Ethereum Foundation researchers have outlined seven network upgrades extending through 2029. The draft roadmap targets materially faster slot times, near-instant finality, and base-layer privacy features that would reshape Ethereum’s performance envelope.
The document, dubbed a “strawmap,” was introduced by researcher Justin Drake following a January 2026 Ethereum Foundation workshop. Maintained by the EF Architecture team, it will receive quarterly updates. Drake said the label reflects that no single roadmap can formally represent all stakeholders in a decentralized ecosystem.
Introducing strawmap, a strawman roadmap by EF Protocol.
— Justin Drake (@drakefjustin) February 25, 2026
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
Can Ethereum Reach Seconds-Level Finality By 2029?
The strawmap defines five technical “north stars.” These include a “fast L1” with slot times reduced from 12 seconds toward as low as two seconds, and finality compressed from roughly 16 minutes to a potential 6–16 seconds. Additional targets include “gigagas L1” at 1 gigagas per second, or about 10,000 transactions per second, and “teragas L2” at 1 gigabyte per second of data throughput, equivalent to 10 million transactions per second via data availability sampling.
The roadmap also proposes a “Post-Quantum L1” based on hash-derived cryptography and a “Private L1” introducing native shielded ETH transfers. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin described the strawmap as a “very important document,” outlining a staged reduction in slot times to 8, 6, 4, 3, and potentially 2 seconds. He detailed a parallel finality path moving from 16 minutes to 10 minutes and 40 seconds, then progressively down to as little as eight seconds under aggressive parameters.
A very important document. Let's walk through this one "goal" at a time. We'll start with fast slots and fast finality.
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 25, 2026
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
Researchers are evaluating responses to recent Poseidon2 hash attacks, including increasing round counts, reverting to Poseidon1, or adopting BLAKE3. Larger protocol changes would be bundled with post-quantum signature transitions and a STARK-friendly hash function. But no formal deployment calendar has been published.
The seven-fork projection assumes a 2029 completion, though Drake noted AI-assisted development or formal verification could compress timelines. The next inflection point will be how upcoming All Core Devs discussions translate these technical targets into concrete Ethereum Improvement Proposals.
