Ethereum Foundation 2026 Shift: zkEVM Security Upgrade, 128-bit Encryption Becomes the New Baseline

2025-12-21 01:06:12

【Blockchain Rhythm】The Ethereum Foundation has just announced an important adjustment—by 2026, the focus will shift from pursuing scalability speed to strengthening security defenses. Specifically, they have set a hard requirement: all zkEVM solutions must achieve 128-bit cryptographic security strength.

Sounds a bit strict? Indeed. Over the past year, zkEVM has made good progress in performance optimization, but issues have also emerged—some technical solutions are actually based on mathematical assumptions that have not been fully validated. Theoretically, this leaves potential vulnerabilities for on-chain state tampering.

Therefore, the foundation has decided to hit the brakes. Future efforts will focus on formal verification, attack resistance upgrades, and cryptographic security reinforcement. The foundation will also provide dedicated security review and assessment tools to help projects align with these new standards.

This adjustment will undoubtedly impact the progress of some scalability projects, and speed may be somewhat compromised. But the foundation’s logic is clear: rather than rushing for speed and risking endless problems, it’s better to solidify security first and then optimize performance. They believe that, in terms of institutional funding and high-value applications, attack resistance and trustworthiness are the most critical assets.

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ForkItAllDay

· 2025-12-24 00:43

128-bit encryption? Uh, have to wait again, now those anxious L2s have to line up again, haha Finally, someone dares to hit the brakes, those theoretical plans before were really scary Speed and security, it's a dilemma, choosing either comes at a cost What does this mean, can my Arbitrum still survive... Another year of shifting work focus, the Ethereum Foundation loves to stir things up like this.

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GasFeeCryBaby

· 2025-12-23 08:16

Really, the 128-bit encryption is going to bring a lot of projects to a standstill, right? Speed and security are always in opposition; wanting both fast and stable is just ridiculous. By the way, does this adjustment mean that all those bull proposals that were hyped up before have to be rewritten? But back to the point, what use is a tampered chain? It should have been managed a long time ago. The foundation finally realized that security is more important than speed, so I can only say that it's better late than never.

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InscriptionGriller

· 2025-12-22 05:39

Ha, finally someone has hit the brakes. To put it bluntly, the previous project parties treated the mathematical foundation as an optional question in their land grab, and now that they've flipped the script, the foundation suddenly remembers it needs to catch up on lessons. With this 128-bit threshold card, how many zkEVM projects will have to go back to the drawing board? I bet those small projects that burned through their funding will be crying.

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RamenStacker

· 2025-12-21 22:01

The stingy foundation has finally realized that security is more important than speed. However, with this 128-bit threshold, some L2s might have to reconstruct half of their codebase, haha.

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SandwichDetector

· 2025-12-21 01:33

128-bit, now those projects rushing to meet deadlines should be worried, but security really can't be taken lightly.

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0xLostKey

· 2025-12-21 01:31

Someone finally hit the brakes. I really couldn't stand how those projects were rushing blindly before. However, the 128-bit threshold will block many imitation schemes. I'm a bit looking forward to the spectacle.

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TokenDustCollector

· 2025-12-21 01:28

Safety comes first, and I support this decision. The previous plans that prioritized speed at the expense of consequences should have been cleaned up long ago, or else trouble was bound to happen eventually.

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BearMarketLightning

· 2025-12-21 01:22

Finally, someone is hitting the brakes. Those zkEVMs before were like driving a Russian sports car that couldn't be stopped at all. Safety > Speed. What was bound to happen has finally happened again—a black swan. How many scam projects will be eliminated by the 128-bit password strength threshold? Haha

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JustHereForMemes

· 2025-12-21 01:17

128-bit encryption security, to put it simply, is the foundation finally backing down, afraid of something going wrong. Rapid iteration and security have always been a trade-off; this time, they chose security. As for those projects claiming to be revolutionary, we'll see. Formal verification sounds impressive, but in reality, it's just about finding and fixing gaps. Why didn't they do it earlier?

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DarkPoolWatcher

· 2025-12-21 01:13

Speed and security, you have to choose one. This time, the priority has finally been clarified. However, those high-performance L2 solutions will probably need to readjust their roadmaps. The 128-bit encryption barrier is something everyone has to tough out.

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