Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin says the Hegotá upgrade, planned for 2027, could be the network’s last major fork whose features would look familiar to someone who knew Ethereum in 2015. After that, he expects development to move toward cryptographic verification, privacy-focused systems and more computation handled outside the blockchain.
From blockchain to “cryptographic world computer”
According to Cointelegraph, Buterin said PeerDAS represented the beginning of Ethereum’s transition from a conventional blockchain into a broader computing system. PeerDAS allows network nodes to check whether data is available by sampling parts of it, rather than downloading the entire dataset.
Buterin described Hegotá as potentially the final upgrade in which Ethereum’s technology and features remain recognizable in the traditional sense. He linked the next phase of development to technologies including recursive STARKs, automated formal verification, optimized consensus and cryptography designed to withstand quantum-computing threats.
The proposed direction would change the balance between work performed directly by Ethereum and work completed elsewhere. Instead of requiring nodes to download and re-execute every transaction, applications could perform more computation offchain. Ethereum’s base layer would then verify the results, settle transactions and maintain access to shared onchain state.
In this model, cryptographic proofs would be used to demonstrate that offchain results follow the network’s rules. The aim, as presented by Buterin, is an architecture combining blockchain settlement with cryptographic verification, privacy and decentralized components operating away from the base layer.
Debate over what should remain onchain
The proposal has raised questions about how much computation and application data Ethereum should continue to process directly. Ethereum researcher Barnabé Monnot said that moving computation offchain while committing the results to Ethereum and proving them could reduce the network’s workload and make it possible for nodes to be lighter.
Monnot also argued that important records on which applications depend should remain onchain. Keeping that information directly accessible, he said, would allow users to observe and interact with applications without depending on external servers or intermediaries.
A pseudonymous commentator known as Cryptographic said the approach could expand the capabilities of decentralized-finance applications. Tasks such as assessing collateral, routing liquidations or matching borrowers with lenders could take place outside smart contracts, with Ethereum checking and settling the resulting transactions.
Crypto lawyer Gabriel Shapiro raised a different question: how much demand there is for systems based on cryptographic proofs when many financial services currently depend on reputation, regulation and legal enforcement. That highlights a central issue for Ethereum’s proposed evolution—whether proof-based infrastructure will complement existing trust-based arrangements or replace more of their functions.
Ethereum market picture
Moneyiar market data at 22:03–22:04 on September 25, 2026, showed Ethereum (ETH) at $2,681.7028821295, down 0.13% over 24 hours but up 2.05% over seven days. Shiba Inu (SHIB) was $0.0000058406, up 0.46% in 24 hours and 6.10% over seven days. Uniswap (UNI) stood at $9.4332270255, with gains of 2.98% and 4.82% over those periods, respectively. Pepe (PEPE) was $0.0000044327, down 0.06% over 24 hours and up 14.70% over seven days.
Buterin’s comments describe a long-term technological direction rather than a change to current market pricing. The immediate milestone identified in the discussion is Hegotá, planned for 2027, while the broader transition would depend on how Ethereum’s developers resolve the trade-offs between offchain computation, onchain visibility and decentralized verification.
