Vitalik Buterin Interview in Chinese: Discussing Ethereum POS, Layer 2, Cryptography, and the Integration of AI

On April 7, 2025, at the Pop-X HK Research House event held in Hong Kong, Vitalik Buterin was interviewed by Yan, the founder of the DappLearning community. The following is a summary of the main points from the interview:

Views on POS Upgrade

Vitalik believes that the price of ETH is unrelated to POW/POS and depends more on the value contribution of ecological applications to ETH. He pointed out the need to support applications that have long-term value for ETH.

PBS Architecture and Centralization Concerns

Vitalik believes that PBS is a complex but necessary architecture. Although Builders may be more centralized, their malfeasance can be restricted through various mechanisms, such as the Fossil concept.

The Relationship Between Layer 1 and Layer 2

Vitalik raised several issues faced by L2:

1. The progress in security is not fast enough.
2. Interoperability issues between L2s
3. Some high-value applications are more suitable on L1.

He believes that L1 still needs to play an important role and has proposed several solutions to enhance L1 scalability.

Ethereum Upgrade Plan

Vitalik revealed plans to conduct the Pectra upgrade at the end of April, and the Fusaka upgrade in Q3 or Q4. He proposed some suggestions to accelerate the upgrade process.

Views on Cryptography and AI

Vitalik believes that ZK development should be layered, and developers only need to master high-level languages. He has some concerns about the combination of FHE/MPC. Regarding AI, he thinks it may narrow the gap between experts and novices.

Advice for Ethereum Developers

Vitalik encourages developers to seize the opportunity to create applications that have real value and sustainable business models. He believes that developers now have more resources than ever before, and the chances of success are significant.