Ethereum Protocol Design Under Fire: Devs Don't Use Their Own Product

What we know

The thread was ignited by an @pcaversaccio post arguing: 'the foundational problem with Ethereum protocol design is that most of the people designing the protocol don't actually use Ethereum themselves.' @toly quoted it approvingly, framing the ideal optimization targets as products with AUM and retail volume — naming Phantom, Pump.fun, Jupiter, Kamino — rather than validators, devs, or core engineers. Separately, an account on X of Aave/MakerDAO called pcaversaccio 'the best hire ever at the EF' and said his comments had 'needed to be said and heard for a decade.' The debate highlights growing tension between protocol developers and application-layer builders across the Ethereum ecosystem.