on the development of Ethereum's overall world ledger positioning.

But in the final analysis, the success or failure of Layer2 has nothing to do with the positioning of Ethereum as the world ledger.

Vitalik's current emphasis on the "world ledger" is more like an official confirmation of a fait accompli. EIP-1559 is that historic turning point. From that moment on, Ethereum was no longer a "world computer", but a "world central bank".

In other words, if you agree that the next Crypto dividend is the great integration of on-chain DeFi infrastructure and traditional finance (TradiFi), then Ethereum's positioning as the "world central bank" is enough to solidify its position. Whether Layer2 is prosperous or not is not important at all.