Pudgy Penguins migrate to Solana, why are more and more projects choosing to leave Ethereum?

Author: f(gautham)

Compiled by: Deep Tide TechFlow

Pudgy Penguins launched the $PENGU token on Solana, not just because of the "user experience (UX) issues with Ethereum (ETH)."

This actually reveals deeper structural problems within ETH culture.

As a developer building on Layer 2 (L2), I want to share why this is so important…

The problems in the ETH ecosystem stem from its internal self-destruction:

• Developers from the Ethereum Foundation (EF) gradually transitioned to "advisors," moving away from actual development work.

• The EF itself sells tokens on centralized exchanges (CEX), ignoring the decentralized ethos of DeFi.

• Vitalik once described DeFi as "ouroboros," implying its self-circularity yet lack of innovation.

• As a result, retail investors gradually left the ETH ecosystem.

And next, developers also began to leave this ecosystem.

Here is an important point from @CryptoGarga (founder of BAYC):

Launching projects on Solana: You will be welcomed and supported by ecosystem leaders.

Launching projects on ETH: You might be attacked by podcast hosts who have spent years accusing NFTs of being securities while profiting from "alignment" allocations.

(Though, to be fair, Bankless's attitude is somewhat milder.)

The claim that "ETH has user experience issues" is merely an excuse to cover up the problems.

Think about it, you may have experienced:

• Paying $500 for a failed NFT mint.

• Paying $1000 in gas fees for an ENS name.

• Having to navigate across 5 chains for an airdrop.

Yet you still use daily:

• Gnosis Safe: Despite its extremely complex user interface.

• Curve: The interface design seems stuck in 1995.

• Pendle: Requires expertise to get started.

We continue to use these tools because they do provide real value.

The real reason Pudgy Penguins chose Solana is:

In the ETH ecosystem:

• Only insiders can reap the benefits.

• It is filled with the formalism of "alignment" performances.

• Retail investors are more like tools for exit liquidity.

• The annual Devcon conference focuses more on infrastructure rather than product innovation.

In the Solana ecosystem:

• It attracts a large influx of new retail user groups.

• The official chain actively supports the launch of new projects.

• The Breakpoint conference focuses on product showcases and exchanges.

• It provides real developer support to help projects grow.

At @polynomialfi, we chose to build a Layer 2 on ETH because we believe in the potential of the ETH ecosystem.

However, if this ecosystem continues to:

• Maintain a high-threshold "gatekeeping" culture that excludes newcomers.

• Allow insiders to be the primary beneficiaries.

• Frustrate the enthusiasm and hopes of retail participation.

• Attack and ostracize developers.

Then, this potential will be meaningless.

Let's take a look at the differences between the ETH and Solana ecosystems:

ETH: Discussing "Is your infrastructure sufficiently decentralized?"

Solana: More about sharing updates on new product launches on social media.

One ecosystem talks about how to build, while the other actually supports developers and product implementation.

Next time someone says "one ecosystem lost to another because of user experience (UX) issues," try asking them a few questions:

• Who received token allocations before the project launched?

• Where did these tokens ultimately get sold?

• Is there still an opportunity for retail investors to profit in this ecosystem?

• Do developers feel welcomed and supported?