Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin posted on X that the network is approaching a turning point as two major upgrades — PeerDAS and zkEVMs — transition from research papers to working code. The combination, he argues, could push Ethereum into “a fundamentally new and more powerful kind of decentralized network.”
The Trilemma Tradeoff
Buterin framed the challenge with two internet-era models: BitTorrent can move massive data in a decentralized way but lacks consensus; Bitcoin is strongly decentralized with consensus but stays low-bandwidth because every node rechecks the same work. Ethereum’s next phase aims to achieve all three simultaneously — decentralization, consensus, and high bandwidth — through live running code, not just theory.
PeerDAS on Mainnet, zkEVM Nearing Production
The first piece, PeerDAS (data availability sampling), is already live on the Ethereum mainnet. It lets nodes verify data availability without downloading the full dataset, serving as a prototype for Data Availability Sampling (DAS) needed for sharding. Light clients check all shard data by sampling small portions, boosting scalability without sacrificing security.
The second piece, zkEVM, Buterin said is now “production-quality on performance.” Remaining work centers on safety and proving robustness at scale. He expects limited forms of zkEVM nodes to appear as early as 2026.
Distributed Block Building as the North Star
Buterin also outlined a longer-term goal: distributed block building, where no single party assembles the full block in one place. This reduces censorship risks and improves geographic fairness. The core idea is splitting verification work across the network rather than asking every node to replicate everything.