Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum does not pursue being the fastest but aims to become the most secure chain, achieving ZKVM-led validation by 2028.

ChainCatcher on-site report: Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin delivered a keynote speech at the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival. He defined Ethereum as having two core functions: first, a public bulletin board for applications to publish messages and data; second, a shared digital object controlled by code, covering assets, NFTs, ENS, and DAOs. He emphasized that Ethereum’s goal is not to compete with high-frequency trading platforms in speed, but to become the most secure, most decentralized, always-online trusted chain.

Regarding the short-term roadmap, he introduced the account abstraction proposal EIP-8141, which natively supports smart contract wallets, quantum-resistant signature algorithms, and privacy protocols; on quantum resistance, there are currently hash-based and lattice-based signature schemes, with the team significantly improving their efficiency through EVM vectorization.

He revealed that ZKVM is fast enough to prove real-time EVM execution, with the goal this year to ensure its security. The plan is to start deploying on a small network, and by 2028, it will become the primary method for validation chains, enabling Ethereum to scale significantly without sacrificing decentralization. In terms of long-term vision, Ethereum is actively utilizing AI-generated mathematical proofs to formalize software security verification, pursuing complete quantum resistance and maximum simplicity to ensure platform security without relying on the continued existence of any single team.