Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, has announced that the blockchain network is on the verge of overcoming the notorious blockchain trilemma: the challenges of achieving decentralized governance, solid consensus, and high throughput bandwidth. He claims that the necessary components are already operational on the mainnet or close to deployment through the advanced capabilities of zero-knowledge Ethereum virtual machines (ZK-EVMs).
In a January 3 update on X, Buterin spotlighted two significant technological advances: PeerDAS, which is currently live on Ethereum’s mainnet, and ZK-EVMs, in their alpha phase exhibiting strong production quality while further safety measures are being finalized.
“These innovations represent transformative shifts for Ethereum, propelling it into an advanced decentralized network model,” Buterin noted. “To understand this impact, we can compare it with existing peer-to-peer structures.”
Buterin contrasted early peer-to-peer models that prioritized throughput but struggled with consensus to the blockchains that excelled at consensus at the cost of bandwidth efficiency. For example, he mentioned BitTorrent as an illustration of decentralized file sharing without needing consensus, while citing Bitcoin as a model that successfully balances decentralization and consensus, albeit with limited bandwidth due to its replication strategy.
Ethereum’s Advancement Towards Solving the Blockchain Trilemma
According to Buterin, Ethereum is evolving into a new category of blockchain. “With the introduction of PeerDAS (expected in 2025) and ZK-EVMs (anticipated usage in 2026), Ethereum will embody a combination of decentralization, consensus, and high throughput,” he projected. “This trilemma is not merely theoretical now; it is evident through active code implementation, with part of this development already operational and the remaining components gearing up for use.”
This isn’t a sudden achievement for Buterin but rather a result of years of strategic planning. He described it as “a decade-long expedition,” pointing to the foundational research on data availability sampling and the initiation of ZK-EVM efforts around 2020. He suggested that advancements in data availability sampling fundamentally alter what decentralized networks can securely publish and validate at large scales, while ZK-EVMs redefine the validation process through proof-based verification.
As he looks to the future, Buterin provided an estimated timeline for the rollout of these innovations over the next four years. By 2026, he envisions significant gas limit increases related to BALs and ePBS, alongside opportunities to operate ZK-EVM nodes.
From 2026 to 2028, he anticipates a series of changes, including gas repricings, modifications to state structure, and execution payloads transitioning into blobs, all aimed at enhancing gas limit safety. He predicts that by 2030, ZK-EVMs will predominantly serve as the validation method for blocks on the network.
Buterin also highlighted an additional vital factor: distributed block building. He articulated a long-term vision in which “no single entity will control the entirety of block formation,” emphasizing that this won’t be required for some time. The immediate objective is to distribute “notable authority in block building” through in-protocol mechanisms like expanding FOCIL or utilizing external systems like decentralized builder marketplaces.
For Buterin, this approach of spreading block building responsibilities is not merely an engineering choice; it addresses significant risks and questions of fairness in the ecosystem. He argued that it would diminish the risk of “centralized control over transaction inclusion,” fostering a fairer environment across various geographical regions.
As of the latest update, ETH was valued at $3,164.
