Vitalik Buterin believes Ethereum should be able to continue operating reliably even if its core developers step away. According to him, the protocol needs to adopt full quantum-resistant cryptography as early as possible, rather than postponing the shift in exchange for short-term efficiency gains. His comments come as digital asset developers increasingly reassess long-term security risks amid rapid advances in quantum computing.
Ethereum must pass the “walkaway test”
In a post on X published Sunday, the Ethereum co-founder stressed that the network’s base layer must pass what he calls the “walkaway test”—the idea that Ethereum’s value and security should not depend on constant protocol upgrades or the ongoing stewardship of a small group of developers.
Buterin argued that even if development slows or stops altogether, Ethereum should remain stable, secure, and trustworthy for decades. “Ethereum, as a blockchain, must have the traits we strive for in Ethereum’s applications,” he wrote. “Therefore, Ethereum itself must pass the walkaway test.”
No delay in the face of quantum risk
At the core of Buterin’s argument is the growing threat posed by quantum computing. He said Ethereum should not wait until quantum machines are capable of breaking blockchain security before transitioning to quantum-resistant cryptography.
“We should resist the trap of saying, ‘Let’s delay quantum resistance until the last possible moment in the name of squeezing out a bit more efficiency,’” Buterin warned. While individual users may choose when to prepare for a quantum threat, he argued that base-layer protocols do not have that luxury.
Being able to say that “Ethereum’s protocol, as it stands today, is cryptographically safe for a hundred years” should be a goal pursued as soon as possible and treated as a point of pride, he added.
A shift in perspective as technology advances
Compared with 2019—when Buterin played down Google’s early quantum breakthroughs—his stance has clearly evolved. He now argues that large-scale systems like Ethereum cannot afford to treat quantum resistance as a last-minute patch once the technology becomes real.
Recent scientific milestones have reinforced this view. Advances in qubit counts, coherence, and error correction suggest that large-scale quantum hardware is no longer a distant theoretical goal. This has renewed concern for blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, which rely on elliptic-curve cryptography that could, in principle, be broken by sufficiently powerful quantum computers.
Debate over costs and timing
Despite Buterin’s call for early action, some developers urge caution. Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano and a co-founder of Ethereum, has warned that post-quantum cryptography is typically slower, produces much larger proofs, and is significantly less efficient.
According to Hoskinson, adopting these systems too early could severely reduce blockchain throughput, forcing difficult trade-offs between long-term security and current performance. In his view, the key issue is not whether to make the transition, but when.
Technical priorities for long-term viability
Beyond the walkaway test, Buterin outlined a range of technical priorities he believes Ethereum must address to remain viable over the long term. These include an architecture capable of scaling to thousands of transactions per second through mechanisms such as zero-knowledge EVM validation and data-availability sampling, with future growth handled largely through parameter changes.
He also highlighted the need for a durable state design, a general-purpose account model that moves beyond enshrined ECDSA signatures, a gas schedule hardened against denial-of-service attacks, proof-of-stake economics that remain decentralized in the future, and block-building mechanisms that resist centralization while preserving censorship resistance.
Buterin said this work should be completed over the next several years, with future innovation driven primarily by client optimization and limited parameter adjustments rather than repeated, disruptive upgrades.
“Every year, we should check off at least one of these boxes—ideally more,” he wrote. “Do the right thing once, based on a clear understanding of what is truly right, and maximize Ethereum’s technological and social robustness for the long term.”
