Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum Aims to Build a Decentralized Internet with Improved Decentralization and Usability
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin outlined the network’s priorities for 2026 and beyond, framing Ethereum’s mission as building a decentralized internet (‘the computer of the internet’). He highlighted 2025 technical milestones — higher gas limits, increased blob counts, better node software quality, zkEVM performance gains, and PeerDAS — and said these advances move Ethereum toward greater scalability, usability, and decentralization. Buterin emphasized the goal of decentralized applications that resist fraud, censorship and third‑party failures (passing the “walkaway test”), extending beyond finance into identity, governance and other infrastructure. He warned against chasing short‑term trends (e.g., tokenized dollars or memecoins) and said improvements in speed, robustness and privacy serve the broader mission. The article notes real‑world asset (RWA) tokenization activity on Ethereum has surpassed $15 billion. A disclaimer reminds readers this is not investment advice.
Bullish
Neutral-to-positive fundamental upgrades: The article describes protocol-level improvements (higher gas limits, more blobs, node software quality, zkEVM performance, PeerDAS) and strong developer focus on decentralization and usability. These technical advances and growing RWA activity (> $15B) improve Ethereum’s utility and long-term value proposition, which is typically bullish for ETH over the medium to long term. Traders may respond positively as improved throughput and zkEVM maturity reduce scaling and cost concerns, enabling more on‑chain activity and demand for ETH (for gas, staking, and ecosystem services).
Short-term impact may be muted: announcements of roadmap progress and philosophical reinforcement from Vitalik often support sentiment but do not always trigger immediate price spikes absent concrete mainnet launches or measurable usage jumps. Caution also stems from market-wide macro conditions and speculative flows that can override protocol news. Overall: constructive fundamentals that support a bullish medium/long-term outlook, but limited guaranteed short-term price movement unless paired with measurable adoption metrics or large inflows.