A panel discussion titled 'Unified Ethereum' vs 'L2 Ecosystem Competition' took place during Devcon Southeast Asia 2024, held in Bangkok from November 12 to 15.

Key panelists included prominent figures such as Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, Ben Jones from Optimism, Hart Lambur of Risk Labs, Steven Goldfeder from Offchain Labs, and Jesse Pollak from Coinbase.

During the discussion, Steven Goldfeder emphasized that competition from Solana and other projects fosters innovation within the Ethereum ecosystem, ultimately benefiting solutions like Arbitrum and Optimism.

The panel explored the complex relationship between Ethereum and Solana, highlighting the 'frenemy' dynamic among competing layer two ecosystems and the risk of user experience fragmentation.

Vitalik Buterin pointed out that competition for Ethereum extends beyond other blockchains, as traditional financial systems and emerging technologies like AI present significant challenges.

Goldfeder also highlighted the necessity of evolving strategies to maintain cost-effectiveness compared to Bitcoin while adapting to the shifting landscape of decentralization and privacy.

Hart Lambur remarked that while Solana's approach offers valuable lessons for Ethereum, the latter's rollup-centric roadmap is better positioned for scalability.

Jesse Pollak reinforced the importance of collaboration in building a global on-chain economy, while also acknowledging the role of competition in driving progress.

Recent Google Trends data revealed that Solana has been searched more frequently than Ethereum in the Philippines between September 21 and October 21, 2024.