Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin reveals future vision at the 10th Global Blockchain Summit
October 17, 2024, Shanghai, China - The much-anticipated 10th Global Blockchain Summit hosted by Wanxiang Blockchain Lab kicked off. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin shared the development of Ethereum since its inception in his keynote speech and proposed an ambitious future development roadmap.
One of the key points in his speech was that Ethereum aims to increase the number of transactions per second (TPS) to over 100,000 using layer 2 (L2) technology and reduce cross-chain transaction time to just 2 seconds.
Ethereum's 10-year journey
In his speech, Buterin reviewed the development of Ethereum since its inception. Launched in 2015, Ethereum has grown from a novel blockchain platform to a powerful decentralized network that supports decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and a variety of other blockchain-based applications.
“If you listened to my speeches in 2015, 2016 or 2017, not a lot has changed,” Buterin said. “Our main goal has always been to improve Ethereum’s technology. In 2022, we complete the full transition from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS),” he continued, reflecting on the platform’s major transformation. He emphasized that core areas such as scalability, privacy, zero-knowledge proofs, and security have been the focus of Ethereum’s development over the past decade.
Achieving Scalability: The Road to 100,000 TPS
One of the highlights of Buterin’s speech was Ethereum’s ambitious plan to achieve over 100,000 TPS via L2 solutions.
He pointed to progress already made in reducing transaction costs and increasing confirmation speeds as key steps toward achieving this goal.
Ethereum’s L2 solutions have already significantly reduced transaction fees, dropping from the sky-high levels seen in 2020 and 2021. At the time, layer-one transaction fees ranged between $5 and $10, with Buterin himself recalling paying as much as $800 in single transaction fees.
“By 2022, 2023, L2 solutions come out and fees drop dramatically,” Buterin noted. “Reducing transaction fees from $0.20 to as low as $0.01 is critical for many applications.” These L2 solutions, coupled with Ethereum’s recently introduced EIP-4844, which provides more L2 data space, are enabling Ethereum to meet the needs of mass adoption.
Cross-chain transfers within 2 seconds: unified user experience
In addition to scalability improvements, Buterin also outlined Ethereum’s vision for improving cross-chain interoperability. “Our goal is to enable cross-chain transfers between Ethereum and other blockchains within 2 seconds,” he explained. This will provide users with a smoother, unified experience, allowing them to quickly and efficiently transfer assets and data between different chains.
User Experience and Global Adoption
Buterin also spoke about Ethereum’s efforts to improve its user interface, a key factor in making decentralized applications (dApps) more accessible to the general public. Ethereum’s user interface has changed dramatically since 2015.
In countries such as Argentina and Türkiye where digital currency adoption is on the rise, Ethereum is working on improving the user experience to encourage wider use of dApps. “These countries have over 10% of their population holding digital currency,” Buterin stressed, suggesting that a smooth, user-friendly experience will be crucial to transitioning these users to a decentralized system.
Prioritize cross-chain security
While the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is critical to the platform’s infrastructure, Buterin stressed that the focus will increasingly shift towards cross-chain security in the future.
As Ethereum scales and integrates with other blockchains, ensuring secure cross-chain interactions will be critical to the long-term success of the platform. “Cross-chain security is more important than the EVM,” Buterin said, emphasizing that ethereum’s infrastructure is constantly expanding and growing in scope and complexity.
Ethereum’s Next Chapter
Looking ahead, Buterin’s vision is clear: achieving massive scalability, improving cross-chain transfers, enhancing user experience, and ensuring cross-chain security will be at the core of Ethereum’s development.
The platform's continued expansion lays the foundation for it to maintain its leading position in the blockchain field. Through these developments, Ethereum is positioning itself not only as a leader in decentralized finance, but also as a driving force in driving the next generation of blockchain innovation.
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