- There would be at least 7 planned forks in Ethereum with one taking place every 6 months.
- First Phase (2026) includes implementing a Consensus Layer BLS Signatures with Glamsterdam and Hegota Upgrades.
- Second Phase (2027-29) includes implementing Higher Data Availability with PeerDAS and STARKs.
- Final Phase (2029-30) includes reducing block finality to less than 16 sec (from current 16 min) and block time to less than 2 seconds (current 12 sec).
Also Read: Who Decides When a Blockchain Protocol is Upgraded?
Overview of the 4 Year Timeline for Ethereum
The phasewise division is not official representation but one constructed by BFM Times based on the inputs from existing EIP timelines and expected deployment roadmaps of major upgrades.
First Phase
The first phase of the series of upgrades ships as Glamsterdam upgrade and is scheduled for mainnet deployment within the first half of 2026. This upgrade includes separating block proposers from builders to avoid validator level manipulation. Another key upgrades in Glamsterdam includes gas repricings for higher efficiency.
The first phase also includes the Hegota Upgrade which will implement Native Account Abstraction, smart accounts, recoverable seed phrases, and the much awaited FOCIL upgrade, with many other key necessities via EIP 8141.
Second Phase
The second phase does some heavylifting with reducing the time to verify by using PeerDAS, a data availability sampling method where validators sample small amounts of data randomly as opposed to reading the whole dataset.
The phase also created hash based signatures as opposed to ECDSA which relies on vulnerable methods to sign transactions. This is a key quantum vulnerability.
Another key development in this phase would include STARK which consume way lesser gas as opposed to the current ZK SNARKs,
Third and Final Phase
The final phase will address the end stage changes such as implementing a finality time within 16 seconds from the current 16 minutes and reduce block time to 2 seconds from the current 12 seconds.
Further Reading: Ethereum FOCIL Upgrade Avoids Transaction Delays
Worst Case Scenario: What if Quantum Computing Advances Rapidly?
The worst case scenario for Ethereum would be rapid development in quantum computing that allows private keys to be deciphered and transactions to be manipulated.
This will result in potential theft of unused wallets which have their privacy keys somewhat exposed. Active users might be able to pre-empt the threat and move funds.
Disclaimer: BFM Times acts as a source of information for knowledge purposes and does not claim to be a financial advisor. Kindly consult your financial advisor before investing.
