Vitalik Buterin says Ethereum has crossed a line many thought was unreachable, and the long-standing blockchain trilemma is no longer just a theory of promise. According to him, it is now working in real conditions on Ethereum’s mainnet.
The change comes from live implementations, not lab ideas, as PeerDAS has increased data availability without hurting decentralization. At the same time, zkEVMs are running alongside the network, improving throughput while keeping security intact.
Together, these upgrades allow Ethereum to handle more activity, keeping consensus strong, and remain open and decentralized. For Buterin, this marks a practical turning point for blockchain design.
December 25 marked a turning point for Ethereum as the Fusaka upgrade went live. One of its key changes was the launch of PeerDAS on the mainnet. Because of this setup, the validators no longer need to handle the full datasets. They can confirm availability by checking small samples instead. That cuts down network strain and keeps validation accessible.
By easing the workload without limiting who can participate, Ethereum gains room to grow while preserving its decentralized foundation.
Zero-knowledge EVM technology has reached a stage where it is ready for real-world use and proof generation, which previously took around sixteen minutes, now finishes in roughly sixteen seconds.
Costs have also dropped at an impressive pace as verification is about 45 times cheaper than before, removing a major barrier. These gains allow transactions to be confirmed faster and at lower expense, helping Ethereum handle activity more smoothly without placing extra strain on the network.
From Speed to Safety: Ethereum’s Next Phase
Buterin also says that speed and efficiency are no longer the main concern. The focus has now turned firmly toward making the network safer. The Ethereum Foundation has outlined a specific objective: achieving 128-bit provable security. This target comes with a deadline set for December 2026.
Setting a clear security benchmark gives the roadmap more weight as it signals the push to strengthen the protocol itself. This ensures recent improvements rest on a foundation designed to last.
The move toward zk-EVMs is expected to roll out in stages rather than overnight. In the early phase, around 2026, networks will begin experimenting with these systems while still relying on current validation steps. The focus will be on testing reliability, improving speed, and helping developers get comfortable.
As the technology proves itself, the years from 2027 to 2030 are likely to mark a turning point, as zk-EVMs should gradually take on a leading role, changing how block validation balances security and efficiency.
Further down the road, the discussion moves to rethinking block creation itself, and the idea is to move away from a single builder deciding everything, and instead split that responsibility across many hands. This reduces the risk of control pooling in one place.
When block building is shared, participation becomes more balanced, and it opens the door to a wider global involvement and weakens the impact of location, helping the network feel more open and evenly governed.
Ethereum Emerges as Core Infrastructure for Institutional Finance
Ethereum is moving past its old image as a place for short-term bets. With long-standing technical limits addressed, the network is starting to look more like core financial plumbing. PeerDAS and zkEVM have pushed speed and reliability levels to what serious institutions expect.
Large players are already treating it that way, as BitMine Immersion Technologies has built a sizable ETH position, seeing it as infrastructure, not speculation. At the same time, projects like BlackRock are using added capacity to tokenize energy and infrastructure assets.
Clear rules under the GENIUS Act added another layer of confidence. Altogether, these changes position Ethereum to handle settlement at a massive scale, placing it at the center of future US financial activity.
