Vitalik Buterin dominates KOL mindshare on X as he defends Ethereum’s roadmap

Vitalik Buterin claimed the highest share of “KOL mindshare” on Crypto X this past week, emerging as a dominant voice amid rising criticism at the Ethereum network and its foundation.

Known for his technical insights and open communication style, Buterin has taken to X to outline Ethereum’s vision while responding to critics who question the Ethereum Foundation’s strategy and its impact on the blockchain’s growth trajectory.

He has provided insights into the ongoing ecosystem developments for a while. In addition, he emphasized the strategic focus on enhancing the network’s robustness and interoperability.

Buterin defends the Ethereum Foundation’s strategy against mounting criticism

Data from Kaito AI, cited by Andy, host of the crypto show The Rollup, revealed that Buterin was in “wartime mode,” achieving a top KOL mindshare of 1.69%, with Helius Labs CEO Mert Mumtaz trailing at 1.18%.

In response to criticism of the Ethereum Foundation’s routine Ether (ETH) sales, Buterin took to X to explain that these sales sustain Ethereum’s developer and researcher environment, as well as the network’s proof-of-stake mechanism. 

He emphasized that this enables Ethereum to provide transaction finality in less than 30 seconds with low costs, powerful zero-knowledge proof privacy features, and stable uptime since 2016, imploring detractors to “show some respect.”

When asked why the Ethereum Foundation doesn’t stake all of its Ether and use the revenue to cover costs instead of selling, Buterin explained that they want to avoid being forced to make an “official choice” in the event of a contentious hard fork. However, he noted that the Ethereum Foundation is exploring other methods to engage with staking, such as issuing grants in staked Ether, allowing grant recipients to control withdrawal timelines and keep the rewards. Additionally, he suggested handing up the Ethereum Foundation’s staking obligations to other companies.

Buterin amplifies his voice on X, highlighting Ethereum’s technological roadmap

Buterin has recently become more vocal about X, as Ethereum FUD continues to spread. The conversation around Ether’s performance also touched on its comparative analysis with Bitcoin and Solana. Compared to the two coins, the network’s poor price performance has led to a negative attitude. This is due to Ether’s layer 2 scaling plan and the resulting lower base layer revenues.

Moreover, another tweet refuted the idea that Ethereum’s utility is declining, stating that the network has achieved hundreds of billions in total value locked (TVL) since it went live.

Buterin has recently pushed Ethereum’s technological roadmap, providing his observations and ideas on how the “Merge,” “Surge,” “Scourge,” Verge,” and “Purge” phases could affect Ethereum’s future.

After encountering resistance around the 200-day EMA at $2,778 on October 21 and plunging 11.87% over the following five days, the price of Ethereum finds support at the ascending trendline (derived from connecting successive low levels with a trendline since early September). It is trading little lower at about $2,490 as of Monday.