Vitalik Buterin Outlines Ethereum Scaling Plan: Glamsterdam, ePBS, and Blobs

Vitalik Buterin details a two-track Ethereum scaling approach, combining near-term upgrades Glam Amsterdam and ePBS to boost block capacity with a long-term shift to zk proofs and data-heavy blobs.

Rich by Coin

2026-02-27

Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum co-founder) has published a new blog post on X outlining his latest vision for scaling the blockchain, arguing the network can boost capacity in the near term while laying the groundwork for a longer-term shift to advanced cryptography and data-heavy ‘blobs’ that would change how Ethereum is validated.

In the short term, upcoming upgrades like ‘Glamsterdam’ and ‘ePBS’ aim to let nodes check blocks more efficiently and use more of each 12-second slot, so Ethereum can safely fit more transactions into each block.

The result: Ethereum should be able to fit more transactions into each block without increasing the risk of errors or instability.

Another major piece of the plan involves rethinking how transaction fees — known as ‘gas’ — are calculated.

Buterin argues that not all activity on Ethereum puts the same strain on the network.

There’s a big difference between using computing power temporarily and permanently adding new data that every Ethereum computer, or node, must store forever.

Right now, those costs are largely bundled together.

But creating new permanent data — such as deploying a new contract — increases the blockchain’s long-term size, making it more expensive to run a node over time.

That, in turn, risks pushing out smaller operators.

Buterin’s proposal would make long-term storage more expensive while allowing more room for everyday transaction processing.

In effect, Ethereum could handle more activity without dramatically increasing how fast the blockchain grows.

The goal, he argues, is to avoid a future in which Ethereum processes more transactions but becomes so data-intensive that only large, well-funded players can afford to participate.

Longer term, Buterin sees Ethereum leaning more heavily on zero-knowledge proofs (a private verification method) and expanded data capacity through so-called blobs.

Originally introduced to help layer-2 networks post transaction data more cheaply, blobs could eventually carry Ethereum’s own transaction data — a shift that would allow validators to confirm activity without re-running every transaction themselves.

The post reflects Buterin’s renewed focus on scaling Ethereum’s base layer, after several years in which much of the ecosystem’s scaling strategy centered on layer-2 rollups.

The plan comes on the heels of the Ethereum Foundation publishing a ‘strawmap’ aimed at making the network more efficient in the long term.