Ethereum’s historic blindspot was over-embracing the "unicorns and rainbows" philosophy to the point that under the guise of credible neutrality, it became taboo for anyone on the L1 side to admit a basic truth:
Not all L2s are created equal.
At peak, we had dozens of competing L2s with wildly different tech, GTM strategies, and ecosystems. Yet too many felt that neutrality meant we had to treat them all as equal.
That’s a mistake. I can count on one hand the L2s that have driven actual, positive value for Ethereum. Arbitrum is at the top of that list, and we should not shy away from recognizing that.
Arbitrum is a core part of the Ethereum story and has contributed massively to its success both by setting the bar for scaling securely, and through our willingness to go to battle to attract the most important builders, protocols, and enterprises. A strong Arbitrum ensures a strong Ethereum, and if you love Ethereum, you should embrace that.
I hate it when people outside our ecosystem fail to properly recognize Ethereum, and I equally hate it when people inside the Ethereum ecosystem fail to recognize Arbitrum.
Give credit where credit is due.
Say Ethereum.
Say Arbitrum.