As is common with all internet-native spaces, cryptocurrency is filled with influencers and thought leaders who sometimes hold massive sway over public opinion. This comes with its share of risks, as often the “main character” in crypto loses his or her luster or gets exposed as an outright scammer such as Do Kwon and Sam Bankman-Fried. However, one of the most well-respected thought leaders in the space, who perhaps ranks only second to the enigmatic and inactive Satoshi Nakamoto in terms of community reverence, is Vitalik Buterin. As one of the main co-founders of Ethereum and the project’s chief scientist in its early days, Vitalik has been instrumental in shaping the development of decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts. His work is said to have laid the foundation for a new era of blockchain technology that can facilitate more complex and trustless on-chain interactions.
While he is not personally overseeing every aspect of Ethereum development or the Ethereum foundation anymore, Vitalik’s thoughts are still widely circulated and discussed amongst the cryptocurrency community. Here are some of his latest musings on the future of blockchain development and the role of Ethereum.
Vitalik’s Thoughts on the Future of Web3
In a blog post published in December 2023, Buterin on his view of the current state of Web3. While the technologist recalled the original mission of Bitcoin as an effort to create a more open, free, and decentralized society for all, he lamented that the current landscape is more fragmented and profit-driven. One of the main drivers is the rise in transaction fees. While ordinary users may not mind fees increasing from a fraction of a penny to a few cents, they would likely abandon a network if fees went from a few cents to tens or hundreds of dollars. In that case, only the truly degenerate gamblers remain in the ecosystem since they pursue immense profits that can offset the high fees. Ultimately, this phenomenon leads to a degradation of public perception in said ecosystem.
Vitalik counterbalanced these negative musings with a few optimistic outlooks. He was encouraged by the proliferation of blockchain rollups that have significantly enhanced network scalability and efficiency. He also highlighted the emergence of second-generation privacy solutions like Railway and Nocturne, which aim to improve transaction privacy on blockchain networks.
Opinion on Ethereum Post-Merge
The Ethereum Merge was a landmark upgrade to the network that occurred in September 2022, transitioning Ethereum from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. Buterin described the event as both a "hard-earned" and "long-awaited" milestone but acknowledged that the PoS system still needed improvement.
Currently, it takes around 15 minutes for a transaction to be fully finalized on ETH, which is endemic to network congestion. To address this, Buterin proposed implementing single-slot finality, a solution that would drastically reduce transaction times. This concept, which he first introduced in July 2024, aims to finalize transactions within a single block slot, significantly improving Ethereum's competitiveness and user experience. Another major focus for Buterin is enhancing the network’s accessibility and inclusivity. Currently, Ethereum requires users to stake 32 ETH to become a validator, which is a steep entry point. To lower this barrier, Buterin has suggested reducing the minimum staking requirement to 1 ETH, enabling a broader range of users to participate in Ethereum’s security and governance. This change would democratize staking, making it more accessible to everyday users while strengthening the network's decentralization.
Buterin opined that Ethereum's defenses against potential attacks can be bolstered by introducing a cryptographic approach called single secret leader election. This method would make it significantly more difficult for attackers to identify and target the block proposer, thereby enhancing the network's overall security and resilience. Vitalik also highlighted the importance of preparing for future quantum computing threats, as advances in quantum technology could potentially compromise current cryptographic algorithms. To mitigate this risk, he proposed raising the quorum threshold and improving Ethereum's ability to recover from 51% attacks, ensuring that the network remains robust even in the face of a majority attack.
The Ideal Crypto Wallet
In this most recent blog post published in December 2024, Vitalik outlined what he would like to see in a cryptocurrency wallet. He believes that wallets should eventually evolve into personal data storage tools so users have more autonomy over their personal information. This concept would be secured using an M-of-N key sharing mechanism, where access to data requires a certain number (M) of keys from a predefined total (N). To improve dApp security, Vitalik envisions a shift toward on-chain content version control. Users would be able to access DApps through their ENS which allows them to always be interacting with a verified, up-to-date version of the DApp. Lastly, he hopes that wallets of the future can automatically facilitate cross-chain exchanges and transfers across different ETH layer 2 networks. Doing so would coalesce greater cohesion through the entire Ethereum ecosystem.
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