The Ethereum acceleration, how Buterin plans to outpace rivals

Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, is once again shaking things up. This time, he’s pushing for a radical change in how Ethereum upgrades are rolled out.

Apparently , the current process is just too slow, and it’s holding the network back. Developers and builders who are the people creating decentralized apps (dApps) and driving the Ethereum ecosystem forward, are growing impatient.

They need a clearer roadmap, one that doesn’t leave them guessing what Ethereum’s scalability will look like in five years.

Buterin’s latest proposal aims to cut through the uncertainty and supercharge Ethereum’s growth much faster than previously thought possible.

Ethereum

His vision is ambitious, but if successful, it could make Ethereum more powerful, more efficient, and more dominant in the blockchain space than ever before.

The problem?

For years, there’s been a widely accepted belief that Ethereum’s base layer (Layer 1) simply can’t scale effectively.

Instead, most have argued that only Layer 2 solutions, like rollups and sidechains, can truly handle the growing demand for blockchain applications. But Buterin sees things differently.

He believes Ethereum itself has untapped potential that hasn’t been fully explored. He argues that instead of waiting half a decade for small improvements, Ethereum should drastically boost its data availability bandwidth now.

Currently, Ethereum can’t process nearly as much data as it needs to. It’s like trying to push an ocean through a drinking straw, an obvious limitation.

Vitalik Buterin

But what if that straw could instantly widen? What if Ethereum could process way more data per second, making transactions smoother, faster, and cheaper? That’s precisely what Buterin is advocating for.

The solution..

Buterin suggests increasing Ethereum’s data availability bandwidth to one megabyte per second within the next one to two years. This might not sound like much, but in blockchain terms, it’s revolutionary.

Such a boost would allow Ethereum to support way more transactions, enabling mass adoption without the current congestion issues that slow things down and spike transaction fees.

The magic behind this lies in advanced technologies like zkEVMs (zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machines) and Data Availability Sampling (DAS).

If these sound complicated, don’t worry, what matters is that they could enable Ethereum to scale up by 100 to 1,000 times without sacrificing security or decentralization. That’s game-changing.

EVM

Is this a race against time?

Ethereum is currently the go-to blockchain for developers and businesses. But if it doesn’t evolve fast enough, others will step in.

Some projects are already skipping Ethereum’s data availability layer altogether, opting for alternative networks that offer better performance.

If Ethereum wants to remain the leader, it has to adapt quickly. Buterin knows this, and his plan isn’t just about making Ethereum faster, it’s about ensuring that developers don’t start looking elsewhere.

In a world where every second counts, waiting five years for gradual improvements isn’t an option.

By embracing this new approach to upgrades, Ethereum could remain the blockchain of choice for decades to come. It’s a bold move, but one that aligns with the very spirit of innovation that built Ethereum in the first place.

Ethereum is however at a crossroads. It can either stick to its slow-moving upgrade cycle and risk losing its dominance, or it can take the fast lane and push the boundaries of what’s possible.

If Ethereum successfully speeds up its evolution, the dream of a fully scalable, decentralized, and accessible blockchain won’t just be a possibility; it will become reality.