Interview with Vitalik Buterin: Discussing Ethereum POS, Layer 2, and Future Development

On April 7, 2025, at the Pop-X HK Research House event held in Hong Kong, Yan, the founder of the DappLearning community, interviewed Vitalik Buterin. The following are the main points of the interview:

01 Views on POS Upgrade

Vitalik believes that the prices of BTC and ETH are unrelated to POW and POS. He pointed out that one issue facing ETH is that the success of applications may not bring corresponding value to ETH. In this regard, Vitalik stated that it is necessary to support more applications that are beneficial to ETH holders and the long-term value of ETH.

02 PBS Architecture and Centralization Concerns

Regarding the PBS( Proposer & Builder Separation ) architecture potentially leading to centralization issues in Builders, Vitalik believes:

• The threshold for validating blocks is still very low, and ordinary nodes can participate in the consensus process.
• Even if most blocks are built by a few "super nodes", they cannot affect the consensus process.
• The Fossil mechanism can separate the roles of selecting transactions and executing transactions, allowing small nodes to have the capability to select transactions.

Overall, this architecture is more complex than before, but it can improve network performance while ensuring decentralization.

03 Issues and Future Directions Between Layer 1 and Layer 2

Vitalik pointed out the following issues with the current Layer2:

1. The progress on security is not fast enough.
2. Interoperability issues between Layer 2

He believes that 80% of the Layer 2 cross-chain issues are UX problems. To address these issues, Vitalik proposed:

• Supports 2 of 3 verification method ( OP + ZK + TEE )
• Reduce cross-chain costs through methods such as the Open Intents Framework.
• Long-term plans to reduce withdrawal time from 1 hour to 12 seconds or 4 seconds.

Regarding the role of Layer 1, Vitalik stated:

• Layer1 needs to take on more roles to ensure the value of ETH.
• Some high-value applications (, such as long-term DeFi ), are more suitable to run on Layer 1.
• Plan to increase the Gaslimit of Layer1 by 10 times through various methods by 2026.

04 The Development of Cryptography and AI

Vitalik is cautiously optimistic about the combination of ZK, MPC, and FHE. He pointed out that MPC and FHE require the selection of node committees, which may pose security risks.

Regarding AI, Vitalik believes:

• AI may enhance the power of centralized states, but it also has democratizing effects.
• AI can help bridge the gap between experts and novices.
• Need to consider the impact of the combination of blockchain, AI, cryptography, and other technologies on society

05 Expectations for the Ethereum Ecosystem and Suggestions for Developers

Vitalik encourages developers:

• Try applications that were previously impossible, as issues like TPS and privacy have now been resolved.
• Develop applications that have real value and sustainable business models.
• Use tools such as AI to reduce development difficulty

He hopes to see more applications that lie between "extreme idealism but with few users" and "pure gambling," believing that now is a good time for developers to succeed.