Ethereum developers have presented a plan for the development of the blockchain until 2029. For the first time, all expected key updates have been compiled into a single scheme.
Justin Drake, the lead researcher behind the creation and development of the Ethereum Foundation (EF) “ether,” has published an unofficial roadmap for blockchain development called Strawmap. The map describes key updates through 2029, from transaction acceleration to protection against quantum computers.
Strawmap brings together long-term goals for the first time and shows how different technical innovations are interrelated. The map envisages seven major updates until 2029, the closest of which already have names — Glamsterdam and Hegota, scheduled for 2026.
A similar roadmap concept was published several years ago, when Ethereum was transitioning from a mining algorithm similar to that used in Bitcoin to a staking algorithm — a mechanism used in Solana, BNB Chain, and other networks. Since then, from approximately 2020 to 2022, neither EF nor other developers have published a similar generalized concept.
A week earlier, EF presented its roadmap for 2026, focusing on scaling, improving user experience, and protecting the blockchain. In addition, in early 2026, Ethereum developers were very active in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector, developing a new type of AI standard for tokens, as well as a new vision for the synergy between “ether” and AI. In addition, plans to protect the network from quantum computer attacks have been outlined.
The authors call the roadmap a “strawman,” emphasizing that it is not an official plan, but one of several possible scenarios. This is because in the “ether” ecosystem, decisions are made not by a specific organization, but by a community, where there can be no single approved route. The map will be updated quarterly, and a separate web resource, Strawmap.org, has been created to view the current version.
In his post, Drake highlights five key areas in which Ethereum is expected to move in the coming years:
- Transaction speed in Ethereum — transactions will be confirmed in seconds, rather than minutes, as is currently the case.
- Scalability — the throughput of the base layer will increase to 10,000 transactions per second.
- Scaling of second-level solutions (Layer 2 or L2). L2 networks will be able to process huge volumes of transactions, up to 10 million per second;
- quantum protection — Ethereum will become resistant to attacks from quantum computers;
- privacy — the network will feature built-in mechanisms for private transactions.
Virtually every publication in recent months about Ethereum development plans by groups or individual developers mentions zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs, ZK) for greater transaction efficiency and privacy.
In previous years, ZK was also part of development plans, but recently it has also been mentioned in the context of protection against potential attacks from quantum computers and the implementation of privacy in Ethereum.
Since late 2025, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has repeatedly mentioned the problem of quantum computers and increasing privacy as one of the main directions for “ether.” For example, he stated emphatically that developers “will no longer compromise” on privacy and decentralization in exchange for mass adoption.
Buterin commented separately on the map published by Drake, highlighting transaction speed in particular. Currently, blocks with new transactions appear every 12 seconds in Ethereum, but a transaction is only considered complete after 16 minutes.
Buterin explained that the time between blocks will gradually decrease: from 12 to 8, then to 6, 4, 3, and eventually to 2 seconds. And the final confirmation of transactions will decrease from 16 minutes to 6-16 seconds. Each step will only be taken once researchers are confident that the changes are safe.
Since this is a very large set of changes, Buterin writes that he considers their phased implementation to be the most optimal solution for achieving the goals. In the process, as the co-founder noted, Ethereum will gradually change both the cryptography and the consensus mechanisms underlying the “ether” to more reliable and efficient options (including protection against quantum attacks).
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