Vitalik Buterin outlines Ethereum’s next phase of development.

TLDR

Vitalik Buterin outlines plans for Ethereum's next phase The “extreme” goal is to increase the transaction capacity to more than 100,000 per second Maintain decentralization Focus on layer-2 scaling solutions No specific timeline is given, but calls for continued development. Decentralization, and security

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has outlined plans for the next phase in the blockchain's evolution, known as “The Surge.”

In a recent blog post, Buterin outlined key goals for increasing Ethereum's transaction potential while maintaining its core principles of decentralization and security.

The “Surge” aims to boost Ethereum's ability to handle more than 100,000 transactions per second. This significant increase in capacity is primarily achieved through the use of layer-2 measurement solutions.

These solutions are designed to process transactions from the main Ethereum blockchain, reducing congestion and fees.

Buterin emphasized the importance of balancing the “scalability trilemma” – the challenge of achieving scale, decentralization and security at the same time. To solve this, The Surge focuses on combining two main strategies: sharding and layer-2 protocols.

Sharding is a technique that allows the network to divide the workload among many nodes, with each node handling only a fraction of the total number of transactions.

This approach helps to increase the overall capacity of the network without putting too much load on individual nodes.

Layer-2 protocols, especially rolls, play a critical role in the Surge Road Map. These solutions take most of the transaction processing out of the main Ethereum chain by chaining together multiple transactions before submitting them to the main network.

This approach greatly reduces the amount of data that must be processed on the main chain, which leads to faster speeds and lower fees.

Buterin emphasized the importance of maintaining Ethereum's core principles during this stretch. Layer-2 networks should inherit Ethereum's values ​​of trustlessness, transparency and censorship resistance, he said. The goal is to create an ecosystem that feels unified rather than collecting separate blockchains.

Interoperability between different Layer-2 solutions is another key focus of Surge. Buterin creates a seamless experience in the Ethereum ecosystem where users can easily move assets and interact across multiple Layer-2 networks.

Recent developments such as the introduction of EIP-4844 data blobs have already improved Ethereum's data bandwidth. These improvements will prepare the network to efficiently handle high transaction volumes.

While Buterin did not provide a specific timeline for the full implementation of The Surge, he called for continued development while balancing scalability with Ethereum's fundamental principles.

He emphasized the importance of solving scaling challenges while maintaining the strength and decentralization that makes Ethereum unique.

Storm It follows the successful completion of the “consolidation” in 2022, which transitioned Ethereum from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-consensus mechanism.

This change significantly reduced the network's energy consumption and introduced staking as a way to secure the blockchain.

Looking ahead, Ethereum's next major upgrade, called Pectra, is scheduled to be released in two phases. The first phase is expected to begin in early 2025.

Pectra aims to further enhance blockchain scalability through transaction compression techniques and increasing rewards.

Buterin's roadmap for The Surge represents a major step forward in Ethereum's continued growth. By focusing on layer-2 scaling solutions and maintaining the network's core values, Ethereum aims to address the growing demand for fast and cheap transactions while maintaining its decentralized nature.