Ethereum Is Getting Its Biggest Rebuild Since the Merge — Here’s What Changes

TLDR

• Vitalik Buterin announced “Lean Ethereum,” a multi-year rebuild he calls Ethereum’s “third major iteration,” comparable to the Merge
• The rollout will take three to four years, touching nearly every part of the protocol
• Quantum safety and privacy have been elevated to top priorities
• A new cheaper data storage tier could cut transaction fees by more than 10x for most tokens and DeFi apps
• Some critics doubt the Ethereum Foundation can meet the timeline, citing a history of missed deadlines

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Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has outlined a sweeping multi-year upgrade plan called “Lean Ethereum,” describing it as the network’s “third major iteration” on par with the 2022 Merge.

Buterin published his thoughts in an X post on Saturday, following a meeting of Ethereum researchers in Berlin in late June. The plan is laid out at strawmap.org, a draft roadmap introduced by Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake in February.

The roadmap covers seven network upgrades through 2029, touching how transactions are confirmed, how data is stored, and how the network is protected from future quantum computers.

Buterin said the upgrades will roll out over three to four years. He wrote that “almost every major piece of the protocol will be replaced,” though existing apps will not be forced to change.

He also said Hegota, Ethereum’s second planned upgrade of 2026, will likely be the last “pre-Lean” hard fork. Nearly every upgrade after this year will be part of the rebuild.

A New Way to Store Data

One of the biggest changes involves how Ethereum stores its data. Today, all data — from token balances to exchange contracts — sits in a single, expensive format.

The plan would add a cheaper second tier for simpler applications. Buterin described a possible Ethereum in 2030 where the new storage tier holds 50 times more data than the old one.

Most tokens, NFTs, and DeFi apps could move to the cheaper tier. Buterin said migrating would cut transaction fees by more than 10x for some tokens. Complex apps like Uniswap would stay on the existing system, but no app would be forced to move.

Quantum Safety and Privacy Pushed Higher

Buterin said quantum safety has “shifted up a LOT in priority.” Future quantum computers could break the cryptography securing today’s blockchains, and the roadmap calls for replacing all vulnerable components before that happens.

The most urgent piece is finding a quantum-safe design for blobs, the temporary data storage that Layer 2 networks rely on to keep fees low.

Privacy has also been elevated. Buterin wrote that it is “no longer an afterthought” and is now “a first class goal.” New features will be designed from the start with private transactions in mind.

Buterin also named RISC-V and leanISA as likely long-term replacements for the Ethereum Virtual Machine, though he acknowledged that outcome is “still far away.”

The announcements come after the Ethereum Foundation cut 54 staff — roughly 20% of its workforce — last month.

Not everyone is confident about the timeline. Researcher Dankrad Feist praised the plan but argued AI tools could help deliver the upgrades in a year rather than three to four. Crypto analyst Ignas Fiodorovas also raised doubts, citing the Foundation’s history of missing deadlines. He added that improved tokenomics for Ether was missing from the roadmap entirely.

Ether was trading at around $1,780 on Sunday, down roughly 1% over the prior day.

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