Vitalik Buterin was talking about improving the mainnet to prepare Ethereum for the future. He even mentioned in his last statement that laye2 solutions are no longer as exciting as he initially promised. Ethereum is getting faster and cheaper. And there will be more. Strawmap road map has been announced.
Strawmap Roadmap
Ethereum Foundation (Ethereum FoundationA comprehensive document visualizing and detailing the current protocol road map published by ) was published on February 18, 2026, and many important details are included here. Five main goals are at the center of this roadmap, defining the future of Ethereum as a “scalable, secure and private world computer.”
Fast L1
Transactions will be “finalized” within seconds. It aims to eliminate the latency in the direct use of layer1 by reducing Single Slot Finality (SSF) and slot times (from 12 seconds to 8 seconds or less).
Gigagas L1
Ethereum The target is to process 1 billion gases per second (1 Gigagas/sec) on its network. Enshrined zkEVM (ZK provers embedded in the protocol). In this way, the Ethereum mainnet can achieve speeds of approximately 10,000 TPS without increasing hardware requirements.
Teragas L2
Layer2 A total capacity of 1 teragas per second (10 million TPS) in its ecosystem. PeerDAS (Data Availability Sampling). The data layer will be expanded so much that Layer 2s will be able to use Ethereum as a very low-cost database.
Post Quantum L1
This is one of the most important issues because quantum risks have increased with the development of artificial intelligence. This is one of the main reasons for the Bitcoin decline. There will be a transition from ECDSA signatures to hash-based or lattice-based quantum-resistant schemes to “future-proof” the network against the risk of quantum computers cracking existing cryptography.
Private L1
Privacy will be ensured to be part of the protocol, not just an option. Shielded ETH transfers. It will be possible to hide users’ balances and transaction histories without disrupting centralization.
With this announcement, Ethereum’s complex phases, known by names such as “The Surge, The Scourge, The Verge”, were divided into three main working groups: Scale, Improve UX and Harden L1. The two biggest technical milestones in 2026 will be the Glamsterdam (first half of the year) and Hegotá (second half of the year) updates.
ETH Although it has not yet been able to reclaim the key threshold of $ 2,100, it continues on its way with double-digit daily gains.
