Parallel verification and ePBS: squeezing more out of 12-second slots
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin shared a blog post on X detailing how the network plans to scale. He argues that raising throughput starts with making blocks easier to verify. Upcoming upgrades will replace step-by-step checks with parallel verification, cutting time pressure during block processing.
The ePBS mechanism, scheduled for the Glamsterdam upgrade, does more than redesign block building. It lets validators safely use more of each 12-second slot, allowing blocks to include more transactions.
Gas repricing and multidimensional limits: splitting execution from state storage
Buterin explains that Ethereum will better align gas costs with actual execution time. The network will introduce multidimensional gas limits, capping different resources like computation and storage separately to reduce rare but costly edge cases.
Currently, transaction execution and state creation share one gas pool. But adding permanent data inflates storage demands for every node. Under Glamsterdam, Ethereum will split gas into execution gas and state creation gas. For instance, creating new storage will consume far more state creation gas, while regular execution gas limits stay separate.
Buterin notes that deploying large contracts will become easier because state creation gas does not count toward the standard transaction gas cap. Execution can thus scale faster without rapidly expanding blockchain size.
PeerDAS blobs: targeting 8 MB/s data capacity
Long-term scaling relies on two tools: blobs and ZK-EVMs. Blob data capacity will expand via PeerDAS, aiming at roughly eight megabytes per second. Today blobs mainly support layer-2 networks, but Ethereum plans to put its own block data into blobs later. That change lets validators confirm data availability without full downloads.
Phased ZK-EVM adoption: clients in 2026, mainstream in 2027
ZK-EVM adoption will happen in stages. Clients are expected to appear in 2026, followed by wider use in 2027. Buterin envisions that Ethereum will eventually require multiple proof systems per block to strengthen security and decentralization.