Vitalik Buterin Urges Ethereum to Focus on Long-Term Goals for 2026

In a New Year address released on January 1, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin called upon the Ether blockchain community to prioritize fundamental goals rather than getting distracted by fleeting trends.

Key Takeaways

Vitalik Buterin stressed the importance of long-term goals for Ethereum rather than chasing short-lived trends in his New Year address.
He highlighted Ethereum's progress in 2025 through technical developments like zkEVMs while emphasizing the necessity of applications without fraud or censorship.
Buterin responded to concerns about reliance on centralized services, defending Ethereum’s commitment to decentralization.
He detailed ongoing efforts to improve Ethereum's base layer and further enhance the user experience while maintaining decentralization.
Acknowledged the community's appreciation for his commitment to cypherpunk values and ongoing technological advancements.

Ethereum

"Ethereum needs to do more to meet its own stated goals. Not the quest of ‘winning the next meta’ regardless of whether it’s tokenized dollars or political memecoins," he stated. Buterin argued that the network should focus on its original mission of creating a truly decentralized world computer instead of seeking short-term wins.

He stressed that Ethereum's layer-1 blockchain does not need to create artificial incentives to convince users to engage with its blockspace for the value of ETH.

Embracing Ethereum’s Vision Beyond Hype

Buterin acknowledged Ethereum's milestones achieved in 2025, which include increased gas limits, more blob data, and better node software.

“zkEVMs blasted through their performance milestones, and with zkEVMs and PeerDAS, Ethereum made its largest step toward being a fundamentally new and more powerful kind of blockchain,” he explained.

However, he emphasized that these technical improvements should result in applications that operate free from fraud, censorship, or third-party influence.

"To build the world computer that serves as a central infrastructure piece of a freer and open internet" should remain the community's focus for 2026, he reiterated.

According to Buterin, the Ethereum team is focused on creating decentralized applications that continue to function without reliance on intermediaries. He described a scenario where applications withstand challenges, emphasizing that users should not be affected by issues such as platform outages or hacks.

An Ethereum developer from zCloak Network expressed skepticism about how to eliminate reliance on services like Cloudflare while still relying on centralized RPC services for users. However, Buterin defended Ethereum's stance as a movement against centralized power, pointing out that this reliance is a recent development.

“A generation ago, any wallet, kitchen appliance, book, or car would fulfill every single one of them,” he noted. Today, many of these services have turned into subscriptions, leading to dependence on centralized entities, which Ethereum aims to counteract.

Addressing Scalability and Layer-2 Solutions

During a discussion with a Solana NFT collector who questioned Ethereum's reliance on Layer-2 solutions instead of focusing solely on enhancing a single high-performance base layer, Buterin explained the community's strategy.

He stated that Ethereum is not only working to optimize its base layer but also ensuring that the blockchain is usable and scalable while maintaining decentralization. “This needs to happen at both the blockchain layer, including the software we use to run and talk to the blockchain, and the application layer,” he clarified.

Buterin acknowledged that improvements are still needed across all components but expressed confidence in the future path of Ethereum.

“Fortunately, we have powerful tools on our side – but we need to apply them, and we will,” he concluded, reiterating his commitment to executing the community's long-term vision.

A developer from Metalex expressed appreciation for Buterin’s ongoing dedication, stating, “I’m so grateful for you and Ethereum, Vitalik. It’s what brought me into crypto and what keeps me here.” The developer highlighted Buterin's commitment to cypherpunk ideals, noting that he could have exited the crypto space for profit long ago but chose to stay true to his values.

Buterin's New Year's message follows an essay he published in December, where he warned about the dangers of concentrated power within governments and corporations, proposing mandatory technological diffusion as a potential solution.

Earlier in December, he also suggested developing a trustless on-chain futures market for gas fees to enhance predictability in Ethereum transaction costs as the network continues to grow.