Vitalik Buterin maps Ethereum’s shift beyond a blockchain in sweeping 2030 vision
Sep 28, 2026
Buterin wants Ethereum to do far more work without forcing every computer on the network to repeat the same calculations.
By Shaurya Malwa
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said Sunday that the network he envisions for 2030 may still be called a blockchain, but it would work very differently from today’s version.
In a post titled “The cryptographic world computer,” Buterin described a system combining a blockchain with cryptographic proofs and networks of computers working outside it. The plan through 2030 would change both how much Ethereum can do and what users can independently verify.
Ethereum already lets people send money, trade tokens and borrow through applications that run according to shared rules. The difficulty is making those applications serve more people without making the network too expensive to use or too demanding to check.
Buterin argues that newer cryptographic tools can break that constraint.
Why are these changes needed
Ethereum’s computers repeat much of the same work to check that transactions follow the rules. That helps keep the network honest, but limits how much it gains from adding more computers.
Earlier attempts to divide the work assigned particular tasks to smaller groups. Coordinating those groups added delays, and the wider network could struggle to recover if one failed.
How privacy is becoming key
Other crypto developers are pursuing similar goals.
Zcash already lets users send payments with encrypted addresses and amounts. About 4.9 million ZEC sat in its shielded pools on Friday, according to CoinDesk’s earlier analysis of ZecStats data, while the token traded around $1,660 earlier Sunday after gaining about 15% over the week.
Researchers behind the Shielded Bitcoin paper published Thursday have proposed borrowing Zcash’s payment design for BTC. Their specification leaves the mechanism for depositing and withdrawing actual bitcoin to separate research.
As such, Ethereum’s own plans still require substantial engineering work. Producing proofs needs to become efficient enough for widespread use. Computers handling separate jobs must also coordinate updates to the same balances and application records without interfering with one another.
Buterin’s 2030 comparison still lists cost and privacy limitations for complex applications. It envisages payments becoming final, meaning the network considers them irreversible, in roughly eight to 32 seconds.
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