Vitalik Buterin says Ethereum’s integration of zero-knowledge virtual machines and data-handling techniques has effectively solved the blockchain’s scalability challenges. The shift is driven by pairing ZK-EVMs with PeerDAS, enabling a more scalable, decentralized network in live code rather than on paper. The trilemma has been solved — production-quality on performance today, with safety still in progress — as data availability sampling is on mainnet and ZK-EVMs are production-ready on performance. With PeerDAS live on mainnet, it’s time to explore what this combination means for Ethereum.
Buterin compares the upgraded architecture to a BitTorrent with consensus, contrasting it with Bitcoin’s throughput limits. The system can handle data loads similar to large file-sharing networks while preserving the security of a decentralized ledger. The roadmap calls for incremental upgrades, including a gas-limit increase this year and changes that separate transaction proposers from block builders to expand block capacity.
Looking further ahead, he describes distributed block building as a long-term goal, a future where no single entity constructs a complete block and blocks can be formed without centralizing all data in one place. The long-term ideal is a future where the full block is never constituted in one place, and while this won’t be necessary soon, he says it is worth striving to have the capability. The pivot comes as Ethereum faces competition from faster, cheaper blockchains, pressuring developers to accelerate deployment of these scaling solutions.
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