Solana Labs CEO says network must keep evolving or 'it will die'

Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko said Solana must be a constantly evolving network that continually updates to meet users' needs, adding that "if it ever stops changing to fit the needs of its devs and users, it will die," in a post to X on Saturday. Yakovenko's remarks were made in response to a post from Ethereum co‑founder Vitalik Buterin, who described a goal for Ethereum to pass the "walkaway test" — becoming self‑sustainable without developer influence for decades to come.

The two blockchains are portrayed as taking different paths: Ethereum is described as the most decentralized smart contract layer‑1 that dominates stablecoin and real‑world asset tokenization, while Solana is described as a speedier network more popular for consumer apps that earns more fees.

Buterin favors maximizing decentralization, privacy and self‑sovereignty even at the cost of mainstream adoption, while Yakovenko supports an evolving ecosystem that introduces new features to adapt to real‑world needs. Supporters of Buterin's approach argue that adding many features raises risks of bugs, security flaws and unintended protocol consequences and can expand centralization risks.

Those aligned with Yakovenko's position contend that a hands‑off approach can slow innovation and risk being overtaken by faster competitors.

Key Topics

Crypto, Solana, Anatoly Yakovenko, Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum, Ai Assisted Development