At the OKX NOW 2026 conference in Singapore, Vitalik Buterin stated that in two years, Ethereum transactions will become significantly cheaper and more private.

AI as a New Interface: The ENS Example

According to Buterin, AI will become the new user interface for interacting with the blockchain. He shared that about a month ago, he updated his ENS for the first time without using a traditional UI: a local AI agent wrote the necessary script and completed the operation in about five minutes.

Bots and AI-Driven Applications in Two Years

Buterin expects that in two years, applications will be created directly by AI models, and blockchain interactions will increasingly occur between bots. Users will be able to instruct their AI agents to analyze network proposals and select suitable ones.

AI and Security: Threats and Protection Tools

He said that AI will pose a serious security threat, as models are increasingly effective at finding vulnerabilities, making higher security standards essential. At the same time, AI is already helping to detect vulnerabilities in Ethereum, create complex cryptographic systems, and conduct formal security verification of protocols and applications.

ZK Solutions Will Become Mainstream; Hardware's Role Will Grow

Buterin believes zero-knowledge proof technologies will develop rapidly: in two years, most users will likely be using ZK solutions, often without noticing it. In the AI era, privacy will become even more important—users should be able to prove facts about themselves or their assets without revealing underlying data. "Not your hardware, not your keys": in his view, security will depend not only on private keys and software, but also on hardware; modern hardware wallets could become universal security devices.