Vitalik Buterin on the two goals Ethereum must meet to become the ‘world computer’

Tech Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Vitalik Buterin on the two goals Ethereum must meet to become the ‘world computer’ After major technical gains in 2025, Ethereum’s co-founder says the network must double down on usability and decentralization to meet its original goals. By Siamak Masnavi , AI Boost Jan 1, 2026, 4:05 p.m. Ethereum Logo (Midjourney / Modified by CoinDesk) What to know : Vitalik Buterin says Ethereum made significant technical progress in 2025 but still falls short of its broader mission. He pushes back against short-term crypto narratives in favor of durable, censorship-resistant applications. The message reframes Ethereum as long-term internet infrastructure rather than a platform chasing market trends. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin used a New Year’s message on Thursday to reflect on a year of major technical progress — and to argue that the network’s real test lies in fulfilling its original mission, not in chasing the latest crypto narratives. In his New Year’s post on X , Buterin said Ethereum made meaningful progress in 2025 by becoming faster, more reliable and better able to handle growth without sacrificing its decentralized design. He pointed to improvements that allow the network to process more activity, reduce bottlenecks and make it easier for people to run the software that keeps Ethereum operating. Taken together, he said, those changes move Ethereum closer to becoming a new kind of shared computing platform rather than just another blockchain. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the The Protocol Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . But Buterin was clear that technical milestones alone are not the end goal. “Ethereum needs to do more to meet its own stated goals,” he wrote, cautioning against what he described as efforts to “win the next meta,” whether through tokenized dollars, political memecoins or attempts to artificially boost network usage for economic signaling. Instead, Buterin returned to a long-standing vision of Ethereum as a “world computer” — a shared, neutral platform for applications that can operate without reliance on centralized intermediaries. That vision, he believes, centers on applications designed to function without fraud, censorship or third-party control, even if their original developers disappear. Buterin pointed to the “walkaway test,” the idea that systems should continue running regardless of who maintains them, as a core benchmark. He also emphasized resilience, arguing that users should not notice if major infrastructure providers go offline or are compromised. These properties, he suggested, once described everyday tools before the rise of subscription-based digital services that lock users into centralized platforms. “Ethereum is the rebellion against this,” Buterin wrote. To succeed, he argued, Ethereum must meet two requirements simultaneously: it must be usable on a global scale, and it must remain genuinely decentralized. That challenge applies not only to the blockchain itself, including the software people use to run nodes and interact with the network, but also to applications built on top of it, which often depend on centralized services despite using decentralized protocols. Buterin acknowledged that progress is already underway and noted that powerful tools now exist to push the effort further. His message was less a road map for a single upgrade than a reminder of why recent technical work matters at all: to position Ethereum as durable infrastructure for finance, identity, governance and other foundational internet services. Whether Ethereum can meet those ambitions will become clearer as the network’s next phase shifts from upgrades to real-world use, testing how its ideals hold up under scale. Ethereum News Vitalik Buterin AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards . For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy . More For You KuCoin Hits Record Market Share as 2025 Volumes Outpace Crypto Market By CoinDesk Research Dec 22, 2025 Commissioned by KuCoin KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market. What to know : KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025 , equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month , marking its strongest year on record. This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume , as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes , which slowed during periods of lower market volatility. Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split , each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line. Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity , reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover. Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity , indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes. View Full Report More For You Flow scraps blockchain 'rollback' plan after community backlash over decentralization By Olivier Acuna | Edited by Aoyon Ashraf Dec 29, 2025 The layer-1 network reversed course after ecosystem partners warned that rewriting chain history would undermine decentralization and create operational risks following a $3.9 million exploit. What to know : Flow decided against rolling back its blockchain after a $3.9 million exploit, opting instead for a recovery plan that preserves transaction history. The initial rollback proposal faced criticism for potentially undermining decentralization and creating operational risks. The revised plan involves targeting fraudulent assets through account restrictions and token destruction, but the recovery of stolen funds remains uncertain. Read full story Latest Crypto News Strategy shares register first six-month losing streak since adoption of bitcoin strategy in 2020 3 hours ago How crypto's promised year-end fireworks turned into a bloodbath 4 hours ago Coinbase’s Base faces builder backlash over creator coin push 23 hours ago 4 predictions for privacy in 2026 Dec 31, 2025 Lighter trading platform sees $250 million withdrawn 24 hours after airdrop Dec 31, 2025 Trump Media to distribute new digital tokens to DJT shareholders Dec 31, 2025 Top Stories Trump Media to distribute new digital tokens to DJT shareholders Dec 31, 2025 Coinbase’s Base faces builder backlash over creator coin push 23 hours ago Bitcoin got stuck after slumping 30% from its peak. Here's why. Dec 31, 2025 XRP and solana volatility in 2025 was twice as bumpy as bitcoin's Dec 31, 2025 Korbit fined $1.9 million for anti money-laundering, customer verification breaches Dec 31, 2025 Bitwise files for 11 'strategy' ETFs, tracking tokens including AAVE, ZEC, TAO Dec 31, 2025