Ethereum has published a draft roadmap, dubbed the 'Strawmap,' that outlines seven hard forks over roughly three years, aiming to boost Layer 1 throughput to 10,000 transactions per second and slash finality to as little as 6 seconds by 2029. The plan, authored by Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake, also targets post-quantum cryptography and native shielded ETH transfers.
Strawmap's core proposals
The cornerstone of the finality improvement is a mechanism called 'Minimmit,' which enables single-slot finality. Currently, Ethereum transactions reach finality after about 16 minutes; the Strawmap aims to reduce that to between 6 and 16 seconds, putting it on par with centralized payment networks. The throughput goal of 10,000 TPS on Layer 1 represents a massive leap from Ethereum's current capacity of roughly 15 to 30 TPS. Layer 2 capacity could reach 10 million TPS through data availability sampling, a technique that allows validators to verify large data sets without downloading them entirely.
The roadmap prioritizes post-quantum cryptography, specifically hash-based signatures designed to resist quantum computer attacks. Cryptographic upgrades typically take years to implement, and the Strawmap includes fork milestones for quantum-resistant readiness by 2029. Privacy also gets a boost with native shielded ETH transfers, enabling users to transact without exposing balances or transaction history on the blockchain.
Vitalik's endorsement and the ship of Theseus
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin publicly endorsed the Strawmap as an important step for the network's evolution. He described the cumulative upgrades as a 'ship of Theseus' transformation, where every component gets replaced over time, resulting in a functionally different system while maintaining continuity. The Strawmap remains a draft document originally intended for internal developer discussion, and Ethereum has a history of delayed upgrades—the Merge from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, for instance, didn't occur until September 2022, years after initial projections.
Implications for ETH and the market
Seven hard forks in roughly three years is an extraordinarily aggressive pace for a network securing hundreds of billions of dollars in value. Since the 2022 Merge, Ethereum has shipped incremental hard forks including Dencun in 2024 and Pectra in 2025; the Strawmap builds on this trajectory with a longer-term transformation plan. The post-quantum cryptography push could become a competitive moat, as most Layer 1 blockchains have not yet seriously addressed quantum threats. Investors should watch whether the first fork in the sequence ships on schedule, as that will signal whether the six-month cadence is realistic or aspirational.