Crypto: To survive, Ethereum must be resilient and private, according to Buterin

What if the digital future still needed cash? While Sweden or Norway rediscover the importance of species in the face of systemic risks, Vitalik Buterin relaunches the debate. In a position relayed on X, the co -founder of Ethereum calls for strengthening the resilience and confidentiality of the protocol. The objective is to make Ethereum a credible alternative to cash. This declaration marks a strategic turning point in the design of blockchain uses in the post-Cash era.

Digital cash as a response to the fragility of centralized systems

Norway has adopted a measure forcing merchants to accept cash payments, despite its position as world leader in the use of dematerialized payment solutions. In a publication broadcast on social network X (formerly Twitter) on May 25, 2025, Vitalik Buterin relied on this reality to defend a more resilient and confidential Ethereum, capable of playing the role of substitute for cash.

He has writing ::

Countries like Sweden and Norway show that even the most advanced companies can go back to dematerialization.

Long considered as the ultimate models of society without cash, these countries are today re -evaluating their dependence on centralized systems, especially after having observed their vulnerability to cyber attacks or infrastructure failures.

Thus, Sweden, which aspired a total abandonment of cash by this end of the year, now encourages its citizens to reuse species in a logic of civil defense. In Norway, sanctions are even provided against traders who refuse cash payments.

For Buterin, these weak signals cannot be ignored. They are a direct warning to the crypto ecosystem. Even the most advanced digital structures remain fallible without autonomous rescue solutions.

It is in this context that he calls to develop Ethereum to a system capable of taking on this role of “Digital cash”. According to him, this implies two major requirements:

• Resilience: Ethereum must be able to operate even in extreme conditions (network cuts, infrastructure, cyber attacks), without depending on a centralized actor;
• Neutrality and portability: like cash, Ethereum must be able to be used in a universal way, without access barriers or censorship;
• The role of “Safety net” : Like the cash in traditional economies, Ethereum must become a reliable alternative when other systems fail.

This advocacy comes in a critical moment when blockchains' ambitions come up against geopolitical reality and the limits of current technologies.

Buterin's message is therefore clear: to be a real asset of digital sovereignty, Ethereum must first prove that it can survive without the support of the centralized structures which it seeks to replace.

Confidentiality and robustness: the site that awaits Ethereum

In the rest of his intervention, Buterin also insists on another fundamental point: the need to strengthen confidentiality within Ethereum. “So that Ethereum can compete with the cash, it must also become private”he wrote without detour.

Anonymity offered by species cannot be ignored if the blockchain aspires to become a real monetary substitute. Even today, the default transparency of Ethereum transactions constitutes a structural weakness for certain sensitive uses, which the cash protects naturally.

The stake is therefore twofold: preserving individual freedoms while respecting regulatory frameworks, an equation far from simple.

Technically, Ethereum is not yet up to this objective. Transactions are fully traceable on the main channel. However, confidentiality solutions, whether of type “Evidence without disclosure” Or integrated into layers 2, are still in development or are controversial.

In addition, certain projects like Tornado Cash have been heavily sanctioned, which has slowed innovation in this area. Finally, the resilience of the network still depends largely on external infrastructure, which makes any claim illusory to an autonomy equivalent to that of cash in certain extreme situations.

This buterin position, although lucid, challenges on several levels. If Ethereum wants to embody a “digital cash”, it will have to operate a deep mutation, both technical and philosophical. It will no longer be a question of accelerating transactions or lowering costs, but of guaranteeing a level of autonomy, confidentiality and robustness that only physical systems still offer today. This transformation is already started, as evidenced by the recent drop in transaction costs, triggering as many challenges as hopes for the future of decentralized finance.