The Ethereum Foundation’s new “Strawmap” reads, at first glance, like something only a protocol researcher could immediately understand. It’s dense, diagram-rich, and full of references to forks, zkEVMs, and data availability sampling.
But behind the technical language lies a much simpler story: Ethereum — the second-largest blockchain with a market capitalization of more than $200 billion — is trying to decide what kind of infrastructure it wants to become by the end of the decade.
The “Strawmap” — explicitly worded as a draft and not an official plan — outlines Ethereum upgrades through 2029. It’s not binding, but it indicates where some of the network’s most influential researchers think the base layer should go next.
“The Strawmap is largely independent of Ethereum governance… it’s a tool that helps inform R&D well in advance of Ethereum governance, potentially even years in advance,” Justin Drake, a leading researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, told CoinDesk in an interview.
This direction has real consequences beyond core developers.
At the center of the document are five ambitions: near-instant transaction finality, significantly higher throughput, built-in privacy, quantum-resistant cryptography, and tighter integration between Ethereum’s base layer and its layer 2 ecosystem.
Stripped of any jargon, the goal is simple: make Ethereum faster, more scalable, more private, and durable enough to last a long time.
Today, Ethereum transactions are included in blocks quickly, but the moment when they are considered irreversible, called finality, takes too long (around 16 minutes). For most casual users, this nuance is invisible. For exchanges, bridges and financial applications, this is essential.
In a thread responding to the roadmap, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin explained how this could change. “Today, finality takes 16 minutes,” he wrote, adding that the goal is to “decouple time slots and finality” and move toward a system in which “the finality time of the endgame could be, say, 6 to 16 seconds.”
Moving from minutes to seconds changes the way large amounts of value can flow across the network.
The layer 2 debate
Earlier this month, Buterin argued that some of the assumptions behind the initial Layer 2 roadmap “no longer made sense” in their previous form. Layer 2 networks were previously integrated into the Ethereum roadmap to scale the network by processing transactions off the main blockchain and bringing them back onto Ethereum, helping to reduce congestion and fees.
However, as Layer 1 or base layer scaling has improved and decentralization of some rollups has taken longer than expected, the idea that Ethereum would entirely outsource most of its scaling load to L2s has become less clear.
Buterin instead suggested a more balanced future, in which the base layer continues to strengthen while Layer 2 networks evolve into more specialized roles, whether in privacy, specific applications, or enhanced security models.
“Ultimately, we will have finality in seconds,” Drake told CoinDesk, saying faster settlement would “help bridge the gap between L2s” and improve the user experience.
The Strawmap reflects this change. It doesn’t necessarily say that layers 2 will disappear, but it doesn’t consider layer 1 frozen either. Instead, it relies on a stronger base layer, as well as enhancements enabling significantly higher Layer 2 capacity, which could be considered a dual-track scaling strategy.
Quantum threat and privacy
Confidentiality marks another notable change in the proposed new roadmap.
Ethereum’s transparency has long been seen as a positive, as every transaction is visible. But openness limits certain use cases. The Strawmap envisions “shielded” native transfers at the base layer, which would allow ETH to move without publicly exposing all transaction details. For individuals, it is a question of financial discretion. For businesses, this could determine whether certain activities move down the chain.
And then there’s the long game: post-quantum cryptography. Quantum computing remains a developing field, but if Ethereum is expected to guarantee trillions of value over decades, its security assumptions cannot remain static. The Ethereum Foundation recently assembled a post-quantum team, and the roadmap only shows that they continue to ramp up their efforts.
For developers and businesses, the roadmap provides directional clarity. Ethereum has often been criticized for its slowness or for its perpetual delay in delivery times. upgrades. By publishing a multi-year study, the researchers signal that the next phase of the network is not just about fixing limitations.
Ethereum’s history, however, is full of ambitious and missed deadlines. Governance in a decentralized system ensures debate and review. The Strawmap itself acknowledges that it will evolve.
“To me, it’s ultimately about Ethereum becoming the Internet of Value, and Ether, the asset, becoming money for the Internet,” Drake told CoinDesk.
Read more: Ethereum Foundation abandons most ambitious roadmap in years, targets finality in seconds by 2029
