Vitalik Buterin Outlines Plan to Scale Ethereum Layer 1 by 10x Within a Year

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has revealed a bold plan to scale the network’s Layer 1 (L1) by ten times within a year.

Written by: Sophia Cruz • Tuesday, June 3, 2025 • 2 min read

Quick overview

Vitalik Buterin has unveiled a plan to scale Ethereum's Layer 1 by ten times within a year, focusing on increased throughput while maintaining decentralization and security.
Key upgrades include raising the gas limit from 30 to 36 million and implementing stateless clients to enhance network accessibility and efficiency.
Enhancements to the Ethereum Virtual Machine and data storage methods are also part of the strategy to improve transaction execution and reliability.
The announcement has generated mixed reactions, with some proposing even more ambitious scaling goals, while others express concerns about reliance on Layer 2 solutions.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has revealed a bold plan to scale the network’s Layer 1 (L1) by ten times within a year.

This initiative, shared during ETHGlobal Prague 2025, reflects a push toward increased throughput while preserving decentralization and network security.

Buterin’s proposed upgrades are centered on both efficiency and sustainability. One major move includes increasing the gas limit from 30 to 36 million, which would allow more transactions per block. This change alone could significantly improve Ethereum’s processing capabilities. In addition, the plan incorporates the implementation of stateless clients—nodes that do not store the full blockchain history—thereby lowering hardware demands and making network participation more accessible.

Enhancements to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) are also on the roadmap, aimed at improving transaction execution performance. Additionally, updates to how data is made available and stored across the network will further support higher throughput and reliability.

Buterin made it clear that while speed is important, maintaining Ethereum’s foundational principles takes precedence. The scaling process will be approached cautiously, with a planned pause after the initial upgrades to ensure network health and assess any unintended consequences.

The announcement has sparked a range of responses from the crypto community. Ethereum researcher Dankrad Feist has floated a broader proposal—EIP-7938—which aims to scale Ethereum 100-fold over four years. Meanwhile, critics like Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson argue that Ethereum’s increasing reliance on Layer 2 solutions may detract from the strength of its core Layer 1.

At the time of the announcement, Ethereum is trading at around $2,606, up nearly 5% in the past 24 hours. The market appears optimistic about Ethereum’s path forward, especially if the proposed enhancements successfully lower transaction fees and boost network capacity.

This initiative represents a key step in Ethereum’s evolution. If successful, it could reinforce Ethereum’s leadership in the smart contract space, attract new users and developers, and pave the way for more scalable decentralized applications in the near future.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR See More

Sophia Cruz

Financial Writer - Asian & European Desks

Sophia is an experienced writer, reporter and newsdesk member, mostly on the financial sectors. For the past 5 years Sophia has covered a wide variety of topics such as the financial markets, economics, technology, fin-tech and trading. Sophia has been a part of the FX Leaders team since 2017 and works on producing valuable content and information for traders of all levels of experience.