TLDR
- Vitalik Buterin says Ethereum is “really not just a blockchain anymore” in a Sept. 27 essay.
- His plan replaces repeated calculations with cryptographic proofs that confirm work was done correctly.
- Developers who split apps into separate tasks could pay less than those who bundle everything together.
- His 2030 vision sketches finality of about eight to 32 seconds, but this is a future design.
- The Hegota upgrade, planned for 2027, is likely Ethereum’s last “normal” fork.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin says the network is changing into something bigger than a blockchain. He shared his views in an essay and a post on X on Sept. 27.
“It’s really not just a blockchain anymore,” Buterin wrote on X. The ledger will remain, but more of the network’s work would rely on cryptographic tools and outside infrastructure.
His essay lays out a vision for Ethereum in 2030. It includes faster finality, lighter verification and stronger privacy.
How Ethereum Could Split the Work
Today, Ethereum participants download blocks and repeat the calculations to confirm the rules were followed. This process works, but it takes a lot of effort.
Buterin says the future design would replace much of that repeated work with cryptographic proofs and samples of data. Instead of redoing a whole calculation, participants would check proof that it was done correctly.
He said earlier attempts to split work across the network ran into problems. Assigning tasks was easy, but checking them reliably was not.
Committees used to check work added cost, delays and new risks. “Back then, this was not viable for one primary reason: the missing ingredient was verification,” Buterin wrote.
He argues that modern cryptography now provides that missing piece. As a result, decentralization could help the network store more data and handle more work at the same time.
What Changes for Developers
Buterin also said not all computation should cost the same. Under his proposed design, developers would have reasons to break apps into separate tasks that can run at once.
An app that packs everything into one step-by-step transaction would cost more. An app built with independent parts that run together would cost less.
Some proofs and signatures would also be combined before they reach a block. This would reduce how much the chain has to process directly.
“When building applications, structure of computation is starting to matter a lot,” Buterin wrote. The chain would focus on changes that need shared ordering, while outside systems handle support work.
For users, the plan includes stronger promises that transactions get included, more privacy and easier node requirements. His 2030 outline puts finality at about eight to 32 seconds. Those numbers describe a future design, not something available today.
Buterin said there are still engineering hurdles. Proofs must become efficient and safe enough, and managing access to large amounts of stored app data is a harder problem.
He also mentioned obfuscation, a cryptographic method that could one day allow encrypted computing. He described it as a possibility, not a requirement for the nearer changes.
On speed, he set clear limits. “Ethereum itself will never have latency that competes with servers, but infrastructure built around it could,” he wrote.
Buterin said the Hegota upgrade, planned for 2027, is likely Ethereum’s last “normal” fork. By that he means one whose technology would look familiar to someone from 2015. After Hegota, he expects advanced proofs, formal verification and highly optimized consensus to lead development.
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