Ethereum Unveils Ambitious ‘Strawmap’: A Vision for Ultra-Fast and Scalable Future
The Ethereum Foundation has officially unveiled “Strawmap,” an ambitious long-term development blueprint set to redefine the network’s capabilities. This strategic plan targets at least seven hard fork upgrades by the end of 2029, aiming to achieve five critical long-term objectives within four years. The ultimate goal: dramatically enhance Ethereum’s transaction speed and network throughput.
Introducing strawmap, a strawman roadmap by EF Protocol.
Believe in something. Believe in an Ethereum strawmap.
Who is this for?
The document, available at strawmap[.]org, is intended for advanced readers. It is a dense and technical resource primarily for researchers,… pic.twitter.com/gIZh5I8Not
— Justin Drake (@drakefjustin) February 25, 2026
Should this ambitious roadmap unfold as planned, it will mark Ethereum’s most significant systemic evolution since “The Merge” in 2022, fundamentally transforming its architecture.
The “Strawmap” encompasses a series of potential adjustments to the Ethereum mainnet, with a core focus on incremental technical improvements. These enhancements are designed to fortify the network’s security and stability, preparing it to gracefully accommodate a much larger user base and a wider array of application scenarios in the future.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin lauded the “Strawmap” on platform X, calling it an “extremely important document.” He highlighted its significance as a comprehensive master plan guiding the network’s scaling and technological evolution for years to come.
A very important document. Let’s walk through this one “goal” at a time. We’ll start with fast slots and fast finality.
I expect that we’ll reduce slot time in an incremental fashion, eg. I like the “sqrt(2) at a time” formula (12 -> 8 -> 6 -> 4 -> 3 -> 2, though the last two… https://t.co/ni9wIF2BgJ
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 25, 2026
As the world’s leading smart contract blockchain, Ethereum continues to dominate the decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape, boasting a Total Value Locked (TVL) exceeding $56 billion, according to DefiLlama. Following the “Strawmap” announcement, Ether (ETH) saw an initial uptick, though it later settled around $1,992, reflecting a modest daily fluctuation.
The Five “North Star” Visions Guiding Ethereum’s Future
Justin Drake, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, outlined the five “North Star” visions that form the bedrock of the “Strawmap”:
- Achieving seconds-level finality for Layer 1 transaction confirmation.
- Scaling Layer 1 throughput to an impressive 10,000 transactions per second (TPS).
- Boosting Layer 2 throughput to approximately 10 million TPS.
- Implementing post-quantum cryptography to future-proof the network.
- Introducing native privacy protection capabilities.
A Leap in Finality: From Minutes to Seconds
Perhaps the most impactful enhancement for users will be the dramatic improvement in “Finality.” On Ethereum, finality signifies that a transaction has achieved network-wide consensus, becoming irreversible and officially settled. Currently, this critical confirmation process can take up to 16 minutes.
The “Strawmap” addresses this with the introduction of “Minimmit,” an innovative consensus mechanism designed to slash this waiting period to a mere 8 seconds. Minimmit’s groundbreaking approach lies in its ability to achieve consensus through a single round of voting, a significant departure from the current, more protracted multi-round system.
Justin Drake emphasized that this comprehensive roadmap serves to consolidate various proposals into a unified vision, providing the community with a clearer, more holistic understanding of Layer 1’s future trajectory.
Vitalik Buterin further elaborated on the implementation strategy, stating that future upgrades would adopt an “incremental renovation” approach. This involves gradually replacing elements such as slot time (the block time unit), consensus mechanism details, and cryptographic architecture, rather than executing a single, disruptive overhaul. This measured strategy ensures the mainnet maintains stable operation throughout the upgrade process.
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