Will Ethereum be completely different by 2027? What is Buterin's 'last general fork'?

▲ Ethereum (ETH) ©Godasol

A forecast has emerged that Ethereum (ETH) could enter a completely different development phase starting with the Hegotá upgrade in 2027. Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, suggested that Hegotá could be the last 'general' fork in a form familiar to existing users, and after that, Ethereum is expected to evolve into a 'cryptographic world computer' combining Recursive STARKs and Quantum-safe Cryptography.

According to the investment media FXStreet on September 28 (local time), Buterin stated that Hegotá, scheduled for 2027, could be the last upgrade where someone familiar with Ethereum in 2015 would recognize its functions and technologies. Subsequent development is expected to shift to new technologies such as Recursive STARKs, Automated Formal Verification, Optimized Consensus, and Quantum-safe Cryptography.

Buterin cited PeerDAS as the starting point for this change. PeerDAS is a technology that allows nodes to verify data availability by sampling some data instead of downloading all of it. He evaluated this as the moment Ethereum began to transition from a simple blockchain to a more powerful system, explaining that it could ultimately evolve into a 'cryptographic world computer' combining blockchain, cryptographic verification, privacy, and decentralized off-chain components.

In such a structure, more computations would move off-chain, and the Ethereum base layer would be responsible for verifying results, settling transactions, and accessing shared on-chain state. Ethereum researcher Barnabé Monnot explained that performing computations off-chain and then recording and proving the results on-chain can significantly reduce the workload the network needs to process and enable lighter nodes. However, he emphasized that critical records that applications rely on must remain on-chain so that users can directly verify and interact with them without external servers or intermediaries.

An analysis also suggested that the scope of decentralized finance (DeFi) utilization could expand. An anonymous commentator, Cryptographic, proposed a structure where complex computations are processed outside smart contracts, and Ethereum then only verifies whether the results comply with protocol rules. For example, in DeFi lending, collateral analysis, liquidation path settings, and connecting borrowers and lenders could be handled off-chain, with the final results verified and settled on Ethereum.

However, the actual demand for a cryptographic proof-centric system remains a challenge. Gabriel Shapiro, a cryptocurrency lawyer, questioned the demand for proof-based systems, stating that many existing financial services operate based on reputation, regulation, and legal enforcement rather than continuous cryptographic verification. How Ethereum divides the roles of computation and data after Hegotá to implement the vision of a 'cryptographic world computer' is expected to emerge as a key issue in future network development.

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