Vitalik Buterin Says Hegotá May Be Ethereum's Last 'Normal' Fork

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin suggested over the weekend that Hegotá, the network's planned 2027 upgrade, could mark the final traditional hard fork before Ethereum evolves into a far more advanced architecture. Speaking on Sunday, Buterin explained that Hegotá's features and design would still be recognizable to anyone familiar with Ethereum circa 2015, but subsequent upgrades will push the network well beyond conventional blockchain mechanics. PeerDAS, a data-availability sampling technology already introduced, represents the first step in Ethereum's transformation from a standard blockchain into what Buterin called a "cryptographic world computer," incorporating recursive STARKs, automated formal verification, optimized consensus, and quantum-safe cryptography.

This architectural shift is expected to push significantly more computation off-chain while using Ethereum's base layer to verify results, settle transactions, and maintain shared on-chain state. Developers building on Ethereum may need to rethink application design as the network blends blockchain infrastructure with cryptographic proofs, privacy layers, and decentralized off-chain components to achieve greater scalability and security.

Separately, Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor published an essay on X outlining a proposed "bill of digital rights" for the coming age of digital assets and artificial intelligence. Saylor, executive chairman of the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder, argued that AI-driven productivity gains require better money and capital markets, and that a useful digital-asset framework should guarantee five fundamental freedoms: the right to create new digital assets, to issue them for financing productive ventures, to hold them or select a custodian, to transfer them, and a fifth right the essay did not fully detail. Rather than imposing restrictions, Saylor maintained that regulatory clarity around these rights would unlock prosperity as AI and crypto converge.

In regulatory news, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce announced she will depart her post on October 2. Peirce, widely known in the industry as "Crypto Mom" for her consistently pro-innovation stance on digital-asset regulation, leaves at a pivotal moment as the Securities and Exchange Commission continues to shape its approach to crypto oversight. Her departure raises questions about the direction of U.S. crypto policy heading into 2027, particularly as Ethereum's next-generation upgrades and Saylor's digital-rights framework both gain traction in policy discussions.