Buterin Proposes Ethereum Scaling Overhaul With STARKs, UTXOs

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has divided the network’s scaling roadmap into short- and long-term phases. In the near term, Glamsterdam would expand Layer 1 capacity through multidimensional gas pricing, block-level access lists and parallel validation. Over the longer term, ZK-EVMs and blobs would reshape how nodes validate transactions and carry data, balancing throughput, fees and decentralization.

The Ethereum Foundation said on May 11 that the Glamsterdam multi-client development network was live and the EIP-8037 pricing design had been completed. The upgrade’s minimum target for the block gas limit is 200 million, more than triple the current level of about 60 million. The upgrade is planned for the second half of 2026, but a mainnet date will not be announced until final security reviews are completed and the testnet is stable.

Ethereum nodes must run both consensus-layer and execution-layer software to validate transactions and track the state of the Beacon Chain. Each program has its own configuration and data interfaces, increasing the maintenance burden. Vitalik Buterin argues that making nodes easier to operate would enable more ordinary users to verify the network themselves, reduce reliance on third-party providers such as Infura, and strengthen decentralization and censorship resistance.

Buterin recently proposed integrating the backend software that connects nodes to the Beacon Chain with Ethereum's execution layer in a unified code structure, simplifying installation, synchronization and maintenance. The idea remains a technical proposal, with no formal activation date, version number or funding amount announced. Ethereum core developers must still assess its specifications, compatibility and implementation timetable.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposed a new scaling roadmap on February 27, 2026, shifting the focus from the network's recent reliance on Layer 2 rollups toward simultaneously expanding its Layer 1 base layer. In the short term, Glamsterdam would use parallel validation and ePBS to make better use of each 12-second slot. Over the longer term, ZK-EVMs and blobs would increase throughput without raising the barrier to operating a node.

The Ethereum Foundation said on May 11, 2026, that Glamsterdam's multi-client development network was running ePBS reliably and that pricing under EIP-8037 had been finalized. It set a post-upgrade minimum gas-limit target of 200 million, more than triple the roughly 60 million at the time. The mainnet upgrade, originally planned for June, is now expected to be delayed until the third quarter of 2026. ePBS can extend the data-propagation window from about two seconds to roughly nine seconds.