Ethereum Foundation unveils ’Strawmap’: seven hard forks to cut finality to seconds, boost L1/L2 throughput, add PQ crypto and privacy by 2029

The Ethereum Foundation published a long-term development plan called “Strawmap” that lays out at least seven hard-fork upgrades through the end of 2029. The roadmap’s five core goals are: (1) reduce Layer‑1 finality from minutes to near‑instant (target ~8 seconds) via a new Minimmit single‑round voting consensus and progressively shorter slot times; (2) raise L1 throughput toward ~10,000 TPS; (3) scale Layer‑2 capacity toward ~10 million TPS; (4) add post‑quantum cryptography (hash‑based signatures); and (5) introduce native privacy features such as shielded ETH transfers. Authored by EF researcher Justin Drake and publicly endorsed by Vitalik Buterin, the document frames upgrades as incremental, safety‑gated hard forks that rebuild consensus components over time rather than a single monolithic change. Early on‑chain context: Ethereum remains the largest smart‑contract chain with DeFi TVL above ~$56 billion; ETH price showed a brief move to roughly $1,992 amid muted sentiment. For traders, the Strawmap could materially alter settlement finality, MEV dynamics, L2 rollup economics and on‑chain liquidity if realized, but timing, implementation risk and staged safety gates mean price impact is likely gradual. Monitor milestones, client support, testnet results and MEV/fee metrics for signals of adoption and timing.