One of the key meetings of Ethereum researchers took place in Berlin, resulting in fundamental changes to the network's development strategy being announced. This is not about a single hard fork, but a comprehensive series of upgrades that will be implemented over the next 3-4 years. Essentially, this is the third major iteration of the protocol, comparable in scale to the transition to Proof-of-Stake during The Merge.
The main takeaway: priorities have shifted. While quantum resistance was once a distant future task, it is now taking center stage. Work on quantum-resistant cryptography and a new BLOB data format is accelerating. This means developers are preparing for an era when quantum computers become a real threat to existing signature algorithms.
The second key direction is privacy. Buterin emphasized that confidentiality is no longer an optional "add-on" — it is being embedded into the architecture of all new components, from the mempool to storage mechanisms. This is a strong signal to the market: privacy is becoming the de facto standard for Ethereum's base layer.
However, I consider the most radical change to be the revision of the data storage model. Instead of endlessly scaling a single network "state," developers propose splitting it. Traditional state will be retained for complex applications, while a new, more scalable format will be introduced for tokens, NFTs, and most DeFi protocols. Estimates suggest that by 2030, Ethereum could support up to 2 TB of classical state and up to 100 TB of the new one — a colossal leap in capacity.
Additionally, the team is considering a gradual move away from direct reliance on EVM in favor of RISC-V or leanISA architectures, maintaining compatibility through a compilation layer. This could become the most controversial yet most promising part of the reform.
My opinion: The plan is ambitious and logical. However, the market must understand: implementing these changes will take years, and each step will require thorough verification. Increasing the gas limit and BLOB data volume will only occur after security is confirmed through client optimization. This is the right, albeit slow, path.