Vitalik Buterin Rejects Ethereum Phase-Out Proposal, Outlines Four-Upgrade Path
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin on Feb. 21 rejected a community proposal to sideline the current Ethereum protocol through fragmentation and rebuild a RISCV-based chain, BlockBeats reports. He said he aims to develop a "cypherpunk-pure, non-ugly Ethereum" as a tightly integrated extension of the existing network, with seamless interoperability and migration via smart contracts within five years. Buterin outlined four major upgrades to be implemented incrementally, similar to the previous Merge, focusing on state tree optimization, Lean consensus, ZKEVM verification, and VM changes to improve censorship resistance, ZK-friendliness, and simplicity.