Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum Will Prioritize Extreme Security and Quantum Resistance
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin stated at a Web3 event in Hong Kong that Ethereum's core functions are as a "public bulletin board" and a "shared digital object platform." He emphasized that the value of decentralized applications lies in autonomous security, verifiability, fair participation, and user aggregation, rather than merely performance or cost competition.
He revealed the future roadmap: in the short term, to advance scaling and performance optimization while introducing CKEVM to support more complex computations; to promote account abstraction to popularize smart contract wallets, and to initiate preparations for post-quantum cryptography. In the long term, the focus will be on extreme simplicity, formal verification, and quantum security, aiming to achieve finality within very short confirmation times and enabling mobile devices to directly verify the blockchain through zkVM.
The Ethereum Foundation and several English technical documents have repeatedly emphasized that the focus of the roadmap is shifting from "scaling first" to "security and verification first," with ongoing advancements in areas such as zk technology, light node verification, and quantum-resistant signatures.
Source: Public Information
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Vitalik's statement essentially redefines Ethereum's competitive dimension: shifting from "high-performance public chain" to "global settlement and verification layer." This means Ethereum is no longer trying to compete directly with other chains on throughput or costs, but positioning itself as the most tamper-resistant and credible infrastructure, akin to the "final settlement layer" in the financial system.
Defining "public bulletin board" and "shared objects" as core concepts is a form of extreme simplification. It downplays the application layer narrative, narrowing the chain's responsibilities to "recording and verification," while outsourcing complexity to higher layers (L2, applications). This design path is similar to the evolution of internet protocols: keeping the underlying layer stable and simple, while the upper layers are responsible for innovation and change, thereby extending the system's lifecycle.
The introduction of zkVM and mobile verification aims to address the redistribution of "verification rights." If ordinary devices can directly verify chain states, node power will no longer be concentrated in a few high-performance infrastructures, which relates to the actual degree of decentralization, not just theoretical structure. This is why the long-term goals emphasize "extreme simplicity" and "formal verification," as complexity itself raises the verification threshold.
The proactive layout of post-quantum cryptography and account abstraction reflects Ethereum's approach to "security design in the time dimension." Most systems optimize only for current threats, while Ethereum attempts to cover technological risks for over a decade into the future. This strategy may sacrifice short-term efficiency but gains long-term credibility. In financial and value storage scenarios, this trade-off often determines whether a system can survive across cycles.