Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has outlined his vision for the next phase of the network’s evolution, known as “The Surge.” In an Oct. 17 blog post, Buterin shared critical objectives for this phase, aiming to achieve over 100,000 transactions per second (TPS) across Ethereum’s mainnet and layer-2 solutions. He also emphasized the importance of improving interoperability between layer-2 networks while preserving the decentralization and robustness of the blockchain’s mainnet.
Buterin noted that Ethereum’s current scaling roadmap emphasizes a rollup-centric approach, with L1 as the secure and decentralized foundation and L2s handling the network’s scaling. However, this strategy has its own set of obstacles. Buterin highlighted the need to navigate these challenges carefully to ensure Ethereum retains its core strengths in decentralization and security. He also acknowledged that users often face difficulties navigating the L2 ecosystem. To address this, Buterin emphasized that the network users must “feel like one ecosystem, not 34 different blockchains.”
Buterin also highlighted the necessity of scaling Ethereum’s base chain to meet growing demand. He warned that if L2s scale effectively but Ethereum L1 remains limited in transaction processing, it could introduce risks to the network. He said increasing Ethereum’s gas limit would be the “easiest way” to scale the network. However, this could lead to centralization risks, which could impact the blockchain’s “credibility as a robust base layer.” Buterin pointed out that another approach would involve making certain features and computations cheaper while preserving decentralization and its security properties.
A third strategy is native rollups (or “enshrined rollups”): essentially, creating many copies of the EVM that run in parallel, leading to a model that is equivalent to what rollups can provide, but much more natively integrated into the protocol. However, Buterin cautioned against drastically raising the gas limit, as it could harm L1’s decentralization without offering meaningful improvements to overall scalability. he emphasized the importance of carefully balancing improvements to the network while maintaining its core strengths.
Overall, Buterin’s vision for Ethereum’s evolution in “The Surge” phase aims to address key challenges in scaling the network while maintaining decentralization, security, and interoperability between layer-2 solutions. By focusing on innovative approaches such as improving data availability sampling, enhancing user experience, and carefully scaling the base chain to meet demand, Ethereum is poised to continue its growth and development as a leading blockchain platform in the cryptocurrency space.
