Ethereum adjusts ecosystem priorities: zkEVM must meet 128-bit security standards by 2026

【BitPush】There’s a noteworthy development—The Ethereum Foundation recently issued a guiding signal to developers. In simple terms, they have decided to stop solely pursuing speed and instead prioritize security.

What’s the reason behind this? Over the past year, zkEVM has indeed demonstrated impressive performance, running extremely fast. But here’s the problem—many solutions are based on some mathematical assumptions that haven’t been fully validated, which theoretically poses a risk of on-chain data being forged. Wait, does that sound pretty scary?

So, the Foundation’s current approach is very clear: moving forward, they will strengthen formal verification, enhance resistance to attacks, and solidify cryptographic security foundations. By 2026, all zkEVMs must achieve a minimum security strength of 128 bits—that’s the security level recognized by mainstream cryptography today.

The Foundation will also provide security review and assessment tools to help projects meet standards. What does this mean? The progress of some scalability projects might slow down or even stall temporarily. But from the Foundation’s perspective, it’s worth it—securing this aspect first ensures resistance to attacks and trustworthiness, which are essential to truly attract institutional clients and high-value applications. After all, who would dare to use a network that’s fast but insecure?