Vitalik calling the breath() and smile() functions
The world computer — the globally decentralized, un-ownable, digital computer for executing peer-to-peer contracts colloquially known as Ethereum — is stronger than ever.
L2s have made the Ethereum ecosystem accessible and the price of $ETH has reclaimed $4k, both of which suggest a healthy state of affairs. But holistically evaluating the state of the world computer requires the assessment of technical progress, usage trends, community involvement, and the macro environment.
A couple dozen metrics across each of those categories illuminate important trends, and I’ve collected them into an Ethereum Health Tracker that I plan to update once a quarter. A future iteration might be live and dynamic with some historical data to contextualize the present.
The tracker links directly to each cited data source, most of which come from somewhere with better data and UX than my tracker. These source pages are incredibly helpful in understanding various metrics within the ecosystem, and my goal with this tracker is as much to evaluate the state of Ethereum as it is to showcase these super helpful sites.
The metrics fit roughly into four categories, which I list below along with the best and worst aspect of the current state of each. Enjoy!
👍 L2s are going hard. It’s cheaper and easier to engage in the Ethereum ecosystem now than ever before.
👎 Ethereum fights a three front war. It’s currently behind in all three: consensus, execution, and data availability.