The network is moving away from being a slow giant to become a high-speed internet of value by 2029

At the center of the document are five ambitions: near-instant transaction finality, dramatically higher throughput, built-in privacy, quantum-resistant cryptography and tighter integration between Ethereums base layer and its layer 2 ecosystem.

Stripped of jargon, the goal is straightforward: make Ethereum faster, more scalable, more private and durable enough to last a long time.

Today, Ethereum transactions are included in blocks quickly, but the point at which they are considered irreversible, known as finality, takes too long (roughly 16 minutes). For most casual users, that nuance is invisible. For exchanges, bridges and financial applications, its critical.

In a thread responding to the roadmap, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin laid out how that could change. “Today, finality takes 16 minutes,” he wrote, adding that the goal is to “decouple slots and finality” and move toward a system where “endgame finality time might be eg. 6–16 sec.”

Moving from minutes to seconds changes how comfortably large amounts of value can move across the network.

The Layer 2 debate

Earlier this month, Buterin argued that some of the assumptions behind the original layer 2 roadmap “no longer make sense” in their earlier form. Layer-2 networks were previously incorporated into Ethereums roadmap to scale the network by processing transactions off the main blockchain and settling them back to Ethereum, helping reduce congestion and fees.

However, as layer 1 or base layer scaling has improved and some rollups have taken longer than expected to decentralize, the idea that Ethereum would outsource most of its scaling burden entirely to L2s has become less clear-cut.

Instead, Buterin suggested a more balanced future — one where the base layer continues to strengthen while layer 2 networks evolve into more specialized roles, whether for privacy, specific applications or enhanced security models.

“Ultimately, were going to have finality in seconds,” Drake told CoinDesk, arguing that faster settlement will “help with bridging between the L2s” and improve user experience.

The Strawmap reflects that shift. It doesnt necessarily say layer 2s will go extinct, but neither does it treat layer 1 as frozen. Instead, it builds on a stronger base layer, alongside improvements that enable significantly higher layer 2 capacity, which could be seen as a dual-track scaling strategy.

Privacy and quantum threat

Privacy marks another notable shift in the draft of the new roadmap.

Ethereum‘s transparency has long been viewed as a positive, as every transaction is visible. But openness limits certain use cases. The Strawmap contemplates native “shielded” transfers at the base layer, which would allow ETH to move without exposing full transaction details publicly. For individuals, that’s a matter of financial discretion. For businesses, it could determine whether certain activities move onchain at all.

And then theres the long game: post-quantum cryptography. Quantum computing remains a developing field, but if Ethereum is meant to secure trillions in value over decades, its security assumptions cannot remain static. The Ethereum Foundation recently brought together a post-quantum team, and the roadmap only shows that it continues to double down on these efforts.

For developers and businesses, the roadmap provides directional clarity. Ethereum has often been criticized for moving slowly or for perpetually delaying the timelines ofupgrades. By publishing a multi-year sketch, researchers are signaling that the networks next phase is not just about patching limitations.

Ethereums history, though, is full of ambitious timelines that are overstretched. Governance in a decentralized system ensures debate and revision. The Strawmap itself acknowledges it will evolve.

“For me, this is ultimately about Ethereum becoming the internet of value, and ether, the asset, becoming money for the internet,” Drake told CoinDesk.