Vitalik Buterin Calls for Scrapping Ethereum’s ‘Most ZK-Unfriendly’ Feature

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed eliminating a key blockchain feature he originally invented, claiming it severely hampers the network’s scaling ￰2￱ modular exponentiation precompile, known as modexp , creates verification bottlenecks up to 50 times worse than average blocks when generating zero-knowledge proofs, according to Buterin’s recent statement on ￰3￱ proposal arrives as Ethereum intensifies its push toward a privacy-first infrastructure , while simultaneously addressing technical obstacles that impede the adoption of the zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual ￰4￱ acknowledged his role in creating the problematic feature, stating he “ bows his head in shame ” while advocating for its replacement with computationally equivalent code that would increase gas costs but dramatically reduce proof generation ￰5￱ the original inventor of the modexp precompile I bow my head in shame But modexp really does hold Ethereum back so ￰6￱ because of inefficiency, and because its complexity has exposed our ecosystem to huge amounts of consensus failure ￰7￱ could do heroic… — ￰8￱ (@VitalikButerin) November 3, 2025 The Technical Burden Holding Back Ethereum’s ZK Ambitions Zero-knowledge EVMs generate cryptographic proofs validating Ethereum computations off-chain, enabling faster transaction processing without compromising ￰9￱ prover component responsible for creating these proofs encounters exceptional difficulty with modexp operations, which are primarily used in RSA encryption and signing functions employed by minimal ￰10￱ explained that modexp’s computational intensity creates disproportionate delays in proof generation, directly slowing rollups and layer-2 solutions designed to accelerate ￰11￱ feature’s complexity also introduces consensus failure risks through potential edge cases and bugs that threaten network ￰12￱ than investing optimization resources into a feature affecting 0.01% of users, Buterin suggested replacing the precompile with standard EVM bytecode that achieves identical results at higher gas costs.) functionality could instead wrap operations in SNARKs, an alternative cryptographic proof system that mitigates ￰13￱ tradeoff prioritizes ecosystem stability and scaling progress over maintaining legacy features with narrow use cases, particularly as Ethereum faces more urgent performance ￰14￱ proposed Ethereum Improvement Proposal would fundamentally change how the network handles cryptographic operations that prove burdensome for zero-knowledge proof ￰15￱ Gateway Opens as Privacy Solutions Mature In late October, the Ethereum Foundation launched “Ethereum for Institutions” , providing enterprises and financial organizations with structured pathways for blockchain ￰16￱ initiative employs zero-knowledge proofs, fully homomorphic encryption, and trusted execution environments to enable compliant, audit-ready applications on public ￰17￱ including Chainlink, RAILGUN, Aztec Network, and Zama pioneer privacy-preserving smart contracts that secure counterparty information and business logic without sacrificing transparency or ￰18￱ Ethereum Foundation has launched “Ethereum for Institutions” — a new portal to guide enterprises, financial institutions, and developers building on Ethereum’s infrastructure. #Ethereum #ETH ￰0￱ — ￰19￱ (@cryptonews) October 29, 2025 These production-ready solutions address institutional requirements for balancing compliance mandates with secure, programmable ￰20￱ dominates real-world asset and stablecoin sectors, hosting over 75% of tokenized RWAs and 60% of global stablecoin ￰21￱ financial firms, including BlackRock, Securitize, and Ondo Finance, deploy tokenized instruments that offer 24/7 settlement, transparency, and composability.

Layer-2 networks, like Base, Scroll, and Unichain, now secure over $50 billion in value, delivering throughput and cost efficiency for global-scale ￰22￱ Infrastructure Accelerates Alongside Technical Refinements The Ethereum Foundation launched its 47-member Privacy Cluster in October, under the coordination of Blockscout founder Igor Barinov, expanding work initiated in 2018 through the Privacy and Scaling Explorations ￰23￱ cluster addresses critical areas around surveillance, private data verification, selective identity disclosure, user experience improvements, and institutional adoption ￰24￱ initiative follows the September rebranding of the Privacy and Scaling Explorations team to Privacy Stewards for Ethereum, shifting the focus from theoretical research to practical ￰25￱ Foundation launches 47-member Privacy Cluster led by Igor Barinov targeting private transactions, identity, and institutional adoption. #Ethereum #Privacy ￰1￱ — ￰26￱ (@cryptonews) October 9, 2025 The foundation warned that without robust privacy protections, Ethereum risks becoming “ the backbone of global surveillance rather than global freedom ,” potentially driving institutions and users toward alternative ￰27￱ month, Vitalik also detailed GKR , a cryptographic technique that verifies calculations ten times faster than traditional methods while enabling zero-knowledge proofs that confirm computational accuracy without exposing underlying ￰28￱ protocol processes 2 million calculations per second on standard ￰29￱ validates entire Ethereum transactions using just fifty consumer-grade graphics cards, compared to traditional methods requiring 100 times more computational work than the original ￰30￱ breakthrough is significant because it enables faster verification, resulting in cheaper transactions and enhanced privacy across the network.