Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin told Moneycontrol that amid a wave of major exchange hacks, the crypto industry's priority over the next two years should be survival rather than competition. He said recent major attacks have increasingly targeted user interfaces and centralized components rather than smart contracts, urging exchanges and custodians to adopt a more defensive approach. Continued security breaches could also trigger stricter regulatory requirements.

On Ethereum's roadmap, Buterin highlighted the role of zero-knowledge proofs, AI, and formal verification in advancing Lean Ethereum. He also argued that Layer 2 networks should focus on differentiated applications, including high-performance DeFi, privacy, and enterprise use cases, rather than simply replicating Ethereum's scaling capabilities.