Vitalik Buterin Claims Ethereum Has Solved the Trilemma

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin declared that the blockchain has solved the trilemma through a combination of ZK-EVMs reaching production-grade performance and PeerDAS running live on mainnet.

The technological developments position Ethereum as a network combining high bandwidth, consensus, and decentralization. These were three qualities previously considered impossible to achieve simultaneously.

Buterin expects higher non-ZK-EVM gas limits and the emergence of ZK-EVM nodes starting in 2026. ZK-EVMs will become the primary block validation method between 2027 and 2030, while distributed block building remains a long-term goal to reduce centralization risk and improve geographic fairness.

“These are not minor improvements; they are shifting Ethereum into being a fundamentally new and more powerful kind of decentralized network,” Buterin wrote on X.

Live code breaks Ethereum bandwidth constraints

Buterin framed the achievement by comparing Ethereum to previous peer-to-peer networks. BitTorrent launched in 2000 with huge total bandwidth and high decentralization but lacked consensus mechanisms.

Bitcoin introduced consensus and decentralization in 2009 but maintained low bandwidth through replicated rather than distributed work.

“Now, Ethereum with PeerDAS (2025) and ZK-EVMs (expect small portions of the network using it in 2026), we get: decentralized, consensus and high bandwidth,” Buterin stated. “The trilemma has been solved – not on paper, but with live running code.”

PeerDAS is running on mainnet today. ZK-EVMs have reached production-quality performance with remaining work focused on safety rather than capability. The technology took years to develop, with ZK-EVM attempts starting around 2020.

Buterin shared a four-year rollout timeline. In 2026, large non-ZK-EVM-dependent gas limit increases will arrive through Bandwidth Allocation Limits (BALs) and enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS). The first opportunities to run ZK-EVM nodes will emerge during this period.

Between 2026 and 2028, Ethereum will implement gas repricings, changes to state structure, and move execution payloads into blobs. These adjustments make higher gas limits safe to deploy.

Distributed building targets geographic fairness

From 2027 to 2030, large gas limit increases will roll out as ZK-EVM validation becomes the network’s primary method for block validation.

Buterin described distributed block building as a “long-term ideal holy grail” where the full block is never constituted in a single place.

“Even before that point, we want the meaningful authority in block building to be as distributed as possible,” he wrote. Distribution can occur in-protocol through expanded FOCIL implementations or out-of-protocol via distributed builder marketplaces.

In a January 1 post, Buterin highlighted the network’s 2025 progress including increased gas limits, higher blob counts, improved node software quality, and ZK-EVM performance milestones.

He challenged the network to focus on its core mission: “To build the world computer that serves as a central infrastructure piece of a more free and open internet.”