Placeholder Partner: If Ethereum is Android, then Solana is iOS

Joel Monegro is a partner at Placeholder

Compiled by Luffy, Foresight News

Ethereum is compared to Solana what Android is to iOS.

Android values modularity: it can run on many different types of devices from hundreds of manufacturers around the world; Google produces only 1-2% of these devices. This makes Android the most popular mobile operating system in the world, with approximately 60-75% of the market share. Android's flexibility is a boon for hardware companies that make products like smartphones, TVs, and more, as they can bring new products to market without having to invest billions of dollars to build operating systems. However, this diversity also makes it more difficult to develop apps that run seamlessly on devices with different specifications, screen sizes, and various Android versions.

In contrast, all iOS devices are manufactured by Apple, so it can provide a more integrated and consistent experience for users and developers. Instead of optimizing across different devices, the time saved can be used to deliver better apps that users are willing to pay extra, so it's not uncommon for companies to publish apps on iOS first. While Apple only has about a third of the market, it does a better job of capturing ecosystem value, accounting for about 60% of all mobile spending (plus all hardware revenue).

This is not an original analogy, but it is a useful one. Ethereum is similar to Android, and it is quickly becoming the platform for third-party networks, rather than the home of most end users and developers. The L2 network ecosystem that uses the Ethereum mainnet for security and utilizes EVM as an operating system is growing rapidly, processing about 5-6 times more transactions than the Ethereum mainnet, and this number is expected to quickly expand to 100x or more. These third-party networks are like different Android OEMs: many offer directly competing services that differ little, while others focus on specific markets or use cases. As more and more tools make it easier to launch L2, we can foresee Ethereum's "reach" expanding to cover hundreds of networks and process transactions well beyond the Ethereum mainnet.

EVM is expected to continue to be the most popular blockchain operating system, running on thousands of different networks and rollups across markets, domains, use cases. Even if the mainnet only accounts for a portion of its total value, Ethereum will benefit greatly from this expanding ecosystem. However, this diversity presents many of the same challenges as Google's Android. For example, different EVM networks can run slightly different operating system versions, so Ethereum smart contracts are not guaranteed to work seamlessly on all of these networks by default, and developers must spend extra time tuning, testing, and maintaining for different environments. For the average user, Ethereum's user experience can also become fragmented: applications on one network may not work on another, wallets cannot support all networks at the same time, and switching between them can be confusing or even dangerous for the average user. Over time, these user experience issues will gradually improve, just as Android has become smoother and more secure as it evolves. Still, developers face the burden of investing more time to address these issues.

Solana, on the other hand, is similar to iOS in that it tightly integrates components in the name of throughput and performance. In addition, Solana employs different consensus mechanisms and design principles. Ultimately, it is faster and cheaper as a single, unified network than Ethereum and many other EVM networks. Developers can focus on delivering better applications for a single high-performance platform without worrying about transaction speed, gas cost optimization, and cross-chain deployment, and users don't have to worry too much about slow transactions, switching between networks or cross-chain, inconsistent wallet support, etc.

Of course, this is a superficial analogy, and many details are not covered. But it is necessary to understand that this is a game of choice, not a game of winners and losers. It doesn't matter who is absolutely and objectively "better"; It is important that this debate never ends. Some will value the flexibility of the modular concept; Others will value the speed and simplicity of a more integrated platform. The important thing is that options exist and you can choose the one that works best for you. Success in the industry requires a number of competitive platforms with different trade-offs to maximize developer and user choices; Today, Ethereum and Solana embody this spirit, becoming two of the most promising smart contract networks on the market.

Understanding where we stand in the financial and technology cycle is critical for investors. A bear market is the perfect time to survey the market and become a new winner during a major consolidation. Maximalism will make you support only Ethereum, Bitcoin, or whatever network they like and give up everything else, but that's more emotional than logical. In fact, there was a time when Bitcoin was the only legal digital asset; There was also a time when, despite the emergence of alternatives, Ethereum (like IBM in its heyday) was the only real game.