The Ethereum ecosystem is undergoing a transformative phase, driven by rapid and deliberate protocol upgrades that are expanding its capabilities beyond what was once thought possible. At the recent ETH CC conference in Paris—a global gathering of Ethereum developers, researchers, and visionaries—Vitalik Buterin, often affectionately referred to as "Vitalik" or "V," took the stage to share his vision for Ethereum’s future.
Far from being the finish line, the Merge—Ethereum’s transition from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS)—is just one milestone in a much broader and more ambitious roadmap. According to Vitalik, while Bitcoin supporters may believe their network is 80% complete, Ethereum is only about 40% finished, and even after the Merge completes in September 2025, it will still be at roughly 55% completion.
This perspective underscores a core philosophy: Ethereum is not a static platform but an evolving digital foundation for decentralized applications, finance, identity, and more.
The Ethereum Roadmap: Merge → Surge → Verge
Vitalik outlined Ethereum’s developmental journey through a clear sequence of upgrades:
Merge → Surge → Verge
Each phase targets a fundamental limitation and unlocks new scalability, security, and decentralization potential.
🔹 The Merge: Transition to Proof-of-Stake
The Merge marks the most visible change in Ethereum’s history—the shift from energy-intensive mining to environmentally sustainable staking. By replacing PoW with PoS, Ethereum drastically reduces its carbon footprint while improving network security through economic incentives.
However, Vitalik emphasized that this is just the beginning. The Merge does not significantly improve transaction throughput or reduce gas fees on its own. Its real value lies in laying the groundwork for future scalability upgrades.
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🔹 The Surge: Scaling Through Sharding
Following the Merge, the Surge will introduce sharding, a technique that splits the Ethereum blockchain into multiple parallel chains (shards), allowing it to process many more transactions simultaneously.
With sharding:
- Data availability increases dramatically.
- Layer 2 rollups can post data more cheaply across multiple shards.
- Transaction costs are expected to drop significantly for end users.
The Surge is critical for achieving Ethereum’s long-term goal of supporting 100,000+ transactions per second in a decentralized manner. This isn’t just about speed—it’s about making Ethereum accessible to everyone, everywhere, without compromising decentralization.
🔹 The Verge: Optimizing Storage with Verkle Trees
After the Surge comes the Verge, which focuses on optimizing how data is stored and verified on Ethereum. The key innovation here is the adoption of Verkle trees, a more efficient cryptographic structure than the current Merkle trees.
Verkle trees enable:
- Smaller proof sizes for light clients.
- Reduced node storage requirements.
- Faster synchronization times for new nodes joining the network.
This upgrade supports Vitalik’s vision of ultra-light clients—software that allows anyone to run an Ethereum node on a smartphone or low-powered device, enhancing decentralization and accessibility.
Layer 1 vs. Layer 2: A Strategic Division of Labor
As Ethereum evolves, a clear division of responsibilities emerges between Layer 1 (L1) and Layer 2 (L2) solutions:
- Layer 1: Focuses on security, consensus, and data availability. It must remain stable, secure, and minimally complex.
- Layer 2: Handles execution, innovation, and rapid iteration—enabling fast development of dApps, rollups, and custom logic.
Vitalik introduced the concept of "escape velocity"—once L1 reaches sufficient robustness and scalability (via sharding and data availability layers), most application-level innovation can shift to L2s. This model allows Ethereum to scale without bloating the base layer.
“We don’t need every feature built into Ethereum itself. We need a strong foundation so others can build freely on top.”
EIP-4444: Pruning Historical Data for Efficiency
One of the technical highlights discussed was EIP-4444, a proposed upgrade requiring Ethereum clients to stop serving historical block data older than one year over the peer-to-peer network.
Why does this matter?
- Reduces storage burden on full nodes.
- Encourages reliance on archival services rather than every node storing everything.
- Paves the way for lighter, more efficient client implementations.
While this may affect backward compatibility, it aligns with the broader goal of enabling smaller hardware—like laptops or mobile devices—to participate fully in the network.
What Should Be Avoided? Vitalik’s Caution List
Not all changes are worth pursuing. Vitalik shared several directions he believes Ethereum should avoid:
- ❌ Adding support for multiple virtual machines—this would increase consensus complexity unnecessarily.
- ❌ Rushing base-layer SNARKs before better circuit designs exist.
- ❌ Making Ethereum so complex that only experts understand its architecture.
Simplicity and maintainability are paramount. As Vitalik put it: "We need short-term pain for long-term gain."
Where Should Focus Be Placed?
Instead of chasing complexity, Vitalik stressed that efforts should center on accessibility and usability:
- ✅ Building easy-to-use light clients so anyone can verify Ethereum independently.
- ✅ Enabling small-scale staking pools so more people can participate in securing the network.
- ✅ Supporting full nodes on lightweight hardware, promoting true decentralization.
These goals reflect a deep commitment to ensuring Ethereum remains open, inclusive, and resilient against centralization pressures.
Long-Term Vision: Quantum Resistance and Beyond
Looking decades ahead, Vitalik outlined some ambitious objectives:
- 🛡️ Achieving quantum resistance to protect against future threats from quantum computing.
- 💡 Integrating zkEVM advancements into base-layer transaction space to drastically lower rollup costs.
- 🔐 Exploring stronger cryptographic primitives for enhanced privacy and security.
- 🧠 Maintaining an open mindset—remaining adaptable as new technologies emerge.
If zkEVMs mature successfully, there’s potential to embed zero-knowledge-friendly transaction formats natively into Ethereum, further reducing costs and boosting scalability.
FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What comes after the Merge?
A: The next major phase is the Surge, which introduces sharding to dramatically increase Ethereum’s data capacity and support cheaper Layer 2 rollups.
Q: Will Ethereum become faster after the Merge?
A: Not immediately. The Merge improves energy efficiency and security but doesn’t increase throughput. Speed improvements come later with the Surge and sharding.
Q: Can I run an Ethereum node on my phone?
A: Not yet at full capability—but with upgrades like Verkle trees and EIP-4444, ultra-light clients capable of running on smartphones are within reach.
Q: Why is sharding important?
A: Sharding increases data availability, allowing Layer 2 solutions to operate more efficiently and affordably. It’s key to scaling Ethereum sustainably.
Q: Is Ethereum becoming too complex?
A: Vitalik acknowledges this risk. That’s why simplicity, backward compatibility trade-offs, and ease of use remain top priorities in protocol design.
Q: How does EIP-4444 affect blockchain explorers or data analysis?
A: Historical data won’t disappear—it will just be served by specialized archival nodes or services rather than all peers. Regular users won’t notice a difference.
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Final Thoughts: Ethereum Is Still Early
Despite years of development and billions in value secured on its network, Ethereum is still in its adolescence. The Merge was a historic achievement—but it was never meant to be the final act.
With the Surge, Verge, and long-term goals like quantum resistance and native zk-integration on the horizon, Ethereum continues its evolution toward becoming a truly scalable, secure, and decentralized world computer.
The journey is far from over. In fact, it’s just accelerating.
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