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Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is optimistic about the protocol's future, with defined upgrades he believes will come on the network in the coming decade. Speaking on the Bankless podcast, the blockchain innovator gave a projection that he believes might see everyone participating in running the Ethereum network.

Ethereum node to become fully mobile

Ethereum is the biggest decentralized smart contract network that runs on nodes. As it stands, thousands of people run these nodes in a sophisticated computing environment.

Though the protocol is decentralized, a high entry requirement contributes to its growth. In his projections for the future, Vitalik Buterin sees Ethereum nodes running on mobile phones. He said the team would have made breakthroughs in ensuring light computations to make this possible.

He noted that the mobile phone node operator can download data and hash it in under 12 seconds. With the node, solving elliptic curve equations to check a snark will be possible. If this is done, he is optimistic that verifying a node will become very "sleek and seamless."

Buterin said the challenge with this projection lies in the heavy data involved. However, he believes mobile phones are incredibly improving in advancing storage spaces. With his visions, Ethereum appears to be on track to redefine innovations around smart contract networks.

Unstoppable advances

The Ethereum blockchain is the first smart contract protocol, and it has continued to set new standards for other Layer-1 networks.

Over the past few years, the protocol has introduced a series of upgrades, including its biggest transition from proof of work to proof of stake via the Merge. In a recent Dencun upgrade, the gas fee for its Layer-2 networks was stepped down to make the protocol more usable.

Ethereum has courted many updates, with many more in the pipeline in the coming days. These upgrades are generally a way of fighting off the strong competition from rivals like Solana and Cardano.