Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has sketched the chain's third major era — “Lean Ethereum” — with upgrades expected to land over the next three to four years.

Highlights: recursive STARKs become a native verification component; quantum-vulnerable cryptography is swapped for post-quantum alternatives; a new “scalable state” type targets 100 TB by 2030 (cutting costs for some tokens 10x+); and RISC-V / leanISA VMs are explored for programmable privacy.

The near-term Glasterdam upgrade is also expected to significantly raise Ethereum's gas limit.