Ethereum ZK Rollups Target 10,000 TPS to Solve Trilemma
Ethereum is poised to boost its Layer-1 throughput to 10,000 TPS by integrating zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs and zkEVM technology, effectively tackling the blockchain trilemma of security, scalability, and decentralization. The upgrade will allow validators to verify compact ZK-proof batches instead of re-executing each transaction, slashing computational overhead and enabling annual gas limit increases. After the recent 22% gas limit hike to 45 million, the Ethereum Foundation has proposed automatic annual adjustments via EIP to reach 2,000 TPS in four years and up to ’1 gigagas’ (≈10,000 TPS) by 2031. zkEVM rollouts on mainnet, coupled with native rollups on Layer-2, aim to maintain full EVM compatibility while driving massive TPS gains. This roadmap, championed by Justin Drake and backed by four major clients, involves a phased rollout of SNARK-enabled clients and real-time proving optimizations. Traders should watch for protocol governance milestones and gas limit EIP activations, as these will underpin Ethereum’s L1 scaling and could influence ETH demand and network fees.
Bullish
Integrating ZK technology and zkEVM to scale Ethereum’s L1 capacity to 10,000 TPS represents a positive catalyst. Such protocol upgrades typically boost network utility, drive up gas usage, and increase ETH demand as traders anticipate higher throughput and lower fees. Historically, major scalability milestones—like the activation of EIP-1559 or the Merge—have correlated with bullish market sentiment and price rallies. In the short term, announcements of improved gas limits and roadmap clarity can trigger speculative buying ahead of upgrade events. Longer term, sustained higher TPS supports broader DeFi and NFT activity on Ethereum, reinforcing its market dominance. While execution risks remain, the robust backing by core researchers and phased rollout reduce uncertainty, underpinning a bullish outlook for ETH and related tokens.