Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin admitted that the network is finally closing one of its longest technology gaps: the lack of deep peer-to-peer (P2P) network expertise within the Ethereum Foundation.
In an X post late Monday, Buterin said he believes Ethereum focuses too much on cryptoeconomics, Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus and block layer research, while taking the network layer for granted.
But the mood has changed. He pointed to early PeerDAS performance as proof that the foundation can now make complex network improvements at scale, and credited Raúl Jordan and others for getting the system running.
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PeerDAS is the prototype for Data Availability Sampling (DAS), which is critical for Ethereum to scale through sharding. It allows light clients to check whether all shard data has been published by sampling small portions, thereby greatly enhancing scalability while maintaining decentralization and security.
In another X post last week, Buterin added that Ethereum still needs a well-functioning on-chain natural gas futures market, arguing that a prediction market on BASEFEE could give users clearer expectations for future gas costs and allow teams to hedge congestion risks in the coming years.
These comments come amid a new wave of institutional accumulation. BitMine Immersion Technologies is the largest corporate holder of ETH, purchasing 138,452 tokens (approximately $435 million) last week, bringing its inventory to 3.86 million ETH. Chairman Thomas Lee said the company accelerated purchases after the Fusaka upgrade and expected an easing macro environment to support risk assets in early 2026.
The pace of BitMine’s purchases has picked up after months of quiet accumulation, with the company viewing the move as a strategic bet on Ethereum’s execution layer and scaling roadmap rather than a short-term positioning play.
Whether this demand aligns with Buterin’s push for a more robust network layer could influence sentiment around Ethereum’s next phase of scaling — especially as questions surrounding the future cost of block space continue to spark debate within the community.