I would rather Ethereum die than see it become something that sacrifices its values.
Proof of stake is not just a consensus mechanism. It is a way of reducing the environmental cost of a blockchain to near zero.
Bitcoin is great as a form of digital money, but its scripting language is too weak for anything else. That is why I created Ethereum.
The Ethereum protocol was not originally designed as a currency. It was designed as a general-purpose blockchain.
CryptoKitties crashed the Ethereum network in 2017. That was simultaneously our greatest marketing moment and the moment we realized we needed to build our own blockchain.
We built Polygon because Ethereum was too expensive for regular people. A farmer in India shouldn't have to pay $50 in gas fees to make a $10 transaction. That's broken.
I co-founded Ethereum because I believed the world needed a decentralized computer. I founded ConsenSys because that computer needed tools, wallets, and infrastructure before anyone could actually use it.
Liquid staking is not optional for Ethereum. It is infrastructure. Without it most ETH holders cannot participate in securing the network.
I was one of the co-founders of Ethereum. And then I wasn't. Sometimes the best things come from the worst days.
I wrote the Yellow Paper because Vitalik had the vision but someone needed to write the spec.
This is why we say that Ethereum's complexity may be a curse.