The evolution of Ethereum’s roadmap has undergone a profound transformation since its early days, culminating in a bold vision known as The Surge—a pivotal phase focused on scalability through a Rollup-centric architecture. This strategic shift redefines how Ethereum scales while preserving its foundational principles: decentralization, security, and resilience.
At the heart of this journey lies a critical challenge—the blockchain trilemma—which posits that it's difficult to simultaneously achieve decentralization, scalability, and security. However, thanks to breakthroughs like data availability sampling (DAS) and zero-knowledge proofs (SNARKs), Ethereum is now on track to transcend these limitations and unlock unprecedented throughput—targeting over 100,000 transactions per second (TPS) across Layer 1 (L1) and Layer 2 (L2) networks.
The Rollup-Centric Roadmap: A Unified Vision
Ethereum’s current scaling strategy hinges on a clear division of labor:
- Layer 1 (L1) remains a robust, decentralized base layer responsible for consensus and data availability.
- Layer 2 (L2) Rollups handle the bulk of computation and transaction processing, inheriting Ethereum’s security while operating off-chain.
This model mirrors real-world systems: just as courts (L1) establish legal foundations without processing every business deal, entrepreneurs (L2s) build scalable applications atop a secure foundation. With innovations like EIP-4844 introducing blob transactions, Ethereum has significantly increased its data bandwidth, enabling Rollups to scale efficiently.
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Core Goals of The Surge
- Achieve 100,000+ TPS across L1 + L2
- Maintain L1 decentralization and robustness
- Ensure at least some L2s fully inherit Ethereum’s core values: trustlessness, openness, censorship resistance
- Maximize interoperability between L2s, fostering a unified ecosystem—not fragmented silos
Solving the Blockchain Trilemma
The so-called “impossible triangle” isn’t a mathematical law but a practical heuristic. In essence: if nodes are lightweight (good for decentralization), they can't process high-volume chains without compromising security. High-throughput chains often sacrifice node accessibility, making them less decentralized.
However, two key technologies break this deadlock:
- Data Availability Sampling (DAS): Allows light clients to verify that data is available without downloading entire blocks.
- SNARKs/ZKPs: Enable trustless verification of complex computations with minimal overhead.
Together, these tools allow Ethereum to scale securely while keeping validation accessible—even on consumer hardware.
From Plasma to Rollups: The Evolution of L2s
Early L2 solutions like Plasma and state channels were limited in functionality. But with the advent of Rollups, particularly ZK-Rollups and Optimistic Rollups, Ethereum gained powerful tools capable of handling general-purpose computation.
While Plasma pushes more responsibility to users (e.g., monitoring exits), Rollups leverage Ethereum’s security more directly—posting transaction data on-chain while executing off-chain.
Advancing Data Availability: PeerDAS and 2D Sampling
The Problem We’re Solving
As of the Dencun upgrade in 2024, Ethereum supports three ~125 KB blobs per 12-second slot—totaling ~375 KB/slot. With ERC-20 transfers requiring ~180 bytes, this translates to roughly 173 TPS for Rollups. Even with calldata, capacity tops out around 607 TPS—far below our ambitions.
Our mid-term goal: 16 MB per slot, enabling up to ~58,000 TPS when combined with compression.
How PeerDAS Works
PeerDAS implements 1D sampling, where each blob is treated as a polynomial over a finite field. Nodes sample small portions ("shares") from distributed subnets. By querying peers on other subnets, full availability can be probabilistically verified without downloading everything.
A conservative variant, SubnetDAS, uses only subnet broadcasting—ideal for PoS validators.
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Moving Toward 2D Sampling
To go beyond 1D, we introduce 2D Data Availability Sampling, which applies erasure coding across both rows and columns of blobs. Using KZG commitments, we create "virtual blobs" that expand block data redundantly—allowing recovery even if large portions are missing.
Crucially, block builders don’t need full data access—only the commitments—making this model ideal for decentralized block construction.
Key Benefits:
- Higher fault tolerance
- Better support for distributed builders
- Efficient sampling with lower bandwidth demands
Data Compression: Reducing On-Chain Footprint
Even with expanded bandwidth, raw data size limits scalability. Enter data compression techniques designed specifically for Rollups.
Strategies for Compression
- Zero-byte compression: Replace long zero-byte sequences with 2-byte length indicators.
- Signature aggregation via BLS: Combine multiple ECDSA signatures into one using BLS signatures—ideal for batched transactions.
- Address pointers: Replace repeated 20-byte addresses with 4-byte indices pointing to prior usage.
- Custom serialization: Optimize numeric encoding (e.g., representing
0.25 ETHmore compactly than itsweiequivalent).
ERC-4337 (Account Abstraction) paves the way for BLS wallet integration, accelerating adoption.
Trade-offs
| Technique | Benefit | Challenge |
|---|---|---|
| BLS Signatures | High compression | Compatibility with hardware wallets |
| Address Pointers | Saves space | Increases client complexity |
| State diffs instead of txs | Smaller footprint | Reduces auditability |
Plasma: A High-Throughput Alternative?
Despite progress, 58,000 TPS may still fall short for use cases like decentralized social media or private payments (which add 3–8x overhead). Here, Plasma offers an alternative.
How Plasma Works
- Operators publish block roots on-chain but keep data off-chain.
- Users receive Merkle proofs of their balances.
- Withdrawals are secured by challenge mechanisms—even during data unavailability.
With SNARK-verified Plasma, challenges are minimized, and withdrawal delays eliminated under honest operation.
Hybrid models like Intmax place tiny bits of user data on-chain (~5 bytes), achieving up to ~266,667 TPS theoretically.
“Plasma doesn’t need to be perfect—it just needs to protect a subset of assets to improve over today’s status quo.”
Achieving Trustless L2s: The Path to Stage 2
Today, most Rollups aren't fully trustless—many rely on centralized security councils. The goal is Stage 2: fully decentralized Rollups where only provable bugs allow intervention.
Stages of Rollup Decentralization
- Stage 0: Full node sync possible; validation may be trusted.
- Stage 1: Proofs exist; council can override with 75% vote.
- Stage 2: Only provable errors trigger council action; upgrades require long delays.
Pathways to Trustlessness
- Formal Verification: Mathematically prove SNARK/EVM equivalence using tools like Lean 4.
- Multi-prover Systems: Combine Optimistic + ZK + Council in a 2-of-3 multi-sig setup—no single point of failure.
Projects like Taiko are pioneering multi-proof architectures.
Enhancing Cross-L2 Interoperability
A fragmented L2 landscape harms UX. True scalability requires seamless movement across chains—feeling as smooth as sending ETH within L1.
Solutions Under Development
- Chain-aware addresses (ERC-3770): Embed chain ID in address format.
- Standardized payment requests: “Send X tokens on chain Z.”
- Cross-chain swaps & gas abstraction (ERC-7683, RIP-7755): Atomic cross-L2 operations.
- Light clients (Helios + ERC-3668): Verify L2 state without trusting RPCs.
- Keystore wallets: Centralize key management on L1; readable by all L2s.
- Shared token bridges (AggLayer): Batch transfers across L2s without repeated L1 costs.
“Cross-L2 interoperability isn’t just technical—it’s social. It demands collaboration across ecosystems.”
Scaling Layer 1: Balancing Power and Decentralization
Even with powerful L2s, L1 must remain strong:
- ETH economics depend on active usage.
- L2s rely on L1’s financial ecosystem.
- Recovery from L2 failures requires functional L1.
- Long-term security depends on broad node participation.
Strategies for L1 Scaling
- Raise gas limits cautiously, supported by tech like state expiry and statelessness.
- Multidimensional gas pricing: Separate fees for compute, storage, and data.
- Lower costs for underpriced opcodes (e.g., make
ADDcheaper thanMUL). - Introduce EOF (EVM Object Format): Better bytecode analysis → lower gas.
- EVM-MAX + SIMD: Accelerate cryptographic operations via modular arithmetic and parallel processing.
- Native Rollups ("Enshrined Rollups"): Protocol-integrated parallel EVM instances.
These efforts will be detailed in the upcoming Splurge phase.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is The Surge in Ethereum's roadmap?
The Surge is the phase focused on scaling Ethereum via massive data throughput increases—primarily through blob-carrying transactions (EIP-4844) and Rollup-centric design—to achieve over 100,000 TPS across L1 and L2.
How does Data Availability Sampling work?
DAS allows light clients to randomly sample small parts of a block to statistically confirm all data is available—without downloading everything—enabling secure scaling without sacrificing decentralization.
Why are Rollups central to Ethereum’s future?
Rollups execute transactions off-chain but post data on-chain, combining high throughput with Ethereum’s security. They enable scalable dApps while keeping user assets protected by L1 consensus.
What’s the difference between PeerDAS and SubnetDAS?
PeerDAS involves nodes sampling from subnets and requesting missing pieces from peers; SubnetDAS is simpler—nodes only listen to assigned subnets. SubnetDAS is safer for validators; PeerDAS offers greater efficiency.
Can Ethereum ever move beyond Rollups?
While Rollups dominate today’s roadmap, future alternatives like advanced Plasma or native Rollups could play roles. However, any solution must preserve trustlessness and composability.
Is full sharding still part of Ethereum's plan?
Full execution sharding was deprioritized in favor of data sharding via blobs. Future upgrades may reintroduce execution parallelism through "enshrined Rollups," but not traditional sharding.
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By integrating innovations in data availability, compression, proof systems, and interoperability, Ethereum is building a future where scalability meets sovereignty. The Surge isn't just about speed—it's about empowering a truly global, open financial system rooted in decentralization.