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The blockchain network Solana, often dubbed the “Ethereum killer,” poses no real threat to Ethereum and isn’t even its direct competitor, according to Ethereum developer Justin Drake. He shared his perspective in an interview with CoinDesk.

Drake explained that Ethereum’s Layer 1 (L1) isn’t designed to compete on transaction throughput or speed. These optimizations are the domain of Layer 2 (L2) solutions, which enhance Ethereum’s efficiency and scalability.

“I believe L1 competes with Bitcoin, while L2 competes with Solana. Competing with Solana isn’t within the scope of L1. [Ethereum] should compete on security and reliability,” he said.

Drake highlighted that the recent Beam Chain upgrade focuses on improving long-term consensus resilience. In contrast, Solana prioritizes performance, often at the expense of system reliability.

“Solana doesn’t care about health. The only thing they focus on is performance. They’re all about reducing latency and increasing throughput,” Drake added.

Solana’s Growth: Peak or Decline?

November was a milestone month for Solana. Decentralized exchanges within its ecosystem recorded over $109 billion in monthly trading volume, while its native token, SOL, reached an all-time high amid excitement over a potential ETF launch.

Despite these achievements, Drake believes Solana’s growth is nearing its limits.

“Solana is currently at its peak, but I think its golden era is coming to an end. Its competitive advantages in speed and throughput could be eroded due to architectural limitations that hinder further scalability,” he noted.

Drake emphasized the importance of continued optimization for Ethereum’s L1. The network has already introduced features like pre-confirmation mechanisms and BLOB objects, with the Beam Chain upgrade set to bring additional improvements.

Still, he argued that security should remain the top priority for L1 blockchains, while L2 systems handle scalability and other enhancements.

“What we need is a hyper-secure, incredibly neutral L1, and then a rich, dynamic L2 ecosystem built on top,” Drake concluded.

At the Devcon 2024 conference in November, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin also discussed the network’s future improvements and the critical role of L2 solutions.