Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has detailed an ambitious, multi-year technical overhaul for the Ethereum network, aiming to dramatically increase transaction speed while simultaneously securing the blockchain against the future threat of quantum computing. The plan, known as "Strawmap," was published by the Ethereum Foundation's Protocol team and outlines a series of upgrades to be rolled out over the next four years through approximately seven scheduled hard forks.
The roadmap targets two core performance metrics: block time and finality. Currently, Ethereum produces a new block every 12 seconds. Buterin's plan is to incrementally reduce this slot time, following a pattern from 12 seconds down to 8, then 6, 4, and finally just 2 seconds. He noted that improving node communication protocols will be key to enabling these faster block times without compromising security.
Equally critical is the overhaul of finality—the point where a transaction is irreversibly confirmed. Today, this takes around 16 minutes on Ethereum. The goal is to slash this window to between 6 and 16 seconds by implementing a new, simpler confirmation system.
This performance upgrade is intrinsically linked with a major security shift. Buterin described the planned changes as "a very invasive set of changes," which the team intends to leverage to swap out the network's current cryptographic foundations. The most significant steps in the performance upgrades will be bundled with a switch to post-quantum hash-based signatures and a STARK-friendly hash function, designed to resist attacks from future quantum computers.
Buterin also addressed the timeline for achieving quantum resistance, noting the network might secure basic block production against quantum threats before it achieves the same for finality. This creates a unique contingency: "So we may well quite quickly get to a regime where, if quantum computers suddenly appear, we lose the finality guarantee, but the chain keeps chugging along," he wrote. In late 2025, Buterin estimated a 20% probability that quantum computers capable of breaking current cryptography could emerge before 2030.
The first concrete steps are already scheduled, with two hard forks—Glamsterdam and Hegotá—confirmed for release later this year.
