Ethereum's Hegotá Upgrade May Be Last Normal Fork Before Radical Shift

Ethereum's upcoming Hegotá upgrade could be its last normal fork before a major transformation, according to Vitalik Buterin.

In an interview, Buterin stated that the network will likely undergo significant changes in the coming years, moving towards a 'cryptographic world computer' with recursive STARKs and quantum cryptography.

This shift involves migrating more computation off-chain and using the base layer to verify results and settle transactions. The proposal has sparked debate among researchers and experts, with some arguing that critical records should remain on-chain for users to access directly.

Buterin noted that the PeerDAS mechanism, which allows nodes to verify data availability by sampling portions rather than downloading all content, marked the beginning of this transition.