Ethereum's 2030 Vision: Specialized Computers, Hybrid System, and Compact Proofs

Ethereum's vision for its 'world computer' by 2030 is shifting from a monolithic chain to a hybrid system, according to Vitalik Buterin.

The current model requires every participant to download and re-execute all computation, but the new architecture will allow specialized computers to perform workloads and produce compact cryptographic proofs for others to check.

Data-availability sampling and SNARK verification will support this model, allowing the network to establish that computation was performed correctly without making every verifier perform it again.

This shift aims to redefine Ethereum's 'world computer' ambition by weakening the link between the amount of computation being verified and the cost borne by verifiers.

The unresolved issue is whether Ethereum can distribute trust across specialized infrastructure without concentrating operational control there, particularly while current rollups still rely heavily on centralized sequencers.