Vitalik: Planning to create an Ethereum that adheres to cyberpunk principles and is "not ugly," with future potential for system-level language migration

ChainCatcher News, Vitalik Buterin posted on X stating that he is attempting to promote a more ambitious plan: building a “cyberpunk principles-compliant and aesthetically pleasing Ethereum” layer on top of the existing system, with the goal of achieving as close integration and high interoperability with the current ecosystem as possible.

This plan will develop gradually while ensuring that Ethereum itself adopts the necessary system-level features of cyberpunk and simplicity, including resistance to censorship, ZK-proof friendliness, and consensus layer attributes.

Vitalik Buterin further stated that within the next five years (or even sooner with accelerated AI coding and formal verification), an open pathway may be established to allow existing systems to migrate to smart contracts written in a new system language when needed.

Ethereum has previously undergone major upgrades akin to “airborne engine replacements” during operation—such as “The Merge”—and still has the capacity for about four more system-level transformations of similar scale in the future, including state tree optimization, streamlined consensus, ZK-EVM verification, and virtual machine layer changes.