Vitalik Buterin: “Ethereum to move to 2-second blocks and quantum resistance within four years”… Roadmap unveiled

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder, unveiled a roadmap to cut block production time to around two seconds over the next four years and transition to a quantum-resistant architecture.

According to Cointelegraph on the 25th (local time), Buterin provided additional details on the visual roadmap dubbed “Strawmap,” released by the Ethereum Foundation’s protocol team. He said, “The goal is to separate slots and finality so each can be designed independently.”

Ethereum’s current slot time is about 12 seconds. Slot time is the time it takes for a new block to be produced. The roadmap aims to reduce it step by step from 12 seconds to 8, 6 and 4 seconds, ultimately reaching 2 seconds. Buterin said, “We expect to reduce slot time gradually.”

He also explained that cutting block propagation time through a P2P upgrade that improves inter-node communication would make “shorter slots possible without security trade-offs.”

The second key pillar is reducing finality. On Ethereum today, the point at which a transaction is mathematically guaranteed to be irreversible is about 16 minutes. The future goal is to bring this down to around 6 to 16 seconds. To do so, the plan is to replace the existing complex confirmation structure with a simpler one and shift to a quantum-resistant cryptographic system.

Buterin said, “This change is a highly invasive overhaul,” adding, “The biggest step will be carried out bundled with the cryptographic transition—especially the move to quantum-resistant hash-based signatures.”

He said that, as a result of the incremental approach, “slots can become quantum-resistant faster than finality.” He added, “Even if a quantum computer suddenly emerges, finality guarantees could weaken, but the chain can fairly quickly enter a mode where it can keep operating.”

Buterin stressed, “You’ll see both slot time and finality time decrease gradually,” adding, “By replacing components, we will create an alternative that is simpler, quantum-resistant, and formally verifiable.”

The overhaul will roll out over the next four years, with a total of seven forks planned—roughly one every six months. The “Glamsterdam” and “Hegotá” forks are scheduled for later this year.