New scaling technologies: Ethereum co-founder Buterin sees the trilemma as solved
Balancing decentralization, security and scalability is considered the trilemma of blockchain. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin now sees this as technically solved.
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• Blockchain trilemma of decentralization, security and scalability
• Ethereum co-founder Buterin sees the trilemma as solved
• It will take some time until it is fully implemented
The blockchain trilemma, which has been discussed for decades, describes the conflicting core requirements of the blockchain: security, scalability and decentralization. A high level of security is intended to ensure that recorded data is always unchangeable and tamper-proof. However, strong security mechanisms can negatively impact scalability and decentralization.
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Scalability is about making the blockchain network efficient and enabling rapid growth to process an increasing number of transactions. However, increasing transaction volume can affect decentralization, a problem that is particularly common to the Ethereum proof-of-stake system.
Finally, decentralization is intended to ensure that control of the network does not lie with a single entity. However, very strong decentralization can in turn reduce scalability and increase transaction times.
Ethereum co-founder Buterin sees the trilemma as solved
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin now sees this trilemma as technically solved, as he explains in an X article. The combination of Zero-Knowledge Virtual Machines (ZK-EVMs) and PeerDAS fundamentally changed the technical basis of Ethereum and led to a structural change in the network. However, it will probably take until after 2030 for this architecture to be fully and safely implemented, which is why Buterin also urged patience.
Now that ZKEVMs are at alpha stage (production-quality performance, remaining work is safety) and PeerDAS is live on mainnet, it’s time to talk more about what this combination means for Ethereum.
These are not minor improvements; they are shifting Ethereum into being a…
– vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 3, 2026
As BTC-Echo explains, with the help of ZK-EVMs it is possible to cryptographically verify transactions and smart contracts without having to disclose all data. At the same time, PeerDAS ensures that large amounts of data can be distributed efficiently across the network without compromising the security of decentralized ledgers.
Buterin sees the new architecture as a kind of “BitTorrent with consensus”. In the future, Ethereum will be able to process volumes of data while maintaining a global consensus mechanism, as large file sharing networks can, which solves the blockchain trilemma.
Safety maturity not yet fully achieved
However, as the Ethereum co-founder points out, the final security maturity of the new architecture has not yet been reached, even if parts of the new structure are already live on the mainnet. Buterin estimates that ZK-EVMs will only become the dominant method for block validation between 2027 and 2030.
In the long term, Buterin says the ideal solution is that a complete bloc “is never formed in a single place.” Although this will not be necessary for a long time, in his opinion it is worth striving for such an ideal. Until this is achieved, the aim is to distribute the “relevant authority in block building” as widely as possible. In this way, the risk of centralized interference with real-time transaction capture would be reduced while creating a better environment for geographical fairness.
Editorial team finanzen.net