DappLearning Interview with Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin

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

Views on POS Upgrade

Vitalik believes that the ETH price is unrelated to POW/POS and instead depends more on the value of ecological applications. He pointed out the need to support applications that provide long-term value for ETH holders.

PBS Architecture and Centralization Concerns

Vitalik explained the advantages of the PBS architecture and how to reduce validation costs and ensure decentralization through technological innovation. He emphasized that although the difficulty of building blocks has increased, validation costs will be significantly lowered.

The Relationship Between Layer1 and Layer2

Vitalik pointed out that the current L2 has issues such as slow security progress and insufficient interoperability. He believes that some high-value applications are more suitable to run on L1, therefore Ethereum is promoting multiple L1 scaling solutions.

Ethereum Upgrade Plan

Vitalik revealed that the Pectra upgrade will take place soon, and the Fusaka upgrade may also occur within the year. He mentioned that measures are being taken to improve upgrade efficiency, such as enhancing team coordination and increasing client requirements.

Views on Cryptography and AI

Vitalik believes that cryptographic technologies like ZK should be developed in layers, and most developers only need to master high-level languages. He is cautious about technologies like FHE, concerned that their committee mechanisms may pose security risks.

Regarding AI, Vitalik believes it can narrow the gap between experts and novices, bringing more opportunities for innovation.

Expectations for the Ethereum Ecosystem

Vitalik hopes that developers can:

1. Seize the new opportunities brought by current technological advancements.
2. Develop applications that are both practical and idealistic.
3. Explore sustainable business models

He believes that now is a good time for innovation in Ethereum applications and encourages developers to actively experiment.