Ethereum is preparing for the quantum era: Vitalik Buterin presents a roadmap to 2028
Ethereum is preparing for the future of quantum computing: With the roadmap to 2028, co-founder Vitalik Buterin is focusing on quantum resistance.
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• Quantum resistance will be core to the Ethereum roadmap to 2028
• Advances at Google and IBM accelerate quantum computing risks
• Scaling, security and decentralization remain key upgrades
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin presented the network’s long-term roadmap at the Devconnect 2025 conference in Buenos Aires, which took place on November 17th. A central element is quantum resistance: “Quantum resistance everywhere,” emphasized Buterin. The background is the growing danger that advances in quantum computing could make existing cryptographic systems, such as those of Ethereum and Bitcoin, vulnerable by 2028.
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As part of the Lean Ethereum concept, the network focuses on simplicity, security and efficiency in the base layer, it said at Devconnect. The integration of quantum-resistant mechanisms is a core component of this vision.
Advances and risks in quantum computing
Although many experts expect major breakthroughs further into the future, the timeline is increasingly moving forward. According to the prediction platform Metaculus, quantum computers could be able to factor an RSA number by 2034, almost 20 years earlier than originally thought. Some experts even warn that risks from quantum computing could emerge as early as 2028 and 2033.
Tech giants such as Google and IBM provide examples of rapid progress. At the end of October, Google announced an algorithmic breakthrough with the Out-of-Order Time Correlator (OTOC) algorithm: “This is the first time in history that a quantum computer has successfully executed a verifiable algorithm that exceeds the capabilities of supercomputers,” says the Google blog. At the same time, IBM is working on the Quantum Starling, which will become “the world’s first large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer,” with delivery to customers starting in 2029, as the company wrote in June 2025.
Cryptographic Future: Long-Term Ethereum Upgrades
In addition to quantum resistance, Ethereum is planning other long-term improvements. These include zk-friendly VMs, hash functions like Poseidon, formal verification, optimal consensus and faster finality. In the medium term (2025-2026), the focus is on scaling measures, including gas limit increases, EIP-7732 and block-level access lists, to increase capacity without compromising decentralization.
For 2026-2027, Buterin outlines upgrades at the Devconnect conference that will improve censorship resistance, decentralization and expanded account abstraction. According to Buterin, the emphasis on quantum resilience signals a fundamental shift: blockchain networks must increasingly prepare for a cryptographic future in which quantum security becomes a requirement.
Bettina Schneider / editorial team finanzen.net