Vitalik Buterin lays out walkaway test for a quantum safe Ethereum

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin described what he sees as the technical threshold for the blockchain to truly be selfsustaining.

In an article on X that was written Jan, in the post. But a “walkaway test” must pass, according to 12 Buterin, for Ethereum. The protocol should be safe and useful even if core developers stop shipping major upgrades,’ said the phrase.

He said Ethereum does not need to stop evolving, he said. He said it has to be so ‘if it chose to ossify, then that is when we have the right time.

Ethereum itself must pass the walkaway test.

Designed to be the home of trustless, Trust-minimised apps such as in finance, governance or elsewhere, > Ethereum is intended for use with trustlessly and trust-based applications. s need to support more like tools-like apps – the hammer that once you buy it’s your own – rather than like.

vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 12, 2026

Buterin referred to quantum resistance as “one of the most important things I should do.” For decades the protocol should be ‘cryptographically safe’ and not “a crisis forcesrushed changes,” he said, adding that it was an important step to ensure safety for its protocols.

This is faster and stronger than traditional technologies, exposing current encryption techniques (which depend on the time it takes to break them for their strength) that makes quantum computing dangerous.

Read more: Quantum computing threatens the $2 trillion Bitcoin network. BTQ Technologies says it has a defense.

He also listed several other areas he wants Ethereum to lock in.

It’s scalability, one is . Yeterin added that “the protocol requires a architecture which is capable of carrying out several thousand transaction per second.” He pointed to the path of ZK EVM validation and data sampling through PeerDAS, as well as referring to “PerD” (the term for P.EVM) verification in its entirety.”

State management (which handles higher throughput without making it harder for nodes to sync or store data) is another example. He also wants full account abstraction so that Ethereum can move beyond enshrined ECDSA signatures. For instance, transaction is verified on the blockchain using elliptic curve digital signature algorithm (i.e.

Buterin said Ethereum should have a gas, or fees, schedule that is resistant to denial of service risks,” buterin added. He also identified evidence of stake economics and block building as long term pressure points for s. He added that those parts of the system must resist centralization and protect censorship resistance.

The most improvements are from client performance and parameter adjustments in his preferred end state, which is an Ethereum where he prefers to see. The protocol should be tick off at least one of these goals every year, he said.

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