The Ethereum Foundation has just released the Strawmap—basically a detailed technical roadmap for the next four years. Justin Drake introduced this, and honestly, it’s quite interesting because it shows a shift toward a more structured upgrade schedule.

Previously, Ethereum used somewhat confusing nomenclature—Merge, Surge, Scourge, and so on—the Merge itself being a major upgrade that has already occurred, transitioning to Proof of Stake. But now they’re moving toward a more concrete and measurable approach. This Strawmap plans for about seven network forks until the end of 2029, with specific focuses on throughput, security, and privacy.

What’s most interesting? They are serious about a six-month upgrade schedule. No more sudden or unpredictable upgrades. Each fork will focus on several key improvements—usually one at the consensus layer, one at the execution layer. This clearly makes it easier for developers and validators to plan.

The technical targets are very ambitious. There’s Gigagas aiming to reach 10,000 TPS on the mainnet Layer 1 through zkEVM integration. Imagine, that’s a huge leap from current capacity. How? By leveraging real-time zero-knowledge proofs, the network can verify complex computations much faster.

But that’s just Layer 1. On Layer 2, they have Teragas targets—10 million TPS across the rollup ecosystem. This will be enabled through Data Availability Sampling (DAS), so L2 networks can verify large data without having to download everything. For end users, this means nearly zero fees and dApps running as fast as regular websites.

Security aspects are also not overlooked. They are serious about transitioning to post-quantum cryptography—basically preparing for the era of quantum computers that might crack current encryption. Plus, there are plans for native privacy features on L1 with protected ETH transfers, no longer relying on third-party mixers.

The path to 2029 is divided into three main tracks: Scale (increase throughput), Improve UX (reduce finality time), and Harden L1 (increase security). Early forks like Glamsterdam and Hegotá will lay the foundation for more ambitious goals.

An important note: the Ethereum Foundation says this is a “living document,” not a rigid prediction. There’s room for community feedback and breakthrough research. So, this roadmap can evolve over time.

Overall, this shows Ethereum’s strong focus on maintaining its position as the leading smart contract platform with scalable performance and solid privacy. The next two years will be quite exciting to follow.