TL;DR
- Strategic shift: Vitalik Buterin stresses that Ethereum’s sustainability depends on low-risk DeFi services like payments, savings, and lending, rather than speculative NFTs or meme coins, positioning these tools as the blockchain’s true long-term anchor.
- Risk reduction: Losses in Ethereum DeFi once exceeded 5% of total value locked in 2019, but by 2025, they had fallen to nearly zero, showing how stronger protocols and safer infrastructure now rival traditional finance.
- Future tools: With this stability, Vitalik Buterin envisions reputation-based lending, hedging-focused prediction markets, and inflation-linked flatcoins, innovations that could expand Ethereum’s global adoption and secure its role as a reliable financial backbone.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has argued that the blockchain’s future will not be defined by NFTs or meme coins, but by the steady growth of low-risk DeFi. In a new essay, he compared this shift to Google’s reliance on search as its enduring revenue engine, suggesting that Ethereum’s sustainability depends on reliable financial tools rather than hype-driven cycles.
Low-risk defi can be for Ethereum what search was for Googlehttps://t.co/6xIxCrOToQ
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) September 20, 2025
From Hype to Stability
Vitalik Buterin emphasized that Ethereum does not need constant speculative waves to thrive. Instead, he pointed to foundational services such as payment systems, savings accounts, collateralized lending, and synthetic assets as the bedrock of long-term growth. These tools, he argued, can lock up ETH, generate fees, and provide consistent utility. Just as Google’s search business powered its ecosystem, low-risk DeFi could become Ethereum’s equivalent anchor.
Safer Protocols, Lower Risks
The data support this transition. In 2019, Ethereum DeFi losses exceeded 5% of total value locked. By 2025, that figure had dropped to nearly zero, reflecting stronger protocols and reduced vulnerabilities. According to Vitalik Buterin, the risks in traditional finance now outweigh those in DeFi for millions of users. This evolution marks a decisive shift from the experimental, high-risk environment of early decentralized finance toward a more secure and trustworthy infrastructure.
Expanding Opportunities Ahead
Buterin also highlighted the innovations that safer DeFi foundations enable. These include reputation-based lending without heavy collateral requirements, prediction markets designed for hedging, and new forms of stable value such as “flatcoins” tied to inflation indexes. Each of these developments builds on the credibility of today’s protocols, offering practical tools that could broaden Ethereum’s appeal and adoption. For Vitalik Buterin, the goal is not revolution but reliability.
Ethereum’s Defining Application
The Ethereum co-founder concluded that the blockchain’s most important application does not need to be flashy or disruptive. What matters is that it works everywhere, consistently and securely. Low-risk DeFi, he argued, fits this role perfectly. If his vision proves correct, Ethereum could achieve its “Google moment,” becoming both sustainable and indispensable in the global financial landscape.
