Ethereum Foundation unveils its most comprehensive roadmap in years, aiming for transaction finality in seconds by 2029.

The "strawmap" delineates seven forks through the end of the decade, including post-quantum cryptography, shielded transfers, and a 480x decrease in transaction finality time.

Key Details:

• The Ethereum Foundation has unveiled a comprehensive “strawmap” roadmap that details seven hard forks scheduled through 2029, aimed at transforming the network.
• This initiative aims to enhance base-layer performance, including reducing transaction finality from approximately 16 minutes to potentially 8 seconds through a new Minimmit consensus and shorter block slot times.
• Ethereum’s roadmap also emphasizes significant throughput improvements for both Layer 1 and Layer 2, incorporates post-quantum cryptography, and includes privacy features such as shielded ETH transfers, all while market sentiment towards ether remains low.

The Ethereum Foundation has released a roadmap that appears to be designed for the next decade rather than merely navigating the present quarter.

The document, referred to as the "strawmap" and made public on Wednesday by EF researcher Justin Drake, outlines a strategy for seven hard forks by 2029. Hard forks involve network-wide software upgrades where every node must be updated to remain operational, making them the most critical changes possible for Ethereum.

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

The strategy is centered around five objectives that the team refers to as “north stars.” These encompass a quicker Layer 1 with transaction finality within seconds, significantly increased Layer 1 throughput aiming for around 10,000 transactions per second (termed “gigagas” scale); Layer 2 networks achieving “teragas” throughput levels, approximately 10 million TPS; post-quantum cryptography; and integrated privacy through shielded ETH transfers.

Layer 1 pertains to Ethereum’s fundamental layer — the core blockchain. Layer 2s are networks like Arbitrum and Optimism that operate on top of Ethereum, handling transactions more affordably before reverting them to Layer 1. “Gigagas” and “teragas” indicate throughput goals expressed in gas, Ethereum’s unit of computational effort.

Gas can be thought of as fuel. Currently, the network consumes a limited amount per second. The roadmap aims to amplify that significantly, targeting Layer 1 to process 10,000 transactions per second and providing Layer 2s with the capacity to reach 10 million.

Finality is where the process becomes most evident. When a transaction is considered “final” on Ethereum, it indicates that the network has collectively validated its occurrence, rendering it irreversible.

At present, this process requires around 16 minutes. The roadmap anticipates compressing this duration to as little as 8 seconds through a new consensus mechanism known as Minimmit, which achieves consensus in a single voting round as opposed to the multiple rounds currently in use.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin characterized the document as "very important" and provided a detailed overview of the finality enhancements.

Ethereum’s slot time, the predetermined interval at which the network generates new blocks, currently stands at 12 seconds. The strategy proposes to gradually decrease this, moving through 8, 6, 4, and potentially down to 2 seconds, with each reduction contingent on confidence in network security.

Buterin likened this method to how Ethereum already modifies other network parameters, viewing slot time as a variable to adjust rather than a fixed value.

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

The overarching structural change, Buterin noted, constitutes a "ship of Theseus" style reconstruction where individual elements of Ethereum’s consensus are replaced incrementally until the entire system is renewed, without any single upgrade causing major disruption.

Considerations for Quantum and Privacy-Centric Infrastructure

The emphasis on post-quantum cryptography is notable given the context. This approach involves substituting the mathematical foundations currently securing the network with methodologies that would withstand the advancements of quantum computing. Strategy’s Michael Saylor recently downplayed quantum threats to bitcoin, suggesting they are more than a decade away.

Ethereum’s roadmap regards this as a tangible engineering challenge with a defined fork objective, not a theoretical concern. The plan proposes the inclusion of hash-based signatures, a cryptographic method that does not depend on the mathematical problems that quantum computers are anticipated to solve.

Shielded transfers, the privacy target, would permit ETH to be transferred without the transaction details being visible on the blockchain. At present, every transaction on Ethereum is entirely transparent, allowing anyone to see the amount sent, the source, and the recipient. This characteristic is advantageous for auditors but poses a challenge for users desiring confidentiality in their financial activities.

The disparity between the ambitious plans illustrated and the current market sentiment towards ether is stark. Whether this divide narrows due to the roadmap positively influencing price or the price further dragging sentiment down remains uncertain as we approach the latter half of 2026.