London, UK – Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake has unveiled a comprehensive 10-year vision for the Ethereum network, dubbed "Lean Ethereum," aiming to significantly boost transaction throughput to over 10,000 transactions per second (TPS) on the mainnet while ensuring quantum resistance and preserving decentralization. The ambitious roadmap, introduced around July 31, 2025, seeks to simplify the protocol's design and enhance its long-term survivability against emerging threats.
The proposal emphasizes a "lean craft" aesthetic, focusing on minimalism, modularity, and encapsulated complexity to make Ethereum's core protocol more robust and easier to maintain. According to Drake, the plan addresses the critical need for Ethereum to operate for decades, even centuries, under adversarial conditions, including nation-state and quantum computing threats. This vision marries extreme performance with uncompromising security and decentralization.
A core component of Lean Ethereum is the transition to post-quantum signature schemes, primarily relying on hash-based cryptography to future-proof the network against quantum attacks that could compromise current cryptographic standards. Drake's strategy also includes leveraging SNARK-powered upgrades, specifically hash-native zk-VMs, to enhance security and efficiency without burdening the execution layer. This approach aims to streamline smart contract operations while maintaining privacy.
The scalability targets are substantial, with the plan envisioning 10,000 TPS on the mainnet through aggressive vertical scaling and approximately 1 million TPS on Layer 2 solutions via expansive horizontal scaling. This dual-track strategy, referred to as "Fortress Mode" for security and "Beast Mode" for scalability, aims to ensure the network's resilience and capacity. As stated in a tweet by The Wolf Of All Streets, Drake's plan targets "10,000+ TPS, quantum safety, and SNARK-powered upgrades while preserving decentralization."
The "Lean Ethereum" initiative reflects a broader effort within the Ethereum community to simplify its technical stack and enhance its foundational architecture. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has also expressed a desire to simplify Ethereum's tech stack, aligning with Drake's vision for a more streamlined and verifiable system. The proposal seeks to prune legacy complexity, standardize on simpler primitives, and ensure 100% uptime, reinforcing Ethereum's role as a critical global public good.