How Buterin is preparing Ethereum to overcome the limitations inherent in Bitcoin

Co-founder of Ethereum Vitalik Buterin announced that the network has entered a critical development phase, during which two key technological upgrades — PeerDAS and zkEVM — are moving from research to production-ready code. This transformation paves the way for solving one of the most significant problems in blockchain history: the so-called trilemma, which requires achieving decentralization, consensus, and high throughput simultaneously.

Buterin emphasized that these innovations could transform Ethereum into a “fundamentally new and more powerful type of decentralized network.” Unlike the Web 1.0 era internet, where systems like BitTorrent could transfer massive amounts of data in a decentralized manner without the need for consensus, modern blockchains have always faced a dilemma: they can be decentralized with strong consensus but remain slow in data transmission.

Buterin outlines the shift from theory to practice

The deployment of the technological solutions Buterin discusses is already gaining momentum. PeerDAS (selective data availability) has been officially launched on the Ethereum mainnet, allowing nodes to verify data availability without downloading full data sets. This serves as a prototype for a more ambitious initiative — Data Availability Sampling (DAS), which plays a key role in the sharding scalability strategy.

This technology enables light clients to verify whether all shard data has been published by analyzing small, randomly selected fragments. Thus, it achieves a simultaneous improvement in scalability, preservation of decentralization, and security — the three pillars on which the future infrastructure should be based.

How zkEVM accelerates the path to scalability

The second component of the revolutionary plan — zkEVM (Zero-Knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine) — is currently in a stage that Buterin describes as “performance-productive.” This means that core functionality is already operational, but significant work remains in terms of security and proof robustness at large scale. The trade-off is short: zkEVM nodes could start appearing in limited, testnet form around 2026.

Zero-knowledge technology allows generating mathematical proofs without revealing the underlying data, opening new possibilities for privacy and efficiency. In the context of Ethereum scalability, this means complex computations can be performed separately and verified by other nodes much faster than with traditional approaches.

Distributed block formation as the ultimate goal

Buterin shared a long-term vision for Ethereum that goes beyond current upgrades. He calls it “distributed block formation” — a paradigm where no single party assembles a full block in one place. This approach significantly reduces censorship risks and increases the geographical fairness of validator distribution.

The core message is that Ethereum’s roadmap is increasingly focused on distributing verification work across the network, rather than each node duplicating all the work of others. This is a fundamental paradigm shift that differentiates the latest approach from how Bitcoin operates, where every full node must verify every aspect of each transaction.

Practical implementation as a statement of strengthening position

Buterin emphasized that overcoming the blockchain trilemma is not an abstract theoretical goal but a practical one with “live code in action.” This focus on implementation demonstrates that the Ethereum community has moved from discussions to concrete steps. Each of these upgrades is not an isolated experiment but part of a comprehensive strategy aimed at making Ethereum the infrastructure of a new generation of decentralized applications.

The evolution highlighted by Buterin not only expands Ethereum’s capabilities — it rewrites the very nature of how blockchains can balance previously incompatible requirements such as speed, security, and decentralization. Future upgrades, including full deployment of zkEVM nodes, have the potential to mark a turning point in the evolution of blockchain technology and their competitive position in the global market.