Ethereum Prepares Lean Ethereum: Buterin on the 3rd Era

Ethereum is preparing Lean Ethereum, and Vitalik Buterin has called it the network’s third major era, which could stretch over 3-4 years. This matters for traders, long-term ETH holders, and DeFi developers, because this is not a minor tweak, but a restructuring of almost the entire protocol.

After a meeting of researchers in Berlin, held 2 weeks after discussions with developer teams in Spitsbergen, Buterin published an updated strawmap for Ethereum. In it, he described a transition to recursive STARK proofs, quantum-resistant components, a new consensus model, a multidimensional gas model, new state types, and an updated client architecture. In simple terms, the network is meant to become faster, safer, and easier to scale.

Why does Buterin call this Ethereum’s third era?

Buterin said it directly: this is not a separate upgrade, but a series of changes that will be introduced gradually. He compared Lean Ethereum to The Merge, which in September 2022 moved the network to Proof-of-Stake. Now the goal is different. Not just to reduce costs, but to rebuild the very foundation of how the blockchain works.

There is also an important nuance. According to the official strawmap, this is a working document, not a final forecast. The first version was made after an Ethereum Foundation workshop in January 2026, and the plan itself is led by EF Architecture. In other words, this is not a marketing slogan, but a draft of major engineering work. And that is exactly why the market is reading it closely.

What exactly will change in the network by 2030?

The loudest part of the plan concerns privacy and quantum security. Buterin stressed that privacy is no longer on the sidelines, but has become one of the main priorities. Separately, he said that protection against quantum computers has moved very high up the list of tasks, and finishing the design of quantum-resistant blobs has become an urgent issue.

Here is where the concrete numbers appear. The strawmap sets a target for L1 at 1 gigagas/sec, which is roughly 10,000 TPS. For L2, the plan is 1 GB/sec, or about 10 million TPS. It also mentions transaction finality and inclusion within seconds, and cryptographic security for 100 years through hash-based schemes. By 2030, Ethereum, according to Buterin’s estimate, could support about 2 TB of traditional state and more than 100 TB of new scalable state. This is no longer cosmetic. It is a game changer for ERC-20, NFT, and many DeFi applications.

Market reaction

The community’s reaction was mixed. Researcher Dankrad Feist supported the idea of fully proven transaction execution and gigagas finality, but called the 3-4 year horizon too slow and hinted that some goals could be moved closer to 1 year with the help of LLM. Analyst Ignas Fiodorovas also welcomed the direction, but pointed out a simple issue: the plan still lacks an answer on how this will affect ETH tokenomics.

“Make no mistake, this is Ethereum’s third major iteration just as The Merge was the second. Almost every key component of the protocol will be replaced,” Buterin said.

There is also a market backdrop that keeps execution risks in focus. According to Validator Queue, as of the beginning of July 2026 there were about 885,902 active validators in the network, 40.1 million ETH staked, which is 32.91% of supply, and APR stood at 2.71%. The entry queue held 2.9 million ETH with an estimated wait of about 50 days. Against this backdrop, ETH around $1,624.95 looks like a market that is not buying promises blindly yet.

• Lean Ethereum is not a single update, but a series of changes over 3-4 years.

• Buterin is putting privacy and quantum security higher than before.

• The L1 target, according to the strawmap, is 1 gigagas/sec, or about 10,000 TPS.

• For L2, the plan is 1 GB/sec, or roughly 10 million TPS.

• By 2030, the network could have more than 100 TB of new scalable state.

• Developer reaction is positive, but there are questions about timelines and tokenomics.

What does this mean for investors?

For ETH holders, the main takeaway is simple: this is a long story, not a quick price catalyst. If the network really moves toward STARK proofs, faster finality, and quantum resistance, that could strengthen confidence in Ethereum as core infrastructure for DeFi and tokens. But the market usually pays not for presentations, but for execution. And here, what matters is not words, but whether developers can complete the journey without setbacks.

There is another practical point for Ukrainian users. When attention in the network grows around scaling and security, this often boosts interest in ETH itself and in tokens on the Ethereum network, but it does not remove volatility. So those who hold ETH or work with DeFi should look not only at headlines, but also at the pace of releases, validator queues, and how quickly the team closes technical risks. If you need to quickly sell Ethereum ETH on Monobank, it is better to do it in a calm moment, not on emotion after loud announcements.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lean Ethereum in simple terms?

It is a plan for a major Ethereum upgrade that is not limited to one change. It involves moving to STARK proofs, quantum-resistant solutions, a new consensus model, and a different network architecture. Buterin says it will take 3-4 years.

Why does the plan place so much emphasis on privacy and quantum security?

Because the network wants to prepare not only for current attacks, but also for future threats. Buterin explicitly noted that privacy has become one of the main priorities, and protection against quantum computers has moved very high up the list of tasks.

When could Ethereum reach the strawmap goals?

The roadmap itself talks about horizons through 2030, as well as 7 forks by 2029, with a target of roughly 1 fork every 6 months. But the document itself is called a strawman, meaning a working draft rather than a final schedule.

For Ethereum, this is not a quick leap, but a long restructuring. That is why the market will keep evaluating not only the idea, but also how the team handles each stage.

This material is not financial advice. Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks. Part of this text was prepared with the help of artificial intelligence based on public sources and reviewed by our editorial team.