Ethereum is getting a makeover — a big one. Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of the world’s second-largest blockchain network, has shared his thoughts on a newly published four-year upgrade plan that aims to make Ethereum both faster and safer from the growing threat of quantum computing.
The plan, called “Strawmap,” was put out by the Ethereum Foundation’s Protocol team and lays out a series of changes expected to roll out over the next four years through seven scheduled hard forks, roughly one every six months.
Ethereum: Cutting Block Time From 12 Seconds To 2
Right now, Ethereum produces a new block every 12 seconds. That may sound quick, but for a network that wants to power payments, apps, and financial tools at a global scale, it is not fast enough.
A very important document. Let’s walk through this one “goal” at a time. We’ll start with fast slots and fast finality.
I expect that we’ll reduce slot time in an incremental fashion, eg. I like the “sqrt(2) at a time” formula (12 -> 8 -> 6 -> 4 -> 3 -> 2, though the last two… https://t.co/ni9wIF2BgJ
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 25, 2026
According to Buterin, the plan is to bring that number down to just two seconds — but not all at once. Reports say the reduction will happen in stages, following a rough pattern from 12 seconds down to eight, then six, then four, and finally two.
Buterin also pointed out that improving how nodes on the network share information with each other — passing along new blocks without sending the same data repeatedly — can make shorter block times safe without creating new security risks.
“Fast slots are off in their own lane at the top of the roadmap,” Buterin wrote, adding that this part of the plan operates mostly on its own, separate from the other upgrades.
Two hard forks are already locked in for this year. Glamsterdam and Hegotá are both confirmed and expected to arrive in the months ahead, marking the first concrete steps in the timeline.
A 16-Minute Wait For Finality Is Also On The Chopping Block
Speed is only half the story. The other major change targets something called finality — the point at which a completed transaction is mathematically locked in and cannot be reversed. On Ethereum today, that takes around 16 minutes.
The goal is to slash that window down to somewhere between six and 16 seconds by replacing the current confirmation process with a simpler, cleaner system. That new system would also be built to resist attacks from quantum computers, which are widely expected to eventually break the kind of encryption that blockchains currently depend on.
“The goal is to decouple slots and finality, to allow us to reason about both separately,” Buterin said.
He described the planned changes as “a very invasive set of changes,” which is why the team plans to bundle the most significant steps with a switch to what are known as post-quantum hash-based signatures — a type of cryptography designed to hold up even against powerful quantum machines.
Featured image from Cyber Security 360, chart from TradingView
