The Ethereum 
$2,374 community has received an important warning highlighting concerns about its future. Jacob Franek, co-founder of Alliance, emphasized that Ethereum’s current investment strategy is not producing effective results. He contended that the community’s excessive focus on hackathons and neglect of user experience is undermining Ethereum’s competitiveness. Noting that the younger generation values speed, simplicity, and opportunity-driven approaches, Franek stressed that Ethereum needs structural changes to encourage new initiatives.
Hackathon Culture Under Scrutiny
Franek criticized the Ethereum community for its excessive orientation towards hackathons, which rarely yield strong products. He argued that even with substantial monetary prizes, these events are insufficient for generating globally impactful projects. Drawing a parallel with the artificial intelligence sector, where major products did not emerge from hackathons, Franek pointed out the unrealistically high expectations in the Ethereum ecosystem.
Despite Ethereum’s significant budget allocations for developer events, Franek highlighted that these strategies fail to attract young and talented entrepreneurs. He voiced strong criticism by saying, “The cryptocurrency world has an excessive hackathon culture; no other sector holds this many hackathons.” He emphasized the need to redirect these resources towards accelerator programs and early-stage investment funds.
“Young Developers Might Shift Focus”
According to Franek, one of the biggest risks is young developers shifting their attention to sectors like artificial intelligence instead of Ethereum. He noted that Ethereum risks losing potential entrepreneurs by focusing solely on research without engaging in application and growth-oriented ventures. In Franek’s view, failing to attract young talent could lead to the platform’s decline, as emphasized by his remark, “If you can’t attract young talent, you will vanish.”
Franek also pointed out significant issues in Ethereum’s technical infrastructure. Shortcomings in Layer 1 scalability and interoperability of applications on Layer 2 have adversely affected user experience. He remarked that the vast majority of users opt for the simplest application, emphasizing, “99 out of 99 users choose the application with the least friction.” Therefore, Ethereum must develop more user-friendly solutions, particularly considering that younger users have a shorter attention span and require a nearly seamless onboarding process.
