Vitalik Buterin states that Ethereum has solved the blockchain trilemma with code in production

Source: Yellow Original Title: Vitalik Buterin states that Ethereum has solved the blockchain trilemma with production code

Original Link: Ethereum (ETH), co-founder Vitalik Buterin, stated that the network has solved the blockchain trilemma through zero-knowledge virtual machines and new data management technologies.

However, full security implementation is still years away.

In a post on January 3rd on X, Buterin said that the combination of ZK-EVMs and PeerDAS represents a fundamental shift for Ethereum.

He argued that the trilemma has been solved “not on paper, but with live, running code.”

What happened

The blockchain trilemma refers to the difficulty of achieving decentralization, security, and high bandwidth simultaneously.

Buterin claimed that PeerDAS is already active on the mainnet, while ZK-EVMs have achieved production-quality performance in the alpha stage.

He described the updated architecture as “BitTorrent with consensus,” contrasting with Bitcoin’s model, which prioritizes decentralization but struggles with data throughput.

Zero-knowledge virtual machines on Ethereum enable faster transaction verification without exposing underlying data.

PeerDAS changes how Ethereum verifies data availability by allowing validators to check small random parts instead of downloading all block data.

Buterin outlined a multi-year implementation timeline extending into the late 2020s.

Why it matters

Gas limit increases are expected to begin in 2026 through protocol changes that separate transaction proposers from block builders.

Between 2026 and 2028, developers will introduce gas reprocessing and modifications to the state structure.

ZK-EVMs will not become the primary block validation method until between 2027 and 2030, according to Buterin’s roadmap.

He emphasized that there is still significant work to be done to ensure system security despite the production-quality performance.

Distributed block construction remains a long-term goal to prevent centralized control over transaction building.

This technical shift comes as Ethereum faces competition from faster, cheaper blockchains, pressuring developers to accelerate scaling solution deployments.