Ethereum's next upgrade plan: How The Surge will reshape network capacity

Ethereum is about to undergo a major technological upgrade. The Surge, as a key part of the next Ethereum upgrade, aims to significantly increase the network’s transaction processing capacity from the current 15-30 TPS to over 100,000+ TPS, while ensuring decentralization and security are not compromised. Led by Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, this upgrade represents a profound shift towards scalability across the entire ecosystem.

The Top Three Benefits Most Users Care About

Before diving into technical details, let’s see what the The Surge upgrade means for ordinary users:

Significantly Lower Fees is the most immediate change. Currently, on Layer 2 networks like Arbitrum and Optimism, ETH transfer fees are about $0.24 to $0.78. After the upgrade, this number will continue to decrease, making small transactions and high-frequency operations truly feasible.

Faster Transactions and Improved Experience come next. Developers will be able to build more complex decentralized applications (dApps), greatly enhancing user experience in DeFi, gaming, NFT markets, and more. Asset transfers between different network layers will become as smooth as transferring within the same wallet.

Seamless Ecosystem Interoperability is the third dimension. Layer 2 solutions will no longer require cumbersome bridging tools with the mainnet, providing users with the convenience of a unified Ethereum ecosystem.

Core Technologies Supporting The Surge

Why are Layer 2 Rollups necessary?

The current bottleneck of the Ethereum mainnet is clear: each block can only process a limited number of transactions. Layer 2 Rollups address this by bundling multiple transactions off-chain and only submitting the results back to the mainnet. This is like batch processing instead of individual transactions—greatly improving efficiency and reducing costs.

Rollups are categorized into two modes:

Optimistic Rollups adopt a “trust-first” strategy, assuming all transactions are valid unless someone reports an error within a specific challenge period. This approach offers faster transaction speeds but requires a challenge window to ensure security.

ZK-Rollups use zero-knowledge proof technology to verify the validity of each transaction instantly, providing higher security guarantees.

According to L2Beat data, the total value locked (TVL) in the Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem has grown by 216% over the past year, surpassing $38 billion. This indicates increasing market recognition of Rollup solutions.

Data Availability Sampling (DAS): A “lightweight” solution for node operation

Traditional blockchain validation requires each node to store the full data, demanding high hardware requirements. DAS technology changes this—nodes only need to verify part of the data, collaborating over the network to complete full validation.

PeerDAS leverages peer-to-peer networks to distribute validation loads, with each node checking only a small portion of the dataset.

2D DAS further optimizes this by not only verifying individual data fragments but also checking their logical combinations, enhancing security while maintaining decentralization.

This design allows Rollups to handle higher transaction volumes without overburdening the network.

Plasma and Data Compression: Complementary scaling solutions

Plasma focuses on off-chain transaction processing—transactions occur outside the main chain, with only summary information posted on-chain. It’s like compiling multiple small tasks into a single report, saving space and processing time.

Data compression reduces the size of each transaction by improving signature schemes (e.g., BLS signatures). Multiple signatures can be merged into one, directly lowering blockchain storage requirements.

When combined with Rollups, these technologies can further boost system performance.

Synchronization Upgrades to Layer 1 Mainnet

Although Layer 2 handles most transactions, the Ethereum mainnet itself also needs evolution:

Gas Limit Increase means each block can contain more data, reducing congestion. However, there’s a trade-off—too high a limit can increase node operation costs and potentially weaken decentralization. Ethereum needs to find a balance.

EVM Bytecode Improvements introduce a new standard format called EOF (Ethereum Object Format), making smart contract execution more efficient and lowering Gas costs.

Multi-dimensional Gas Pricing Model categorizes fees by resource type—computation, data, storage—charging accordingly. This makes costs more transparent and fair, paying only for actual usage.

Native Rollups Integration allows multiple EVM virtual machines to run in parallel within the protocol, like multiple tracks at a train station, each independent yet coordinated efficiently.

The Surge Timeline Breakdown

Q1 2024 – Dencun Upgrade is already underway, with Proto-Danksharding (EIP-4844) officially launched. It improves data availability through a “blob” mechanism, paving the way for Rollup scalability.

2024-2025 is the maturation period for Rollups. Projects like Arbitrum, Optimism, zkSync will continue optimization, deploying new cryptographic verification methods (SNARKs), and expanding systems like PeerDAS and 2D DAS.

Late 2025 will focus on Gas optimization. The EOF standard will be promoted, multi-dimensional Gas pricing may be adopted, and native Rollup solutions are expected to be integrated directly into the Ethereum protocol.

2026 and beyond marks the era of full Danksharding. Transitioning from Proto-Danksharding to complete sharding architecture, Ethereum will be split into multiple shards for higher scalability. Post-quantum cryptography technologies will also be introduced to address future security risks.

This timeline reflects Ethereum’s phased upgrade approach—each step builds on the previous, ensuring a stable transition.

Risks and Security Considerations

Scalability improvements inevitably introduce new complexities. Rollup solutions rely on cryptographic proofs, which must be secure against vulnerabilities. Security audits of smart contracts become even more critical.

Another long-term concern is quantum computing. Vitalik Buterin has repeatedly mentioned this risk, and the Ethereum team is researching quantum-resistant cryptography to prepare for future security challenges.

Additionally, during the transition, fluctuations in Gas fees and temporary network outages may occur, requiring developers and users to stay vigilant.

The Future Beyond The Surge

After completing The Surge, Ethereum’s upgrade roadmap continues. The Splurge will focus on miscellaneous optimizations; The Verge aims to improve consensus efficiency through stateless clients; The Purge will further optimize data storage and node performance.

All these steps share the ultimate goal: building a decentralized blockchain capable of supporting hundreds of millions of users worldwide, without compromising security and decentralization principles.

Conclusion

The Surge represents a qualitative leap for Ethereum. Through systematic advancements in Rollups, DAS, and Layer 1 upgrades, Ethereum is transforming from a high-cost, low-throughput network into a truly scalable global infrastructure.

Users will experience cheaper transactions and smoother interactions; developers will have the freedom to build complex applications; all layers of the ecosystem will work seamlessly as a whole.

This is not just a technical upgrade but a paradigm shift in the ecosystem. In the wave of the next Ethereum upgrade, Ethereum is demonstrating its ability to adapt and evolve.