Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has issued a powerful call to action, urging the blockchain network to recommit to its foundational promise as a neutral "world computer" rather than succumbing to fleeting speculative trends. Buterin's reflections highlight a pivotal moment for Ethereum, asserting that the network has finally overcome the long-standing "scalability trilemma" and is poised to usher in a new era of truly decentralized digital infrastructure.
The Trilemma Conquered
For over a decade, blockchain development was constrained by the scalability trilemma, which posited that a decentralized network could achieve only two of three properties: decentralization, security, and speed. Buterin now declares this era effectively over, not just in theory but in "live running code." He points to major technical advancements scheduled for 2025, specifically the mainnet activation of PeerDAS (data availability sampling) and the maturation of Zero-Knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machines (ZK-EVMs). This integration, he explains, merges the high bandwidth and decentralization of early peer-to-peer networks like BitTorrent with the decentralized consensus of Bitcoin, enabling Ethereum to simultaneously achieve all three properties. This breakthrough means the network can process more activity, reduce bottlenecks, and empower more individuals to run the software that maintains Ethereum, all without compromising its decentralized core.
A Rebellion Against Centralization
Beyond the technical marvels, Buterin's message carries a profound ideological weight: Ethereum is positioned as a direct counter-force to the centralized, subscription-based internet. He frames the improved Ethereum as a "rebellion" against a digital landscape where users are increasingly locked into platforms dependent on third-party intermediaries. Central to this vision is the "walkaway test," which asks if an application can continue functioning without fraud, censorship, or third-party control even if its original developers vanish. Buterin stresses that for Ethereum to fulfill its promise, both the core protocol and the applications built upon it must achieve global usability and genuine decentralization, moving beyond reliance on centralized services.
Charting the Future: 2025 and Beyond
Buterin outlined a multi-year roadmap detailing how these innovations will unfold. By 2026, the network is set to implement significant gas limit increases, and users will have their first opportunities to run ZK-EVM nodes. The period between 2026 and 2028 will see further gas repricings and structural changes, including moving execution payloads into "blobs" for increased efficiency. Looking to 2027-2030, Buterin forecasts even larger gas limit increases as ZK-EVMs become the primary method for block validation, fundamentally transforming how Ethereum processes transactions. This journey culminates in a "fundamentally new and more powerful kind of decentralized network," with a long-term "holy grail" vision of distributed block building to ensure transactions are never centrally assembled, thereby enhancing fairness and reducing interference. The core question now, Buterin asserts, is whether the community will leverage this newfound power to build a truly decentralized "world computer" that passes the walkaway test, or merely continue chasing speculative market cycles.
