Vitalik Buterin projects 2026 as a decisive year for Ethereum and reinforces the mission of a "world computer"

Source: PortaldoBitcoin Original Title: Vitalik Buterin projects 2026 as a decisive year for Ethereum and reinforces the mission of “world computer” Original Link: Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin posted on January 1, 2026, on social media X, a reflective and manifesto-style text highlighting the main network advancements in 2025 and outlining strategic challenges for the new year. More than a technical forecast, the message reinforces Ethereum’s long-term vision as a core infrastructure for a freer and more decentralized internet.

Vitalik emphasizes that 2025 was a year of significant progress for the ecosystem. Among the advancements, he mentions the increase in gas limits, the expansion of blob numbers, improvements in node software quality, and substantial performance gains of zkEVMs ( environments that use cryptographic proofs to execute Ethereum contracts faster and cheaper, while maintaining the main network’s security ). According to him, these advancements have raised the technological standard of blockchain.

“With zkEVMs and PeerDAS, Ethereum has taken its biggest step so far toward becoming a fundamentally new and more powerful type of blockchain,” he wrote.

PeerDAS (, a technology that allows network data to be distributed among multiple participants, reducing costs and increasing scalability without requiring more powerful computers ), appears as a key piece in the strategy to scale Ethereum without compromising decentralization.

Despite the progress, Vitalik states that the network still needs to evolve further to fulfill its own mission. He criticizes the idea that Ethereum’s success should be measured solely by the ability to “win the next market narrative,” such as tokenized stablecoins or meme coins tied to politics.

“It’s not about winning the next goal, nor convincing people to fill blockspace just to make ETH ‘ultrasound’ again,” he said.

For the network’s co-founder, the true goal remains building the so-called “world computer”: a foundation for decentralized applications that operate without censorship, fraud, or reliance on intermediaries. He describes applications capable of continuing to operate even if their developers disappear or major infrastructure providers go offline.

“We are building applications that keep working even if the original developers disappear,” wrote Vitalik.

In the text, Ethereum’s creator also directly criticizes the current internet model, increasingly based on centralized services, recurring subscriptions, and dependence on large tech companies. For him, Ethereum emerges as a reaction to this scenario, aiming to restore users’ autonomy, resilience, and privacy.

The outlook for 2026 centers on two core pillars: making Ethereum truly usable at scale and ensuring that this scalability does not sacrifice decentralization. These principles, according to Vitalik, need to be reinforced both at the blockchain’s base layer and at the application level built on top of it.