The Ethereum Foundation’s newly released “Strawmap” may at first glance seem like something only protocol researchers would immediately understand. It’s dense, chart-heavy, and filled with references to forking, zkEVM, and data availability sampling.
But behind the technical language is 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 be by the end of the century.
The “Strawmap” — clearly intended as a draft rather than an official plan — outlines Ethereum’s upgrades through 2029. It’s not binding, but it gives an indication of where some of the web’s most influential researchers think the base layer should go next.
“Strawmap is largely independent of Ethereum governance…it is a tool that can inform R&D ahead of Ethereum governance, possibly even years in advance,” Justin Drake, a prominent researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, told CoinDesk.
The practical implications of this direction extend beyond core developers.
At the heart of the document are five goals: near-instant transaction finality, vastly improved throughput, built-in privacy, quantum-resistant cryptography, and tighter integration between Ethereum’s base layer and its Layer 2 ecosystem.
Jargon aside, our 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 very quickly, but the point at which they are considered irreversible (called finality) takes a long time (around 16 minutes). For most casual users, this nuance is invisible. This is crucial for exchanges, bridges, and financial applications.
In a post responding to the roadmap, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin laid out how this could change. “Today, finalization takes 16 minutes,” he wrote, adding that the goal is to “decouple slots and finalization” and move toward a system where “endgame finalization time could be 6-16 seconds.”
The shift from minutes to seconds changes how comfortable it is to move large amounts of value across the network.
Level 2 arguments
Earlier this month, Buterin argued that some of the assumptions behind the original Layer 2 roadmap “no longer make sense” in its early form. The Layer 2 network was previously incorporated into Ethereum’s roadmap, expanding the network by processing transactions on the main blockchain and settling them back into Ethereum, thereby helping to reduce congestion and fees.
However, as Layer 1, or base layer scaling improves, and some rollups take longer to decentralize than expected, the idea of Ethereum outsourcing most of its scaling burden entirely to L2 has become less clear.
Instead, Buterin proposed a more balanced future — one where the base layer continues to strengthen, while Layer 2 networks evolve into more specialized roles, whether for privacy, specific applications or enhanced security models.
“Ultimately, we will have a final result in seconds,” Drake told CoinDesk, arguing that faster settlements will “help build a bridge between L2” and improve user experience.
The straw diagram reflects this shift. It doesn’t necessarily say that Tier 2 will become extinct, but it doesn’t consider Tier 1 to be frozen either. Instead, it builds on a more powerful base layer while making improvements that significantly increase Layer 2 capacity, which can be considered a dual-rail scaling strategy.
Privacy and quantum threats
Privacy marks another notable shift in the new draft roadmap.
Ethereum’s transparency has long been seen as a positive, as every transaction is visible. But the openness limits certain use cases. Strawmap is considering native “shielded” transfers at the base layer, which would allow ETH to be moved without publicly exposing full transaction details. For individuals, it is a matter of financial discretion. For businesses, it can determine whether certain activities are fully moved on-chain.
Then comes the long game: post-quantum cryptography. Quantum computing is still a developing field, but if Ethereum is to secure trillions of dollars in value within decades, its security assumptions cannot remain unchanged. The Ethereum Foundation recently assembled a post-quantum team, and the roadmap only shows that it continues to double down on its efforts.
For developers and enterprises, roadmaps provide clear direction. Ethereum is often criticized for being slow to progress or permanently pushing back its timeline upgrade. By releasing multi-year sketches, researchers show that the next phase of the network is more than just tinkering with limitations.
However, Ethereum’s history is littered with overly ambitious timelines. Governance in a decentralized system ensures debate and revision. The straw drawing itself acknowledges that it will continue to evolve.
“To me, this is ultimately about Ethereum becoming the internet of value, and Ethereum becoming the asset, becoming the currency of the internet,” Drake told CoinDesk.
Read more: Ethereum Foundation abandons most ambitious roadmap in years, aiming for final decision in seconds by 2029
