Vitalik Buterin stresses real usability and decentralization over winning 'next meta'

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stressed the importance of usable and actually decentralized applications to achieve the network's ultimate goal of becoming the "world computer."

In a New Year's message on X, Buterin urged the Ethereum community to focus on core principles, framing the platform as a counter to increasing centralization across the technology sector.

Buterin said that everyday products and services are increasingly being turned into subscription-based products controlled by centralized authorities. Applications built on Ethereum should combat this, he added, as its mission is to serve as the key infrastructure for a free and open internet.

According to the Ethereum founder, decentralized applications must be able to operate without fraud, censorship, or third-party interference, and the "walkaway test" — meaning they should continue functioning even if the original developers leave the project.

Applications should also be able to "transcend" all external variables such as Cloudflare suspensions, corporate bankruptcies, politics, and ideologies, Buterin noted.

"To achieve this, it needs to be (i) usable, and usable at scale, and (ii) actually decentralized," Buterin wrote. "This needs to happen at both (a) the blockchain layer, including the software we use to run and talk to the blockchain, and (b) the application layer."  

Buterin stated that developers on Ethereum must look beyond "winning the next meta" and work on building and improving applications that are truly decentralized and usable.

"Fortunately, we have powerful tools on our side — but we need to apply them, and we will," Buterin wrote.

2025 retrospect

Meanwhile, Ethereum made significant progress in 2025 with two major network upgrades — Pectra in May and Fusaka in December — that improved scalability and efficiency. 

Pectra increased blob throughput, introduced account abstraction for better wallet usability, and raised validator staking limits. Fusaka activated PeerDAS, streamlining data availability sampling to support higher blob counts without increasing node strain.

These upgrades, alongside increased gas limits and zkEVM performance breakthroughs, have significantly reduced costs while advancing Ethereum's rollup-centric roadmap.

Despite the major developments, ether's price has remained subdued, currently trading at $3,008, according to The Block's Ethereum price page.