Ethereum Is The Linux Of Blockchain, Says Co-founder Vitalik Buterin (2026)
The Ethereum co-founder made the case that Ethereum occupies a role similar to the Linux operating system, but for shifting value and risk on the internet.
The Ethereum network, a decentralized layer-1 blockchain that executes smart contracts, is analogous to the open-source operating system Linux, according to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
Linux and Ethereum are both open source and feature custom-tailored implementations. Linux achieves this through developers building custom modifications of software, while Ethereum does it through its layer-2 (L2) scaling networks, Buterin said.
Linux has provided value to “billions” of individuals, enterprises and state governments “without compromising” on its open source ethos or decentralization, Buterin said, adding:
The analogy highlights the Ethereum Foundation's long-term goals of making Ethereum an operating system for the Internet that allows for distributed computation, transferring value and risk and reaching consensus on on the Internet.
Related: Ethereum and Solana clash over what blockchain resilience really means
There are 127 layer-2 networks within the Ethereum ecosystem at the time of this writing, according to L2Beat.
Critics of Ethereum’s layer-2 scaling approach say that there are too many layer-2 networks, competing with Ethereum and cannibalizing the base layer’s revenue, which plummeted following the Dencun upgrade in March 2024.
Proponents of Ethereum’s scaling approach say that the diverse ecosystem of layer-2 networks gives Ethereum users optionality and a better user experience.The modular scaling strategy potentially allows Ethereum to have many high-throughput chains built on top of the base layer, Anurag Arjun, co-founder of Ethereum L2 Polygon, told Cointelegraph.
"The under-appreciated beauty of this rollup-centric roadmap architecture is that it allows multiple teams to experiment with different execution environments and different block times," Arjun said.
Source: CoinTelegraph
