Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has outlined a major upgrade plan to scale the network’s Layer 1 (L1) capacity by ten times over the next year. Speaking at ETHGlobal Prague, Buterin emphasized the importance of increasing throughput without compromising decentralization—a foundational principle of Ethereum.
Doubling Down on Layer 1 Efficiency
Buterin’s proposed strategy centers around increasing Ethereum’s gas limit, which determines how many transactions can be processed in each block. By raising this limit, Ethereum could significantly boost transaction speeds and lower costs, making the network more practical for everyday use.
However, he cautioned that this upgrade would unfold over 18 months, allowing time to fine-tune technical details while avoiding risks to the network’s stability.
Key points of the plan include:
- Expanding gas limits to support more transactions per block
- Ensuring decentralization remains intact through thoughtful implementation
- Addressing node accessibility with a new concept: “partially stateless nodes”
These partially stateless nodes would help users with limited hardware continue to run local nodes even as data demands grow.
Responding to Competitive Pressure
Buterin’s roadmap comes amid stiff competition from high-performance blockchains like Solana, which have attracted attention for their fast and low-cost transactions. By improving Ethereum’s L1 scalability, Buterin aims to preserve its leadership in the blockchain space and reduce bottlenecks that have caused high gas fees during peak usage.
Layer 2 Innovation Still a Priority
While this initiative focuses on Layer 1 improvements, Buterin also stressed the ongoing need to develop and integrate Layer 2 (L2) solutions. Enhanced interoperability between L2 platforms could further scale the Ethereum ecosystem without putting excessive strain on the base layer.
As Ethereum pushes forward with these upgrades, developers and users alike are watching closely. Balancing technical advancements with Ethereum’s commitment to decentralization will be crucial in shaping the future of decentralized apps and Web3 infrastructure.
