Vitalik Buterin Chinese Interview: A Conversation with the Ethereum Founder on POS, Layer 2, and the Integration of AI

On April 7, 2025, the Pop-X HK Research House event, jointly organized by multiple parties, was held in Hong Kong. During the event, Yan, the founder of the DappLearning community, interviewed Vitalik Buterin, covering various topics including ETH POS, Layer 2, cryptography, and AI. Below is a summary of the interview content:

01 Views on POS Upgrade

Vitalik believes that the price of ETH is not related to POW/POS, but to the differing directions of the community. He stated that one issue facing ETH is that successful applications on Ethereum may not bring enough value to ETH. In the future, more support is needed for applications that are valuable to ETH in the long term.

02 PBS Architecture and Centralization Concerns

Vitalik explained the advantages of the PBS( proposer and builder separation ) architecture, as well as how to reduce centralization risks through verification mechanisms and technologies like Fossil. He believes that this complex hybrid architecture can strike a balance between efficiency and decentralization.

03 The Relationship Between Layer 1 and Layer 2

Vitalik pointed out that L2 is currently facing slow progress in security and interoperability issues. He emphasized that L1 still needs to play an important role and introduced several solutions to enhance L1 scalability, which are expected to increase the gas limit by ten times. Ethereum plans to carry out two upgrades, Pectra and Fusaka, this year.

04 Views on Cryptography and AI

Vitalik believes that ZK developers should focus on high-level languages rather than underlying algorithms. He expresses caution regarding technologies like FHE, fearing that committee mechanisms could pose security risks. Regarding AI, Vitalik thinks it could both enhance centralization and create democratizing effects, helping to bridge the gap between experts and newcomers.

05 Expectations for the Ethereum Ecosystem

Vitalik encourages developers to explore new opportunities and hopes to see applications that have both practical value and sustainable business models emerge. He emphasizes that the Ethereum ecosystem is becoming more open, and the difficulty of development is decreasing, providing more possibilities for innovation.