Ethereum's Shift to Cryptographic Proofs and Sampling

Vitalik Buterin's recent essay, 'The Cryptographic World Computer,' outlines a new vision for Ethereum where nodes verify cryptographic proofs and sample data instead of re-executing every block. This shift would move much application computation offchain.

The plan is set to be implemented after the Hegota fork planned for 2027. Buterin notes that this change will make Ethereum 'really not just a blockchain anymore' but rather a hybrid of blockchains and modern cryptography.

Currently, nodes re-run every block to check its validity. Under the new plan, they would verify a proof that a block's computation was done correctly and confirm the data behind it exists.

The sampling half of this plan is already live with PeerDAS, which lets nodes confirm data availability by checking small portions of data instead of downloading everything. This method shipped in the Fusaka upgrade in December 2025 and will later cover full block contents.