Vitalik Buterin: ZK Speed Race Won, Ethereum Security Is Now Priority

In a post on X, Vitalik Buterin congratulated the ZKsync Airbender team on a new milestone. He said the fight for speed is over and that zkEVMs should now focus fully on security. He set out three formal verification targets: proving the arithmetization matches the Ethereum specification exactly, enforcing a hard maximum on prover cost relative to a block's gas, and securing the proof system itself.

The shift matters because Ethereum's roadmap relies more heavily on zero-knowledge proofs to validate blocks. A proof that is fast but incorrect would be dangerous for the network. Buterin also warned that a prover costing too much for heavy blocks could push smaller operators out, harming decentralization. He called on developers to close these gaps before the technology takes on real weight.

The comments come during a weak period for ETH's price. According to u.today, ETH trades near $2,365 on the daily chart, down roughly 15% from a late September high near $2,800. It fell through blue and cyan averages around $2,490 and $2,550, and now sits at the orange average near $2,360. The black average near $2,305 is the next support, just below the recent low of $2,313.

u.today notes that volume is steady but not strong, while the RSI is near 38, close to oversold. That suggests sellers remain in control, though a bounce could form if the orange and black averages hold. A move back above $2,490 would be the first sign of recovery, according to the report.

Buterin's message is not a short-term price trigger, as security work is slow and traders are unlikely to react to it. Still, it sets a clear direction for Ethereum's technical road. If teams follow it, the network could end up with proofs that are fast, cheap and trusted, which the roadmap needs. For now, the chart will decide the next move, and a break below $2,305 could put the larger recovery since August at risk.