Gate 2025 Year-End Community Gala Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated that the blockchain needs to pass a “walkaway test” to become self-sustainable; this means it should operate securely without major upgrades from the main developers.

Buterin emphasized the importance of quantum resistance and scalability, aiming for Ethereum to process thousands of transactions per second.
He highlighted the need for a fee schedule resistant to denial-of-service attacks and stressed the importance of decentralization in block creation with the proof-of-stake economy.