Vitalik: Ethereum Overcomes the Blockchain Trilemma with zkEVM and PeerDAS

Source: TokenPost Original Title: 비탈릭 “이더리움, 삼중 난제 넘었다”… zkEVM·PeerDAS로 확장·보안·분산 동시 구현 Original Link:

Ethereum Conquers the Blockchain Trilemma

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, announced that Ethereum has solved the blockchain ‘trilemma’ – the long-standing challenge of simultaneously achieving decentralization, security, and scalability. By combining zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) technology with PeerDAS (Peer Data Availability Sampling), Ethereum has implemented all three properties concurrently.

After a 10-year technical journey since proposing the data availability sampling concept in 2015, Buterin stated that Ethereum’s mainnet has evolved into a new architecture. He emphasized on X: “This is not merely an improvement, but a fundamental transformation that makes Ethereum a more robust decentralized network.”

Technical Evolution: zkEVM and PeerDAS

Historically, blockchain technology faced inherent limitations in achieving high processing speed, true decentralization, and robust security simultaneously. Bitcoin excelled in decentralization and security but suffered from low transaction throughput, while some networks prioritized speed at the expense of decentralization.

Ethereum’s combination of zkEVM and PeerDAS overcomes these limitations. zkEVM uses mathematical proofs to verify transactions and state changes, reducing verification time from approximately 16 minutes to 16 seconds and cutting costs to 1/45th of previous levels. Currently, 99% of Ethereum blocks can be verified within 10 seconds on target hardware.

PeerDAS enables nodes to verify data availability by sampling portions of blocks rather than downloading entire datasets. This dramatically improves block throughput while maintaining decentralization by not restricting network participation.

Security Priority: 128-Bit Security Target by 2026

The Ethereum Foundation prioritizes security alongside technical advancement. The foundation has established a roadmap to achieve “128-bit security level” for zkEVM verification by 2026. Intermediate milestones include integrating the trust measurement tool ‘soundcalc’ by February 2026 and achieving 100-bit security standards by May 2026.

The foundation warns: “If attackers could forge proofs, it would result in arbitrary token issuance, state manipulation, and asset theft.” Security researcher George Kadianakis emphasizes: “Establishing architectural-level security before the structure solidifies is critical.”

Four-Stage Upgrade Path: 2026-2030

Ethereum’s technology implementation will proceed in stages from 2026 to 2030. Initial phases include gas limit increases and Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS) implementation independent of zkEVM. Between 2026-2028, gas price adjustments, state structure reorganization, and conversion of execution payloads to blob format will occur.

Buterin projects that by 2027-2030, zkEVM will become the default method for Ethereum block verification, enabling significantly higher block capacity. The ultimate goal is “distributed block building,” where blocks are geographically dispersed rather than concentrated at single points.

Balancing Innovation with Fundamentals

While celebrating technical achievements, Buterin cautioned against excessive feature complexity and short-term trend chasing. He emphasized that Ethereum should not be consumed by temporary trends like tokenized dollars or political meme coins. The core objective remains building applications that function reliably even if developers disappear and external ecosystems become unstable.

Buterin also warned: “If only five people understand a privacy protocol, it’s not a trustless system – it’s a system trusting those five people.” Technical complexity can erode network trust.

Institutional Adoption Accelerating

Despite discussions about balancing technical complexity and decentralization, global financial institutions increasingly adopt Ethereum. JPMorgan launched approximately $100 million in tokenized short-term fund offerings on Ethereum, while certain banks are developing Layer 2 networks utilizing advanced technologies. Regulatory authorities report that 24 financial institutions are experimenting with asset tokenization.

Market Interpretation: Ethereum’s resolution of the trilemma through zkEVM and PeerDAS should significantly enhance network scalability and security, potentially reducing Layer 2 dependency and improving on-chain usability fundamentally.

Strategic Focus: With staged technology implementation beginning in 2026, long-term perspectives on infrastructure and zero-knowledge related ecosystem projects are crucial. Attention to security standard achievement and programming model stability is essential.