Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin reflected on the meaningful technical progress over the past year, while emphasizing that the blockchain network’s true test lies in fulfilling its original ambitious goal of becoming the “world computer.”
Buterin Stresses Ethereum Has To Be Usable On A Global Scale And Decentralized
In his New Year’s post on X, Vitalik Buterin noted that Ethereum saw significant progress in 2025 by becoming faster, more reliable, and better able to handle growth without sacrificing its decentralized design.
Buterin highlighted enhancements that allow the network to process more activity and reduce bottlenecks, including increased blob throughput and the maturation of zkEVMs. Notably, Ethereum underwent Pectra in May and Fusaka last month — two key upgrades that improved scalability and efficiency.
However, Buterin stressed that technical milestones alone are not the network’s ultimate mission.
“Ethereum needs to do more to meet its own stated goals,” the Ethereum wunderkind stated, warning developers against what he characterized as efforts to “win the next meta,” whether through tokenized dollars, political memecoins, or by convincing people to help make ETH ultrasound again.
Instead, Buterin reaffirmed that Ethereum’s long-standing goal is to build a “world computer” for a freer and open internet.
“To achieve this, it needs to be (i) usable, and usable at scale, and (ii) actually decentralized,” Buterin said. “This needs to happen at both (a) the blockchain layer, including the software we use to run and talk to the blockchain, and (b) the application layer.”
The “Walkaway Test”
According to Buterin, decentralized applications on Ethereum must be able to function without fraud, censorship, or third-party control. The Ethereum co-creator cited the “walkaway test,” the idea that systems should continue running even if the original developers depart from the project.
He contrasted this with the current state of the internet, where users are used to subscription-based products controlled by centralized authorities.
For Buterin, applications on Ethereum should also be able to survive all external variables, such as going offline or being compromised, corporate bankruptcies, politics, and ideologies.
Fortunately for the industry’s second-largest network, Buterin noted that progress is already underway and indicated that powerful tools now exist to drive the effort further.
Ether’s price rose 4.3% over the last 24 hours to trade around $3,110 as of press time, according to data from CoinGecko, continuing a steady recovery from late December lows.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/vitalik-buterin-outlines-two-things-ethereum-must-do-to-achieve-its-ultimate-goal-of-becoming-the-world-computer/
