Ethereum just published its most ambitious technical blueprint in years. The “Lean Ethereum” initiative, first introduced by Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake, lays out a decade-long framework to rebuild the network’s consensus, data, and execution layers from the ground up.
The target numbers are eye-catching: roughly 10,000 transactions per second on Layer 1 mainnet, scaling up to approximately 1 million TPS across Layer 2 solutions. For context, Ethereum currently processes somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-30 TPS on mainnet.
What the strawmap actually says
The roadmap has been formalized through what the Ethereum Foundation calls a “strawmap,” a draft strategic framework showcased at an internal workshop in January 2026. Seven distinct protocol upgrades are planned through 2029. The priorities break down into three buckets: scaling, improved user experience, and hardening Layer 1 systems against emerging threats, with quantum computing resistance sitting at the top of that last category.
The Lean Ethereum architecture itself rests on three pillars: lean consensus, lean data, and lean execution.
