Ethereum on Brink of Major Overhaul with Planned 2027 Fork

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin believes that the platform's last 'normal' fork is scheduled for 2027, marking a significant shift in the network's architecture.

The current system relies on participants downloading blocks and recalculating them to verify their accuracy, which can be laborious. However, modern cryptography has made it possible to use cryptographic proofs and samples of underlying data instead, reducing the need for full recalculation.

This change will allow the network to store more data and process more work simultaneously, giving Ethereum a renewed chance at achieving its original ambition of decentralized computing.

The proposed architecture would concentrate on changes that require shared ordering, while the surrounding infrastructure handles supporting work. This could lead to stronger transaction-inclusion guarantees, more privacy, and lighter node requirements.