Placeholder Partners: Ethereum is to Solana what Android is to iOS
This is a game of choices, not a game of winning or losing.Original Author: Joel Monegro, Partner at Placeholder
Compiled by: Luffy, Foresight News
Ethereum is to Solana what Android is to iOS.
Android values modularity: it can run on a variety of devices produced by hundreds of manufacturers worldwide; devices made by Google account for only 1-2% of that. This makes Android the most popular mobile operating system in the world, capturing about 60-75% of the market share. The flexibility of Android is a boon for hardware companies producing smartphones, TVs, and other products, as they can bring new products to market without investing billions of dollars to build an operating system. However, this diversity also makes it more challenging for developers to create applications that run seamlessly across devices with different specifications, screen sizes, and various versions of Android.
In contrast, all iOS devices are produced by Apple, allowing it to provide a more integrated and consistent experience for users and developers. There’s no need to optimize across different devices, and the time saved can be used to deliver better applications that users are willing to pay extra for, making it common for companies to launch applications first on iOS. Although Apple holds only about one-third of the market share, it excels at capturing ecosystem value, accounting for around 60% of all mobile spending (plus all hardware revenue).
This is not a perfect analogy, but it is a useful one. Ethereum is similar to Android; it is rapidly becoming a platform for third-party networks rather than a destination for most end users and developers. The ecosystem of L2 networks leveraging the Ethereum mainnet for security and using the EVM as an operating system is growing quickly, processing about 5-6 times the transaction volume of the Ethereum mainnet, and this number is expected to expand rapidly to 100 times or more. These third-party networks are akin to different Android OEMs: many offer slightly differentiated competing services, while others focus on specific markets or use cases. As more tools make launching L2s easier, we can foresee the "impact range" of Ethereum continually expanding, encompassing hundreds of networks that process transactions far exceeding those of the Ethereum mainnet.
The EVM is poised to remain the most popular blockchain operating system, running on thousands of different networks and rollups across markets, domains, and use cases. Even if the mainnet only captures a portion of its total value, Ethereum will benefit immensely from this ever-expanding ecosystem. However, this diversity brings many of the same challenges as Google’s Android. For example, different EVM networks may run slightly different versions of the operating system, meaning Ethereum smart contracts cannot be guaranteed to run seamlessly across all these networks by default, requiring developers to spend extra time adjusting, testing, and maintaining for different environments. For the average user, the Ethereum user experience may also become fragmented: an application on one network may not be available on another, wallets may not support all networks simultaneously, and switching between them can be confusing or even risky for the average user. Over time, these user experience issues will gradually improve, just as Android has become smoother and more secure as it has evolved. Nevertheless, developers still face the burden of investing more time to address these issues.
On the other hand, Solana is akin to iOS, tightly integrating components in the name of throughput and performance. Additionally, Solana employs different consensus mechanisms and design principles. Ultimately, it is faster and cheaper as a single, unified network compared to 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, or cross-chain deployment, and users need not be overly concerned about slow transactions, switching between networks, or inconsistent wallet support.
Of course, this is a superficial analogy, and many details are not addressed. However, it is essential to understand that this is a game of choices, not a game of winners and losers. Who is absolutely and objectively "better" is not important; what matters is that this debate will never end. Some will value the flexibility of modularity; others will prioritize the speed and simplicity of a more integrated platform. What is important is that options exist, allowing you to choose the one that suits you best. The success of the industry requires several competitive platforms with different trade-offs to maximize the choices available to developers and users; today, Ethereum and Solana embody this spirit, becoming the two most promising smart contract networks in the market.
Understanding where we are in the financial and technological cycles is crucial for investors. Bear markets are the best time to investigate the market and become new winners during significant corrections. Maximalism may lead you to support only Ethereum, Bitcoin, or any network they favor while dismissing everything else, but this is more emotional than logical. In fact, there was a time when Bitcoin was the only legitimate digital asset; there was also a time when, despite alternatives emerging, Ethereum (like IBM in its heyday) was the only real game in town.
