Buterin Warns Oracles Prediction Markets' Biggest Weakness as AI Firm Prophet Launches

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned that oracle integrity remains the biggest security weakness for decentralized prediction markets, urging decentralized designs and private voting amid a disputed Polymarket resolution and risks to millions in high-volume bets. Earlier on May 6, 2026, at Arbitrum Day, he slammed consortium blockchains like 'five banks on one chain' as failed compromises lacking trust, advocating Merkle root anchoring on public Ethereum and outlining four Layer-2 scaling categories for interoperability. Simultaneously, AI-powered prediction market Prophet launched with $10,000 seed capital, pricing 100% YES on its 'Billions FDV' event per Market Snapshot, signaling innovation amid structural concerns that bolster ETH's public chain narrative.