Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin argues that the most valuable upgrade for Ethereum may be knowing when to stop upgrading.

Buterin suggests that locking parts of the base layer can reduce bugs and surprises, allowing Ethereum to operate safely even if its maintainers disappear. He calls this the “walkaway test”, aiming to make the base protocol behave like a trust-minimized tool rather than a service that fails when developers stop maintaining it.

Rather than constant reinvention, Buterin envisions “ossification”: a network that can freeze without losing its core functionality. Innovation would shift to layer-2 solutions, wallets, privacy tools, and apps, while the base layer remains stable and secure.

This approach also serves as a critique of crypto culture that rewards fast followers. Ethereum’s long-term goal is to minimize high-stakes upgrade risks through careful protocol design, ensuring its credibility and stability while still allowing evolution through client optimizations and parameter adjustments rather than disruptive forks.