For years, the crypto industry chased the idea of a single "perfect" blockchain that could be fast, cheap, secure, and decentralized at the same time.

I think that search is effectively over. Trying to do everything on one layer looks like a structural dead end. The solution is not a "better" blockchain. The solution is a stack.

More specifically, the architecture that actually solves the problems the space set out to solve over a decade ago breaks down into three layers: Ethereum (Security), Base (Scalability), and Stablecoins (Accessibility).

The Base Layer: Ethereum

In this stack, Ethereum's job is not speed. Its job is incorruptibility. Scaling efforts like zkL1 are welcome, but scalable execution is not the primary responsibility of this layer.

Ethereum's primary role is long-term security and settlement. It requires massive redundancy so that no government, corporation, or coordinated actor can reverse transactions or alter history.

Old Way (Traditional Banking): Security depends on trusting a centralized institution not to freeze funds or fail.
New Way (Ethereum): Security is cryptographic and enforced by a highly decentralized validator set.

You cannot build a neutral financial system on a centralized database. You need a neutral settlement layer. In my view, Ethereum best provides that.

The Execution Layer: Base (and L2s)

Base and other L2 blockchains handle transaction execution off Ethereum while inheriting its security. This is how scalability is achieved without centralizing the settlement layer.

Base provides fast, short-term consensus suitable for everyday use. The experience can feel like Web2, but the settlement remains Web3.

Old Way (Monolithic Chains): Congestion leads to $50 fees and unusable throughput, or scalability requires industrial hardware.
New Way (L2s): Transactions cost cents, finalize quickly, and scale because the final settlement happens on Ethereum. Ethereum itself remains verifiable on consumer hardware.

This architecture scales without concentrating control of consensus.

The Application Layer: Stablecoins

Technology defines the method. Assets define the value.

Most economic activity is denominated in fiat. Broad adoption requires digital dollars that move at internet speed.

Stablecoins provide liquidity and a bridge between legacy finance and crypto systems.

Old Way (Wire Transfers): Multi-day delays, high fees, limited hours.
New Way (Stablecoins on L2s): Global transfers in minutes or seconds, 24/7, at negligible cost.

Conclusion

The Ethereum + L2 + Stablecoin model stops forcing one system to do three incompatible jobs.

1. Ethereum provides security and settlement.
2. Base / L2s provide speed and throughput.
3. Stablecoins provide usable units of value.

The "Ethereum killer" narrative weakens because nothing else is competing for the same role. Most alternatives are competing for execution, not settlement.

I see this less as a theory and more as an observation on what is already happening.