Ethereum co-founder Vitalik recently made an unexpected statement. He admitted that over the past decade, Ethereum has not made progress in several key areas, but rather experienced a "significant regression." However, he immediately followed up with a weighty judgment — 2026 will become a turning point for Ethereum to fully regain lost ground.

This is not just a slogan. Vitalik has provided a complete technical roadmap, with each item targeting Ethereum's current pain points.

ZK-EVM combined with BAL can significantly reduce the technical barriers for running full nodes, making decentralization no longer just an ideal. Helios validators allow users to independently verify RPC data, truly taking verification rights out of the nodes' hands. ORAM and PIR technologies protect privacy while fulfilling data requests without exposing user identities. Social recovery wallets with time-lock mechanisms can reduce the risk of asset loss, making them more user-friendly. Privacy payment upgrades at the wallet level mean that privacy features are no longer a toy for a select few. Account abstraction schemes like ERC-4337 will make privacy and censorship resistance default configurations rather than optional.

Vitalik's core attitude can be summarized in one sentence: starting in 2026, Ethereum will no longer sacrifice long-term value for "usability." This is not a market compromise but a thorough correction of the route.

If these goals are gradually realized, Ethereum's competition will be about more than just price space. The real competition points to a more fundamental question: who is qualified to carry the next generation of the decentralized internet?

Short-term market focus is on emotional fluctuations, but the long-term pattern is always determined by underlying direction. Is this the starting point for Ethereum to return to its peak, or an idealist's risky gamble?