Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin outlined a new technical roadmap for the network, dubbed the “Lean Ethereum” straw sheet. In a social media post on Saturday, Buterin identified quantum resistance, scalability and privacy as the top three priorities for Ethereum’s development over the next few years.
The straw map outlines upgrades rolling out between 2026 and 2029. Buterin compared the scale of this transformation to the September 2022 merger, which moved Ethereum from energy-intensive mining to proof-of-stake. He said the changes would touch almost every layer of Ethereum.
Quantum security becomes urgent
Buterin emphasized that quantum security has significantly increased in priority. He noted that it has become urgent to finalize a quantum-secure solution for the blobs. Improving privacy is also now a top goal, he added.
The change in roadmap comes amid a series of organizational changes within the Ethereum Foundation. The foundation laid off about 20% of its staff last month and cut its budget by 40%. Several executives have also left in recent months, including Hsiao-Wei Wang, Tomasz Stańczak and protocol contributors Tim Beiko and Barnabé Monnot.
Buterin is also pushing for the development of a new virtual machine, possibly based on LeanISA or RISC-V, to support programmable privacy and better scalability.
Questions about Buterin’s chronology
Dankrad Feist, a researcher behind the payments-focused layer-1 blockchain Tempo, welcomed the plan but argued that the three-to-four-year timeline is too slow. He suggested that AI could help developers deliver upgrades within a year.
Crypto analyst Ignas Fiodorovas was also supportive of the plan but questioned the Ethereum Foundation’s ability to deliver on time. He highlighted the organization’s history of missed deadlines. Fiodorovas said the only key feature missing from the roadmap was improved tokenomics for Ether (ETH), the price of which has continued to decline amid a broader market slowdown.
The Strawmap represents a simpler approach for Ethereum, both in terms of technical direction and organizational structure. But the question of whether the foundation will be able to meet the schedule remains open.
