Vitalik Buterin unveils Ethereum’s biggest overhaul since The Merge

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has unveiled a multi-year roadmap that places native privacy, quantum resistance, and protocol simplification at the center of Ethereum’s next major upgrade, describing it as the network’s largest transformation since The Merge.

According to a roadmap published on Strawmap.org and shared by Buterin on X over July 6, the proposed changes are expected to be introduced over the next three to four years following discussions among Ethereum researchers in Berlin.

The document outlines coordinated upgrades spanning nearly every layer of the network and presents what Buterin describes as Ethereum’s third major evolution after its transition to proof-of-stake in 2022.

Native privacy becomes a core protocol feature

Instead of leaving privacy to applications built on Ethereum, the roadmap proposes making it a built-in property of the protocol itself. The document evaluates key components, including Frames, the transaction mempool, and future state designs, according to whether they can support intermediary-free, quantum-safe privacy while keeping computational costs low.

Building on ideas first outlined in May 2026, Buterin’s latest proposal expands an earlier privacy roadmap into a network-wide redesign. What previously focused on incremental improvements has now developed into a long-term architectural plan covering the protocol’s core infrastructure.

Among the document’s strongest statements is Buterin’s observation that “quantum safety has shifted up a LOT in priority.” The roadmap identifies work on quantum-safe blob designs, which support Ethereum’s rollup-based scaling model, as an urgent priority.

According to the proposal, several cryptographic systems currently used by Ethereum, including BLS signatures, KZG commitments, and ECDSA, would eventually be replaced with post-quantum alternatives. The direction aligns with the post-quantum cryptography standards finalized by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology in 2024.

Protocol redesign targets faster verification and smaller overhead

Alongside cryptographic upgrades, the roadmap introduces changes intended to simplify how Ethereum validates transactions. Rather than requiring every node to re-execute every transaction, the proposal recommends recursive STARK-based verification, where one prover performs the intensive computation while the rest of the network verifies a compact cryptographic proof.

The proposal also continues work first discussed by the Ethereum Foundation earlier this year. In February 2026, the Foundation released an initial strawmap examining quantum threats facing Ethereum, while Buterin separately detailed the network’s quantum security risks. The latest roadmap develops those earlier discussions into a more detailed implementation strategy.

Meanwhile, the technical proposal arrives as the Ethereum Foundation continues internal restructuring. The organization has reduced its workforce by roughly 20%, eliminating about 54 positions, while also cutting its budget by a targeted 40%. Recent departures have included protocol contributors Hsiao-Wei Wang, Tomasz Stańczak, Tim Beiko, and Barnabé Monnot.

Community discussion on X has largely focused on the roadmap’s technical detail rather than broad ambitions. Several participants noted that the draft identifies specific signature schemes, cryptographic replacements, and state-size objectives instead of relying on high-level goals.

For now, the roadmap remains a working draft rather than a finalized implementation schedule. According to the document, the upcoming Hegotá fork is expected to be the final major network upgrade before Ethereum enters what Buterin describes as the Lean Ethereum era, where privacy, scalability, and quantum resistance are treated as core protocol requirements rather than optional additions.