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Vitalik Buterin says Ethereum has backslided over years

Written by Jon CuthbertPublished Jan. 17 2026Last Updated Jan. 17 2026

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Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the blockchain has drifted away from its original cypherpunk ideals over the last 10 years.

Buterin outlined his concerns in a January 16 roadmap presentation that set 2026 as a turning point for the network.

He described the past decade as a period of “backsliding” on decentralisation as Ethereum prioritised scalability and mainstream adoption.

The Ethereum co-founder said compromises made for growth weakened the network’s promise of self-sovereignty for users.

Buterin warned that many Ethereum users now rely heavily on centralised infrastructure to interact with the blockchain.

He pointed to widespread dependence on trusted servers and Remote Procedure Calls, or RPCs, as a structural weakness.

This setup forces users to trust third-party data providers instead of verifying blockchain data independently.

Buterin said this reliance undermines the core principle of permissionless verification.

To address the issue, the 2026 roadmap prioritises technologies such as Helios and Zero-Knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machines.

These tools aim to make running a full node possible on standard consumer hardware.

The approach uses Bridges and Local Verification to allow users to check incoming data themselves.

By pushing verification to the network’s edge, Ethereum plans to reduce reliance on centralised gateways.

Buterin specifically referenced infrastructure providers such as Infura and Alchemy as points of over-centralisation.

The roadmap also introduces stronger privacy-focused user experience features across the ecosystem.

These changes could create friction with blockchain analytics firms that rely on extensive user data.

Buterin proposed integrating Oblivious RAM and Private Information Retrieval into Ethereum’s architecture.

These cryptographic tools allow wallets to request data without exposing access patterns.

The goal is to prevent RPC providers from tracking or monetising user behaviour.

On security, Ethereum plans to standardise social recovery wallets and time-lock mechanisms.

These tools aim to simplify fund recovery without relying on centralised custodians or cloud services.

Buterin warned that cloud-based backups could be vulnerable to interference from large technology firms.

The roadmap also calls for wider use of decentralised storage systems such as IPFS for user interfaces.

This shift is intended to reduce the risk of compromised front ends locking users out of their assets.

Buterin acknowledged that many of these changes will not arrive in the immediate next releases.

He said the roadmap represents a long-term rethinking of how Ethereum handles trust and verification.

It will be a long road. We will not get everything we want in the next Kohaku release, or the next hard fork, or the hard fork after that. But it will make Ethereum into an ecosystem that deserves not only its current place in the universe, but a much greater one.

Vitalik Buterin said.

At the time of reporting, Ethereum price was $3,302.38.