Roadmap 2023 for Ethereum: What Changes Are Coming?

Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, as well as the most popular platform for decentralized applications (dapps). Ethereum has been constantly evolving since its launch in 2015, with regular upgrades that enhance its scalability, security, and sustainability. However, Ethereum is not done yet. There are still many challenges and opportunities ahead for this innovative project.

In this blog post, we will explore the Ethereum roadmap for 2023 and beyond, covering the main improvements that will be made to the protocol in the future. We will also explain why these changes are important and how they will benefit Ethereum users and developers.

What is the Ethereum roadmap?

The Ethereum roadmap is a set of intentions for improving Ethereum, based on years of research and development by the core team and the community. The roadmap outlines the specific upgrades that will be implemented in the protocol, as well as the expected timeline and milestones for each upgrade.

The roadmap is not a fixed or final plan, but rather a dynamic and flexible one that can change as new information and technology become available. The roadmap is also influenced by feedback from various stakeholders, such as dapp developers, exchanges, miners, validators, users, and regulators.

The roadmap is mostly defined by technical aspects of the protocol, but it also reflects the vision and values of Ethereum as a global platform for coordination and innovation.

What are the main goals of the Ethereum roadmap?

The Ethereum roadmap aims to achieve four main goals:

– Cheaper transactions: Ethereum currently suffers from high fees and congestion due to limited scalability. The roadmap includes solutions that will increase the throughput and efficiency of the network, such as rollups, sharding, and statelessness.

– Extra security: Ethereum is already very secure, but it can be made even stronger and more resilient against all kinds of attacks. The roadmap includes measures that will enhance the security of the network, such as proof-of-stake, fraud proofs, and verifiable delay functions.

– Better user experience: Ethereum can be complex and intimidating for new or casual users. The roadmap includes features that will make using Ethereum simpler and safer, such as smart contract wallets, light clients, account abstraction, and ENS.

– Future-proofing: Ethereum is always looking ahead and anticipating future needs and challenges. The roadmap includes innovations that will prepare the network for future generations, such as quantum resistance, zk-SNARKs, eWASM, and cross-shard communication.

What are the main upgrades in the Ethereum roadmap?

The Ethereum roadmap consists of several major upgrades that will be deployed in phases over the next few years. Some of these upgrades have already been implemented or are in progress, while others are still in research or development stages. Here is a brief overview of each upgrade:

– EIP-1559: This is an improvement proposal that changes how fees are calculated and burned on Ethereum. It aims to make fees more predictable and fair for users and reduce inflation for ETH holders. It also introduces a base fee that adjusts dynamically according to network demand. EIP-1559 was activated on August 5th, 2021 as part of the London hard fork.

– The Merge: This is the upgrade that will switch Ethereum from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS), marking the end of mining on Ethereum. It will enable Ethereum to become more secure, sustainable, and scalable by relying on validators who stake ETH to secure the network. The Merge is expected to happen in late 2022 or early 2023.

– Rollups: These are layer 2 solutions that move most of the computation and storage off-chain while keeping security and finality on-chain. They allow for much higher scalability and lower fees than the current layer 1 network. Rollups are classified into two types: optimistic rollups and zk-rollups. Both types are already live on the Ethereum mainnet with various projects using them.

– Sharding: This is a layer 1 solution that splits the network into multiple parallel chains called shards, each with its state and transactions. This allows for more transactions to be processed in parallel without compromising security or decentralization. Sharding will be implemented after The Merge as part of Eth2.

– Statelessness: This is a design change that reduces the amount of data that nodes need to store and process to validate transactions on Ethereum. It aims to improve the scalability, efficiency, and accessibility of the network by introducing concepts such as state expiry, stateless clients, witnesses, and state network. Statelessness will be implemented gradually over several hard forks after The Merge.

– Eth2: This is the umbrella term for the set of upgrades that will transform Ethereum from its current form into a fully scaled, maximally resilient platform. It includes The Merge, sharding, and statelessness, as well as other improvements such as eWASM, cross-shard communication, and quantum resistance. Eth2 is not a separate network or chain, but rather a continuation of Ethereum’s evolution.

What are the benefits of the Ethereum roadmap for users and developers?

The Ethereum roadmap will bring many benefits for users and developers who use the network for various purposes, such as:

– DeFi: Decentralized finance (DeFi) is one of the most popular and innovative use cases of Ethereum, enabling users to access various financial services without intermediaries. The Ethereum roadmap will make DeFi more accessible, affordable, and secure by increasing scalability, reducing fees, and enhancing security.

– NFTs: Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unique digital assets that represent ownership of various forms of art, collectibles, gaming, and more. The Ethereum roadmap will make NFTs more expressive, diverse, and interoperable by enabling more complex and rich data structures, cross-shard communication, and zk-SNARKs.

– DAOs: Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are entities that are governed by smart contracts and community votes, rather than by centralized authorities. The Ethereum roadmap will make DAOs more efficient, flexible, and democratic by enabling smart contract wallets, account abstraction, ENS, and quantum resistance.

– Web3: Web3 is the vision of a decentralized and open internet that empowers users with more control, privacy, and freedom. The Ethereum roadmap will make Web3 more realistic and achievable by providing a scalable, secure, and sustainable platform for dapps and protocols.

Conclusion

Ethereum is a dynamic and ambitious project that is constantly improving and innovating. The Ethereum roadmap for 2023 and beyond reflects the vision and values of Ethereum as a global platform for coordination and innovation. The roadmap will bring many benefits for users and developers who use Ethereum for various purposes, such as DeFi, NFTs, DAOs, and Web3.

The roadmap is not a fixed or final plan, but rather a set of intentions that can change as new information and technology become available. The roadmap is also influenced by feedback from various stakeholders, such as dapp developers, exchanges, miners, validators, users, and regulators.

The roadmap is mostly defined by technical aspects of the protocol, but it also reflects the vision and values of Ethereum as a global platform for coordination and innovation.

If you want to learn more about the Ethereum roadmap and how to get involved in the process, you can visit https://ethereum.org/en/roadmap/ or join the Eth R&D discord server.