Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin recently shared the project's long-term vision via social media. He proposed building a simple and elegant system, described as "non-ugly Ethereum based on cypherpunk principles," atop the current network. To achieve this vision, he plans to execute four major technological innovations over the next five years, akin to "changing the engines on a plane mid-flight." These four upgrades will focus on the core underlying architecture, including restructuring the state tree to improve data processing efficiency, streamlining the complex consensus mechanism, introducing a Zero-Knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (ZK-EVM) to enhance network verification capabilities, and implementing fundamental changes to the Virtual Machine (VM) to unlock greater potential for future smart contract functionalities.