Ethereum has long stood at the forefront of blockchain innovation. Since its inception, it has pioneered smart contracts, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and decentralized finance (DeFi). Today, the network continues to push boundaries in advanced areas like zero-knowledge proofs (ZK) and miner extractable value (MEV) mitigation. Behind this progress lies a vibrant community of researchers, engineers, and developers committed to building the next generation of decentralized applications.
It’s easy to overlook just how rapidly Ethereum evolved in its early days—the original protocol launched in under two years. That speed attracted countless developers eager to build on a dynamic, forward-thinking platform. Yet today, despite its massive ecosystem, Ethereum's core protocol development feels constrained by a slow pace of upgrades—often limited to one major change per year.
We believe Ethereum can—and must—move faster.
Why Speed Matters for Ethereum’s Future
There’s ongoing debate about Ethereum’s ultimate vision: Should it prioritize Layer 1 scalability? Serve as a settlement layer for Layer 2s? Focus on financial use cases or expand into broader decentralized systems? These discussions are valuable, but they often distract from a more fundamental truth:
No matter your vision for Ethereum, getting there faster makes it better.
Accelerating development doesn’t favor one philosophy over another—it expands the realm of what’s technically possible. Instead of framing choices as “either/or,” faster iteration allows Ethereum to pursue multiple high-impact improvements in parallel. Questions like “Should we scale L1 or empower L2s?” become “Why not both?”
👉 Discover how fast innovation is shaping the future of blockchain ecosystems.
By increasing shipping velocity, Ethereum can reach the efficient frontier of technological feasibility before making irreversible trade-offs between values like decentralization, security, and efficiency. Only once we understand the true limits should we debate where to compromise.
Overcoming Barriers to Faster Development
One major obstacle is inertia. Another is the growing belief that Ethereum should begin to ossify—that slowing down core protocol changes is necessary to preserve decentralization. We strongly disagree.
Ossification risks turning Ethereum into a legacy system. As users and applications migrate toward faster, more agile platforms—even if more centralized—Ethereum could lose relevance. Moreover, slowing development undermines Ethereum’s off-chain governance model. The core upgrade process allows researchers, validators, client teams, and institutions to shape the network’s evolution. Freezing that process cedes control to market forces beyond the community’s influence.
The solution? A deliberate shift in mindset: Ethereum should aim to ship more, faster, without sacrificing safety or consensus.
Rethinking Development Processes
Several improvements can accelerate progress:
- Client teams should have input—not veto power. While client diversity strengthens resilience, requiring unanimous agreement slows innovation. No single client should dictate the pace of upgrades. Projects like Reth are designed to be enablers, not bottlenecks.
- Streamline All Core Devs coordination. As noted by Tim Beiko, the consensus layer call process can be refined for greater efficiency. Community input on retrospectives like the Pectra upgrade can help identify structural improvements.
- Invest in DevOps and testing infrastructure. Robust automation, staging environments, and continuous integration pipelines allow for frequent, reliable releases—without compromising Ethereum’s reputation for stability.
Speed isn’t about recklessness—it’s about confidence through preparation.
Untapped Opportunities: Low-Hanging Fruit for Ethereum
The Ethereum community isn’t lacking ideas. In fact, many non-controversial, high-impact proposals are delayed simply because of perceived bandwidth limits. Let’s explore key areas ripe for acceleration.
1. Scaling and Securing Layer 2s
Rollups are central to Ethereum’s scaling strategy—but they need predictable support from L1.
- Post-EIP-4844 roadmap enhancements like PeerDAS or Blob-Parameter-Only (BPO) hardforks can provide clearer capacity planning for rollups.
- Native Rollups could allow L2s to inherit stronger security and censorship resistance directly from L1 execution layers.
👉 Explore how next-gen scaling solutions are unlocking new possibilities on Ethereum.
2. Scaling Layer 1 Sustainably
Improving L1 throughput doesn’t require bloating blocks or burdening node operators.
- Opcode repricing based on actual resource costs (e.g., disk I/O) can optimize gas usage and improve scalability.
- Safe gas limit increases depend on understanding state and history growth. Research into state expiry (EIP-4444) and stateless clients (EIP-7864) is critical to enabling larger blocks without compromising decentralization.
3. Enhancing Wallet UX with Account Abstraction
User experience remains a barrier to mass adoption.
- While EIP-7702 improved compatibility between externally owned accounts (EOAs) and smart contract wallets, further work is needed.
- True account abstraction should enable seamless batched transactions, gas sponsorship, and private keyless access—making crypto safer and easier for everyday users.
How We’re Driving Ethereum Acceleration
As builders deeply embedded in the ecosystem, we contribute through:
- EIP development: Focusing on non-controversial, high-leverage proposals like EIP-7862 that align with long-term goals.
- Data-driven research: Analyzing Ethereum’s state and history growth patterns to inform safe gas limit increases.
- Client implementation: Reth is production-ready and actively unblocks milestones for upcoming hardforks.
- Developer tooling: Supporting foundational tools like Foundry, Alloy, Solar, Revm, Wagmi, and Viem to ensure protocol upgrades translate into real-world usability.
Reth was built not just as a client—but as an SDK for EVM-core experimentation. We invite researchers and engineers to prototype performance enhancements, censorship-resistant features, and future-proofing mechanisms using our open framework.
👉 Join the movement building faster, smarter blockchain infrastructure today.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: What does "shipping faster" mean for Ethereum users?
A: Faster development means quicker access to improvements in scalability, security, and user experience—leading to lower fees, better dApp performance, and stronger network resilience.
Q: Doesn’t rapid change increase the risk of bugs or forks?
A: Not necessarily. With proper investment in testing, DevOps, and multi-client coordination, frequent updates can be both safe and reliable—just like in mature software ecosystems.
Q: How can I contribute to Ethereum acceleration?
A: Participate in EIP discussions, test upgrades on testnets, build tooling, or contribute to client development. Open collaboration is key.
Q: Is client diversity still important if we move faster?
A: Absolutely. Diversity strengthens security and decentralization—but shouldn’t be used to block progress. Consensus should be achieved through alignment, not veto power.
Q: Will accelerating L1 development make Layer 2s less relevant?
A: No. A stronger L1 benefits all layers by improving data availability, security, and interoperability—making L2s even more powerful.
Q: What are some immediate next steps for the community?
A: Prioritize post-EIP-4844 upgrades, fund research on state management, refine core dev processes, and expand testing infrastructure.
Final Outlook: A Call to Move Faster
Agreeing to accelerate development is the most impactful decision Ethereum can make today.
Speed unlocks potential. It dissolves false dichotomies. It empowers builders. And most importantly, it keeps Ethereum competitive in a rapidly evolving digital economy.
By investing in faster iteration—through better processes, tools, and shared ambition—the community can ensure Ethereum remains the leading platform for permissionless innovation. The result? A truly global, trust-minimized financial system accessible to everyone.
Now is not the time to slow down. It’s time to accelerate.
Core Keywords: Ethereum acceleration, Ethereum development speed, Layer 2 scaling, account abstraction, EIP improvements, blockchain innovation, core protocol upgrades