Vitalik himself has issued a warning: Ethereum’s current risks are no joke.

When Vitalik speaks, the entire Ethereum tech community has to sit up and pay attention. This time, he directly called out the rapidly growing threat AI poses to cryptography, saying Ethereum’s security is facing a real threat. To be clear, this isn’t some analyst drawing scary lines on a chart—the warning came from the founder himself, at a technical level. The combination of AI computing power and breakthroughs in quantum algorithms is eroding existing cryptographic systems much faster than people expected.

Bluntly put, cryptography is the foundation of Ethereum’s security. If AI breaks through the mathematical assumptions underpinning it, then staking and Layer 2s alike are just castles built on sand. The timing of Vitalik’s remarks is intriguing: ETH had just climbed back from $2,500 to around $2,540, and he poured cold water on the rebound.

Another thing to keep an eye on: DOGE is down 11% this week, and whale wallets’ balances are visibly shrinking. Big holders don’t give advance notice before selling, and on-chain data is more honest than any hype. When whales let go of a coin pumped by sentiment, retail investors simply can’t catch it.

NEAR is trading at $5.88, and its presence in the Layer 1 race keeps fading. Ethereum has Vitalik personally warning about technical risks, DOGE whales are letting go, and NEAR is stuck in the most awkward middle ground—not the best, but not the worst either. Without fresh capital, it has no compelling narrative.

If more core developers join the discussion of Vitalik’s warning, ETH’s short-term valuation case could be repriced. Tomorrow, watch to see whether his team gives an official response—that matters more than any technical support level.

🐶 Let’s take a look at Musk’s little dog ✨🚀