Ethereum 'killer' label is lame, says Solana Labs co-founder

One of the founding minds behind Solana Labs has expressed his disagreement with the phrase labeling the Solana network as an “Ethereum killer.”

In a Dec. 2 post on X, Anatoly Yakovenko said he doesn’t envision a scenario where Solana (SOL) flourishes at the expense of Ethereum’s (ETH) demise.

Don’t bring back last cycle “eth killer” bs. It’s lame. Pareto efficient technologies can have overlapping features and will compete, but that’s all ok. I don’t see a future where solana thrives and somehow eth dies. I am such a techno optimist that I am certain that…

— toly (@aeyakovenko) December 2, 2023

Since its official introduction in 2020, Solana’s inherent attributes have led many to hail it as an Ethereum killer, a moniker also attributed to renowned blockchains like Cardano (ADA), Tezos (XTZ), Avalanche (AVAX), and Polygon (MATIC).

Yakovenko, however, labels the term “Ethereum killer” as “lame”, arguing that despite the similarities between Solana and Ethereum, the latter won’t be eclipsed by the former.

Yakovenko expressed concern over the growing tension, which he likened to a “cold war,” between Ethereum and other blockchain protocols, including Solana. He argued that such hostile narratives hinder the overall growth of the shared digital ecosystem.

The Solana co-founder views the connection between his blockchain and Ethereum as a path to shared growth and advancement.

Although blockchain technologies like SOL and ETH, with their similar features, may appear to be in direct competition, Yakovenko insists that one’s success does not necessitate the other’s failure. He reinforced his stance with the concept of Pareto efficiency, explaining that technologies can share features and compete without causing harm.

He also spoke enthusiastically about the advancements in blockchain technology, notably danksharding, an Ethereum scaling solution aimed at increasing transactional capacity by providing more storage for roll-up transactions.

He sees a future where such technology could accommodate all of Solana’s data, further reinforcing his belief in technological coexistence.

At one point, the Solana network, developed to provide smart contract functionalities akin to the Ethereum network, outperformed the Ethereum mainnet in terms of speed and power efficiency, courtesy of its proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus system.

At that time, Ethereum utilized the more power-hungry proof-of-work (PoW) consensus method and could only process approximately 30 transactions per second, a fraction of Solana’s more impressive 50,000 to 65,000 transactions per second.