thereum stands at a critical juncture in its future, as the co-founder of the leading blockchain network lays out a roadmap to take the network up to 100,000 transactions per second. While it is an ambitious plan to potentially change Ethereum, the market seems not very optimistic about it.
With Ether's price remaining flat, it is in fierce competition from other layer-1 blockchains. Buterin's bold goals for Ethereum's growth will contend with technical challenges and an increasingly crowded blockchain space.
100K TPS Roadmap - Vitalik Buterin
Buterin's plan is ambitiously supposed to scale to 100,000 TPS from today's total of around 30 TPS. According to most developers, the key to achieving that will be in "rollups," a Layer-2 scaling solution to increase throughput massively by processing transactions outside the blockchain and sending them to the Ethereum mainnet in batches. This may unleash exponential growth on Ethereum, reduce congestion, and decrease gas fees.
In an October 2024 blog post, Buterin declared, "Rollups will be the core driver of Ethereum's scaling journey, pushing us toward 100,000 TPS."
This is part of Ethereum's greater scalability plan known as "Surge," which will enable the network to be better prepared for mainstream adoption. According to Buterin, Ethereum needs to mature to remain competitive with an increase in different use cases across several industries that are starting to adopt blockchain technology.
Ether Price Stagnates Amid Layer-1 Competition
Despite Buterin's technical optimism, Ether's price has stuck in neutral for much of 2024; in October, it was trading at about $1,600, less than a third of its 2021 peak of almost $4,900. The stagnation comes as Ethereum faces increasing competition from younger Layer-1 challengers such as Solana and Avalanche, which can handle faster speeds and lower costs per transaction.
A new analysis explains that Ethereum has been losing some market share as the so-called "Layer-1 wars" are heating up, with many alternative blockchains on the market.
These competing networks tout faster transaction times and greater affordability compared to Ethereum, attracting both developers and users looking to avoid high gas fees and slower transaction times on Ethereum. Despite such pressures, Ethereum also enjoys broader adoption within such popular segments as DeFi and NFTs.
While Ethereum is strong in the market, its status is not immune from the dynamics of change in the greater blockchain ecosystem. With these concerns, many investors are worried whether Ethereum can still maintain its top status as the competing alternatives become viable.
Future of Ethereum and Rollup Integration
Success for Ethereum might depend on how well rollups feature. Buterin's "Surge" plan is to be rolled out in phases during 2024, with rollups at centre stage for scaling the network. This upgrade aims to improve transaction throughput without giving up either of two pillars of Ethereum's design: decentralization and security.
However, many questions still surround how quickly and effectively rollups are going to be implemented. While this technology holds immense promise, its large-scale rollout is going to define whether Ethereum meets the 100,000 TPS target or not. Maybe rollups are what Ethereum needs to stay relevant in such a competitive market.
