Ethereum Strawmap: roadmap for 2s slots, 6–16s finality and post‑quantum upgrades

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and EF researchers published a technical “strawmap” that coordinates multi-year Layer‑1 upgrades aimed at drastically lower latency and stronger security. The plan’s primary goals are to reduce slot time from today’s ~12s progressively toward as low as 2s and to cut average finality from ~16 minutes to roughly 6–16s using a one‑round BFT design (Minimmit). Key enablers include erasure‑coded P2P networking to speed block propagation, reduced attester counts to lower signature aggregation costs, staged consensus replacement (a “ship of Theseus” approach) and a transition to post‑quantum, hash‑based signatures in later stages. The strawmap outlines five long‑term north stars — fast L1, gigagas L1 throughput, teragas L2 scaling, post‑quantum security, and native privacy — and projects roughly seven planned forks over ~four years (with named forks like Glamsterdam and Hegotá expected in the near term). Buterin emphasized incremental, safety‑first slot reductions (e.g., sqrt(2) steps) and framed the document as a coordination tool rather than a binding schedule. For traders: the roadmap signals durable protocol resilience, material future UX and throughput improvements, and multiple upgrade events that could concentrate volatility around fork dates. However, because the changes are technical, staged, and span years, immediate price impact is likely limited; the most likely market effects are short‑term volatility around specific fork announcements and upgrades, and longer‑term positive fundamentals if throughput and UX gains attract more on‑chain activity.