Ethereum’s New Role: From World Computer to World Ledger

On June 20th, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin retweeted a post from ConsenSys founder Joseph Lubin, declaring that “Ethereum L1 is the world ledger.”

This marked a rare public comment from Vitalik on Ethereum’s broader narrative, sparking renewed discussion within the crypto community.

In the blockchain world, each chain typically has a core narrative or purpose, which often shapes its technical architecture and ecosystem.

Since its inception, Ethereum has been guided by the vision of becoming a “world computer” — an open platform capable of running any smart contract and supporting diverse Web3 applications. Vitalik has repeatedly emphasized that Ethereum is not merely a payment network, but a general-purpose decentralized computing layer.

So, what narrative shift has brought Ethereum from a world computer to a world ledger?

Ethereum: The Original Vision of a World Computer

It’s not just Ethereum that has seen a shift in its narrative. Bitcoin, which was originally envisioned as “electronic cash,” has gradually moved away from its payment use case and embraced the role of “digital gold” — a store of value — as it matured alongside market developments.

This shift is ultimately a pragmatic one. As one of the first crypto assets to gain mainstream recognition, BTC has been adopted by major financial institutions and now appears on their balance sheets as a key component of traditional finance portfolios.

Similarly, Ethereum’s core vision has not radically changed, but its trajectory has been one of constant evolution. Since 2016, Ethereum has led the way as the premier smart contract platform, enabling a wide variety of on-chain use cases. From ERC-20 tokens and DeFi to NFTs and blockchain games, each wave of innovation has reinforced the value of on-chain computation.

Smart contracts have always been central to Ethereum’s identity. Vitalik Buterin has consistently emphasized that Ethereum is a decentralized application platform, meant to host native Web3 logic — not merely to facilitate token transfers. Still, real-world limitations have emerged.

Chief among them: Ethereum’s earlier performance bottlenecks — high gas fees and low throughput — which hindered the implementation of more complex DApps. To address these issues, rollup began gaining traction in 2020. Over the past five years, Ethereum has progressively developed a robust “L1 + L2” layered architecture.

And within this structure — particularly over the past two years — Ethereum is increasingly showing signs of evolving into a trusted and stable world ledger.

Narrative Restructuring

To sum up Ethereum’s architectural shift in a single sentence: The Ethereum mainnet is responsible for security and settlement, while Layer 2 handles high-frequency interactions.

In simple terms, a clear division of responsibilities has emerged within the Ethereum ecosystem. The mainnet serves as the secure base layer for data availability and final settlement, while L2s — such as Base, Arbitrum, and Optimism — handle the bulk of high-frequency transactions and user interactions.

This layered model not only improves scalability but also reinforces Ethereum’s value-capture logic. The more active and numerous the L2s become, the more they rely on Ethereum L1 as the unified settlement layer — effectively turning it into a global, decentralized ledger.

After all, every L2 ultimately depends on Ethereum for trust and finality — functioning much like a “central bank” for the broader ecosystem.

As Web3 researcher Haotian has noted, EIP-1559 marked a major turning point in Ethereum’s narrative. It introduced the base fee and burning mechanism, but more fundamentally, it redefined how Ethereum captures value. Instead of relying on transaction fees from mainnet activity alone, Ethereum now collects “settlement tax” via its L2 ecosystem.

Put another way, users are no longer direct customers of the mainnet. Instead, they interact with L2s — intermediaries that provide services, charge fees, and then remit a portion of those fees to L1 in exchange for settlement rights. This is conceptually similar to the historical tax farming model:

• Ethereum L1 acts as the trusted settlement layer — akin to a central bank.
• L2s function like commercial banks — serving users and processing transactions.
• Every verified L2 transaction burns ETH, effectively paying for Ethereum’s security.

In this sense, Ethereum hasn’t abandoned its original “world computer” vision. But under the L1+L2 paradigm, it’s first evolving into a world ledger — a foundational layer that powers a scalable, modular Web3 economy.

World Ledger: Pragmatic Realization

One striking observation is that every major surge in ETH’s value has come when Ethereum’s mainnet has been put to work — specifically, as a ledger.

In 2017, it served as the settlement layer for the ERC-20 token boom. During DeFi Summer in 2020, it powered complex smart contract-based fund settlements. And now, as tokenized U.S. stocks and RWAs (Real World Assets) begin to move on-chain, Ethereum once again stands ready — as the trusted settlement layer.

For TradFi institutions, computing power is useful — but what truly drives adoption is the ledger’s ability to provide trust, finality, and security. These are the critical anchors for onboarding compliant, real-world assets.

This explains why platforms like Robinhood are choosing to launch tokenized stock trading services on L2s like Arbitrum. It’s not just a nod to the performance advantages of rollups — it’s a recognition that these trades ultimately settle on Ethereum L1, where trust is established.

In fact, the current wave of “U.S. stocks on-chain” underscores an important point: today’s L2s are performant, secure, and compliant enough to support core financial transactions. In doing so, they strengthen Ethereum’s role as a global settlement layer for tokenized finance — bringing its world ledger vision ever closer to reality.

This is not a departure from the world computer ideal, but rather a pragmatic evolution. Ethereum is no longer just promising future on-chain application landscapes — it’s being actively chosen by traditional institutions as the final destination for settlement.

Seen in this light, these trends validate the foundational value of Ethereum L1, while also reshaping the value-capture logic of L2s. The result? A more integrated Ethereum ecosystem that bridges cutting-edge technology with real-world financial infrastructure.

In short, what will truly bring Ethereum to billions of users isn’t just what it can do — but what the real world is choosing to use it for.