Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin presented the network's comprehensive roadmap at the Developer Conference in Japan, outlining short-, medium-, and long-term goals focused on scalability, cross-layer compatibility, privacy, and security. In the short term, efforts will center on increasing gas limits on the Ethereum mainnet (L1) using tools like block-level access lists, ZK-EVMs, gas price restructuring, and slot optimization, aiming to boost scalability while preserving decentralization.
Medium-term objectives include enabling trustless asset transfers between Layer-2 (L2) networks and achieving faster transaction finality through "Stage 2 Rollup" solutions, proof-of-conduct combinations, and optimizations for reading data from L1. Network enhancements such as shortened slot times, fast finality protocols, and erasure coding are planned to improve user experience and security.
Privacy remains a priority across all timelines, with zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs, anonymous pools, encrypted voting, and scrambling network solutions highlighted to protect user on-chain activities. Long-term vision emphasizes quantum resistance, securing the protocol with mathematical methods like formal verification, and transitioning to ideal cryptographic solutions to counter future technological threats.
Buterin emphasized that these strategies will transform Ethereum into a more scalable, user-friendly, and secure infrastructure, strengthening its role as a foundational layer for global financial and technological systems.