Vitalik's New Year Message: Ethereum's 2025 Achievements and Challenges, Building the Truly Global Computer

2026-01-01 15:00:15

【Blockchain Rhythm】On January 1st, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin shared a summary of the past year and his outlook for the future on social media.

Achievements in 2025

First, breakthroughs at the technical level. Gas limit increases, Blob counts rise, overall improvements in node software quality, plus zkEVM performance reaching new milestones—these developments may seem like technical details, but their interconnected significance is profound. As zkEVM and PeerDAS are gradually implemented, Ethereum is advancing toward a new and more powerful blockchain form, with steps more solid than ever before.

Unfinished Tasks

However, Vitalik also candidly acknowledged that Ethereum still faces many challenges and requires more effort. But he emphasized that this is not about chasing hype narratives, whether it’s tokenized dollars or political meme coins, nor about forcing users to fill block space to artificially reshape ETH’s deflationary properties.

Returning to the Core Mission

The true goal is quite pure—to build the world computer as the core infrastructure of a free and open internet.

Vitalik stressed that Ethereum’s role is to serve as the host for decentralized applications. What are the characteristics of these applications? They are free of fraud, censorship, and any third-party interference. They can withstand the “exit test”—even if the original developers disappear, the system continues to operate. Users won’t even care if Cloudflare goes down; their stability surpasses the rise and fall of enterprises, ideological shifts, and political changes. At the same time, all of this must safeguard user privacy.

What can such infrastructure do? It can support the financial system, extend to identity verification, governance mechanisms, and other fundamental infrastructures needed for human civilization.

Two Essential Conditions

To turn this vision into reality, Vitalik pointed out that two conditions must be met: first, scalable usability; second, true decentralization. These two goals need to be advanced simultaneously across two dimensions—the underlying blockchain software (operation and access) and the application layer. Both areas still have room for improvement; progress has begun, but the pace must accelerate.

He concluded by saying that fortunately, Ethereum developers hold powerful tools, and the current task is to fully utilize them. All of this will be achieved.

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ContractTester

· 9h ago

The true world computer, sounds good but why is the implementation so slow? --- zkEVM has broken through the performance threshold, but gas fees still cut into users like cutting leeks. --- I only believe in not chasing after the latest trends; honestly, what can be done? --- The progress of PeerDAS feels not fast enough; still have to wait. --- The technical progress is there, but ordinary users still can't use it. --- Solid steps? Then why am I still paying gas fees in my wallet? --- It seems Vitalik is becoming more humble; he didn't used to speak like this before. --- The increase in blob capacity is noticeable, but the road to expansion is still long. --- The dream of the world computer is right, but why is reality so harsh? --- Instead of giving speeches, brothers, it's better to write more code.

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PretendingToReadDocs

· 9h ago

V God’s New Year’s message sounds quite pragmatic. Not following the trend is the real deal. --- Has zkEVM broken through? Can the gas fees be cheaper? That’s the real key. --- Projects chasing the hype have long cooled down. It’s still about the technology itself. --- PeerDAS implementation? Let’s wait and see. Easy to say, hard to do. --- The true world computer still needs to wait a bit longer. No rush for now. --- It seems that Ethereum’s direction is correct. As long as it doesn’t deceive people, it’s a win. --- Gas optimization, blob increases... These are all details. The key is to get it running.

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Lonely_Validator

· 9h ago

Vitalik is telling stories again, but this time there's actually something... Have zkEVM and PeerDAS really been implemented? I haven't felt any gas optimization, still so expensive. Anyway, I don't follow the trend of tokenized USD, I still quite respect V God for that. Blob has finally been stacked up, but ecological applications still need to keep competing.

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GasSavingMaster

· 9h ago

Don't forget the mission of ETH itself while saving gas. What's the use of just optimizing details? The true world computer is still far away. --- zkEVM is here, and gas has also decreased. Honestly, is this really reliable or do we have to wait another half year? --- Not chasing the trend sounds comfortable, but the market just eats this up, Vitalik. --- Increasing gas for blobs can help them breathe, and my wallet can finally relax. --- Technological breakthroughs are breakthroughs, but why is it still expensive? --- I'm optimistic about this direction, just not sure when it will really be usable.

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WhaleWatcher

· 9h ago

Still talking about technical details, Vitalik is still that same character. --- The gas fees are still falling into the trap. Can increasing the number of blobs really save the day? --- Can zkEVM reach new performance heights and replace L2? Not necessarily. --- It's PeerDAS again. When will it truly go live? Just shouting slogans is pointless. --- Saying you don't chase hype is good, but I wonder how long you can stick to it. --- How solid is this step? We still have to wait for the mainnet to really run before we know. --- The true world computer? First, solve the current problems before bragging. --- Will the node software quality be comprehensively improved? Then should MEV be addressed? --- I just want to ask, do these breakthroughs have any direct relation to my wallet? --- Alright, another year, another year, and we keep waiting.

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