Ethereum and “Strawmap”: A Bold Step Toward Becoming the “Internet of Value” by 2029

The Ethereum Foundation has just announced a research roadmap called “Strawmap” – not an official plan, but a strategic outline for Ethereum upgrades through 2029.
At first glance, this document is filled with technical terms like zkEVM, data availability sampling, and hard forks. But behind the technical language lies a very simple question: what kind of infrastructure does Ethereum want to become in the next decade?
With a market capitalization of over $200 billion, Ethereum is currently the second-largest blockchain. But size doesn’t necessarily mean optimization. Strawmap shows that the core research community is aiming for a version of Ethereum that is faster, more powerful, and much more sustainable than today.

Five Strategic Pillars Toward 2029
The Strawmap revolves around five main ambitions:

• Near-instant finality
• Significantly higher throughput
• Privacy integration at the base layer
• Post-quantum cryptography
• Closer connection between Layer 1 and Layer 2

In simple terms: Ethereum wants to become faster, more scalable, more private, and more secure in the long term.

Finality: From 16 Minutes to Just a Few Seconds
Currently, transactions on Ethereum are included in blocks quite quickly, but achieving “irreversibility” (finality) takes about 16 minutes. For regular users, this may not be obvious. But for exchanges, bridges, or financial applications, this is a critical factor.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin states the goal is to separate the slot mechanism from finality to reduce transaction completion time to 6–16 seconds.
If successful, this change will be revolutionary. When value can be transferred and finalized in seconds instead of minutes, Ethereum will move closer to its role as a global payment infrastructure — truly an “Internet of Value.”

Layer 2 Debate: No Longer a One-Way Story
Previously, Ethereum’s roadmap heavily focused on Layer 2 (L2) solutions to scale. L2 networks process transactions off the main chain and then record results on Layer 1, reducing fees and increasing speed.
However, as Layer 1 has improved significantly and some rollups take longer than expected to decentralize, the assumption that Ethereum would “outsource” all scalability to L2 is no longer absolute.
The new approach proposed is a dual strategy:

• Layer 1 continues to strengthen
• Layer 2 develops in specialized directions (privacy, specific applications, enhanced security models)

This doesn’t eliminate L2 but also doesn’t “freeze” Layer 1. Instead, Ethereum aims for a more balanced and flexible ecosystem.

Privacy: From Absolute Transparency to Controlled Flexibility
Ethereum has long been seen as fully transparent — all transactions are publicly visible. This is an advantage for verifiability but a barrier for many enterprise applications.
Strawmap mentions the potential integration of “shielded” transactions at the base layer — allowing ETH transfers without revealing all transaction data publicly.
For individuals, this is financial privacy.
For businesses, it could be a prerequisite for large-scale activities to truly move on-chain.

Quantum Threats and a Decade-Long Vision
A blockchain aiming to protect trillions of dollars cannot ignore the long-term challenge of quantum computing.
Although this technology is still developing, preparing with post-quantum cryptography solutions shows Ethereum is thinking on a multi-decade timeline, not just a few market cycles.
Ethereum doesn’t just want to survive bull-bear cycles; it aims to exist in a rapidly changing technological world.

Not a Commitment, But a Signal
Strawmap does not bind Ethereum governance. It is a research direction — subject to change, adjustment, or even delay.
Ethereum’s history includes many upgrades that took longer than expected. But publishing a multi-year outline indicates an important point:
The next phase is not just about fixing bugs or small optimizations but about repositioning Ethereum as a global financial infrastructure.
If these goals are achieved, by 2029, Ethereum could be more than a smart contract blockchain — it could be a global payment and value storage platform, where Ether becomes the “money of the internet.”

And with finality measured in seconds, integrated privacy, and security prepared for the quantum era, Ethereum could truly realize its greatest ambition: becoming the Internet of Value.