Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin released an article outlining the key directions for the future of the network. The main goal of the next phase, The Surge, is to increase the blockchain’s throughput to 100,000 transactions per second (TPS) on both the first (L1) and second (L2) layers.

What is The Surge?
This phase continues Ethereum’s roadmap, updated in 2022. It follows The Merge, which transitioned the network to Proof-of-Stake in 2022. The focus of The Surge is on improving scalability through sharding and second-layer solutions, such as rollups. Buterin noted that these two technologies now work together to boost the network’s capacity.

Current Progress and Objectives
According to Buterin, significant improvements were achieved in 2024 after the Dencunupgrade, which enhanced the performance of the first layer, while second-layer rollups began to be actively implemented.

The Surge Goals:
– Over 100,000 TPS on L1 and L2.
– Maintaining decentralization and security.
– Compatibility between second-layer solutions to create a unified ecosystem.

Blockchain Trilemma
Buterin reminded readers of the blockchain “trilemma” — the challenge of balancing decentralization, scalability, and security, as achieving all three at once is extremely difficult.