Key Insights

  • The Merge upgrades transitioned Ethereum from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake blockchain.

  • The Surge upgrades aim to enhance Ethereum's transactions per second (TPS) to 100,000.

  • The Scourge upgrades focus on improving decentralization within the network.

  • The Verge upgrades introduce new technologies to simplify node operation.

  • The Purge upgrades aim to remove outdated blockchain data for improved efficiency.

  • The Splurge upgrades encompass various enhancements not categorized in the previous upgrades.

Ethereum Upgrade Roadmap

The Merge


On September 15, 2022, the Merge upgrade successfully transformed Ethereum from a proof-of-work blockchain to a proof-of-stake blockchain, resulting in a 99.9% reduction in energy consumption.

Merge in Ethereum

Ethereum

Due to the complexity of transitioning the entire mainnet in one step, Ethereum implemented a strategic plan that involved creating a side chain. Mainnet miners migrated to this side chain, known as the "beacon chain," where they became validators by staking 32 ETH. The two chains ultimately merged, positioning Ethereum as an energy-efficient blockchain.

The Surge


The subsequent Surge upgrades focused on significantly increasing Ethereum's transaction speed from 15 TPS to over 100,000 TPS.

Dencun Upgrade


The first and only upgrade in this series, known as the Dencun Upgrade or Proto-Dank Sharding, was implemented on March 13, 2024. It introduced a feature called "blob," reducing costs for layer 2 solutions and bulk transaction generators to add transactions to the Ethereum blockchain. As a result, Ethereum gas prices plummeted by 99%. This reduction in gas prices correlates with network TPS, suggesting that Ethereum achieved a TPS of approximately 1,500 transactions.

Sharding


Blob transactions are temporary, retaining their data for only a few months. The Sharding Upgrade is intended to address this issue and will represent the ultimate advancement in Ethereum's scaling efforts, aiming to achieve TPS of over 100,000. This upgrade involves dividing Ethereum's current validator network (about 1 million validators) into smaller groups known as "shards," reportedly totaling 64. These shards will operate independently and can add blocks to the Ethereum blockchain.

To implement this effectively, each shard needs a sufficient number of validators for security. Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, has proposed lowering the validator stake requirement from 32 ETH to 1 ETH.

The Pectra Upgrade


The Pectra Upgrades, which include the Prague and Electra enhancements, will enable Ethereum users to pay gas fees using cryptocurrencies other than ETH, such as USDT or DAI. These improvements will also enhance the efficiency of interactions between Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks. The Pectra Upgrades are scheduled for implementation from 2025 to 2026 in two phases.

EIP 7781


Ben Adams, founder of Ilyriad Games, has proposed EIP 7781 to reduce the block slot time from the current 12 seconds to 8 seconds, which could enhance Ethereum's block speed by 50%. Vitalik Buterin supports this proposal, which would also decrease the time required for block finalization from 2-3 epochs to just 1 epoch. An epoch measures the time needed to finalize a process and varies by system.

The Scourge


The Scourge series of upgrades aims to enhance decentralization within the Ethereum network. A recent survey shared by Vitalik Buterin indicated that 44% of individuals cannot become validators due to the 32 ETH stake requirement (approximately $83,200).


Ethereum Quotes a Survey To Highlight Ethereum’s 32 Eth Stake Is Too Big

Vitalik Buterin

In response, Buterin announced on October 14, 2024, that Ethereum plans to reduce the validator stake from 32 ETH to 1 ETH to allow more solo validators to join the network. Additionally, the complexity of running a validator node has been identified as a barrier. To address this, Buterin previously suggested developing a lightweight Ethereum client that could run on mobile devices, although this goal appears to be distant at present.

The Verge


The Verge upgrades will introduce Verkle Trees, which are vector-driven Merkle trees. These trees will simplify node operation and reduce hardware demands. Furthermore, Verkle Trees will enable zero-knowledge solutions to submit smaller, more efficient state proofs for verifying and finalizing Layer 2 transactions.

The Purge


The Purge series will focus on removing older blocks from the blockchain, enhancing speed and accessibility for nodes. Legacy data is generally unnecessary unless executing a hard fork in Ethereum, which would revert the chain by 7 or 8 years—an undesirable and nearly impossible scenario. However, this data will still be accessible off-chain via a portal or as call data on some deprecated blocks.

The Splurge


The Splurge will consist of various miscellaneous upgrades occurring concurrently with other upgrades.

Account Abstraction


One significant aspect of the Splurge upgrades is Account Abstraction, which will allow ETH wallet holders to recover their wallets even if they forget their private keys. Moreover, this feature will enable users to pay gas fees with the same cryptocurrency they hold on the Ethereum network, such as USDT or USDC, eliminating the need to acquire ETH for transactions.



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