Vitalik Buterin used his new year message to restate Ethereum’s core direction: the network is not chasing the next market narrative, but pushing toward decentralized internet infrastructure. He pointed to several milestones reached in 2025, including higher gas limits, a larger number of blobs, better node software quality, and zkEVMs moving past performance barriers.
2025 upgrades pushed Ethereum toward a stronger base layer
According to Buterin, progress on zkEVMs and PeerDAS marked a firm step toward making Ethereum “a fundamentally new and more powerful blockchain.” At the same time, the article notes that challenges remain. That leaves Ethereum with a clear message: recent upgrades matter, but they do not mean the network has already met its own goals.
Buterin said Ethereum must do more to achieve those targets. He drew a line around what should not define the roadmap. Looking for “the next meta,” including tokenized dollars or political memecoins, is not the focus. He also rejected the idea that Ethereum’s job is to persuade people to fill block space just to make ETH “ultra-sound” again. In his framing, the priority is the MISSION.
Applications should keep running even if builders disappear
Buterin described Ethereum’s purpose in terms of decentralized applications that work without fraud, censorship, or third-party intervention. He said these applications should pass the “walkaway test,” meaning they continue to function even if the original developers vanish. That standard sets a high bar. It treats decentralization as an operational property, not just a label.
He offered a sharper example as well: users should not notice if Cloudflare goes down, or even if all of Cloudflare is hacked by North Korea. In that vision, applications need a level of stability that outlasts the rise and fall of companies, ideologies, and political parties, while also protecting privacy. Buterin said this applies not only to finance, but also to identity, governance, and other forms of infrastructure people may want to build.
Ethereum positioned as a response to growing central dependence
The article argues that many products and services that once stood on their own are now turning into subscription-based systems by default, leaving users dependent on central authorities over time. Buterin casts Ethereum as a rejection of that shift. Improvements in speed, usability, decentralization, and robust capacity all point to the same destination: a real decentralized internet computer.
He said that work will continue in the coming year. As presented here, Ethereum’s next phase is less about chasing short-lived themes and more about strengthening the network and the kinds of applications that can survive on their own.