Ethereum’s 2029 Strawmap, Hegota Smart Accounts, Native Key Delegation, Protocol-Level AA

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The latest news we'll cover:

Ethereum Foundation Drafts Seven-Fork “Strawmap” Through 2029
Vitalik Buterin Targets Hegota Fork to Deliver Ethereum Smart Accounts
EIP-8164 Proposes Native Key Delegation for Ethereum EOAs
EIP-8141 Proof of Concept Demonstrates Native AA at Protocol Level

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Ethereum Foundation Drafts Seven-Fork “Strawmap” Through 2029

Ethereum core researchers have published a draft “strawmap” outlining a long-term vision for Ethereum layer-1 upgrades through 2029, targeting faster finality, native privacy, post-quantum cryptography, and gigagas-level throughput. The framework, introduced by Justin Drake, sketches seven forks over the next four years, assuming a rough cadence of one upgrade every six months.

Drake described the strawmap as an invitation to view L1 protocol upgrades through a holistic lens rather than fork-by-fork planning. The document places consensus, data, and execution layer upgrades on a unified visual timeline to surface dependencies and long-term coordination challenges that may not be visible in shorter-term planning cycles.

The roadmap defines five “north stars” for Ethereum’s base layer: faster user experience via shorter slots and finality measured in seconds; gigagas L1 throughput (~1 gigagas per second, or roughly 10,000 TPS) through zkEVMs and real-time proving; teragas L2 scaling via data availability sampling; durable post-quantum cryptography based on hash-based schemes; and first-class privacy through shielded ETH transfers.

One of the most significant proposed shifts is moving from the current Gasper consensus mechanism toward a one-round Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) design known as “Minimmit,” aimed at reducing slot times and shrinking finality from today’s ~16 minutes toward single-digit seconds. Vitalik Buterin called the strawmap “a very important document,” suggesting slot times could be reduced incrementally (12 → 8 → 6 → 4 → 3 → 2 seconds) while maintaining safety through improvements such as optimized peer-to-peer networking and erasure coding.

The roadmap also pairs faster consensus changes with a transition toward post-quantum hash-based signatures and STARK-friendly cryptography. Buterin noted that slot-level quantum resistance could potentially arrive before finality-level changes, allowing the chain to continue operating even if quantum breakthroughs undermine existing finality guarantees.

The strawmap originated as a discussion starter at an Ethereum Foundation workshop in January 2026 and is explicitly framed as a living, non-official document. Drake emphasized that it is not a prediction but an accelerationist coordination tool, acknowledging that roadmapping in a decentralized ecosystem remains inherently provisional. Updates are expected at least quarterly as research, governance discussions, and ecosystem feedback evolve.

Vitalik Buterin Targets Hegota Fork to Deliver Ethereum Smart Accounts

Vitalik Buterin said Ethereum’s long-awaited smart accounts will ship “within a year” as part of the upcoming Hegota hard fork, marking a major milestone for account abstraction on the network.

Speaking over the weekend, Buterin noted that Ethereum has been discussing account abstraction since 2016. He pointed to EIP-8141 as an “omnibus” proposal designed to resolve the remaining challenges that account abstraction was meant to address, with deployment targeted for this year under Hegota.

The upgrade introduces “frame transactions,” where a transaction becomes a sequence of frames that can reference each other’s data. Individual frames can authorize a sender or gas payer, enabling more flexible execution logic. In practice, this allows externally owned accounts to function with smart contract-like capabilities without forcing users to migrate to entirely new wallet infrastructure.

Under this model, smart accounts can support multisignature setups, quantum-resistant wallets, and changeable keys through validation and execution frames. Gas payments in non-ETH tokens can be handled via paymaster contracts or decentralized exchange mechanisms that source Ether in real time, without intermediaries.

EIP-8164 Proposes Native Key Delegation for Ethereum EOAs

A new Ethereum Improvement Proposal, EIP-8164, is currently in draft status, introducing “Native Key Delegation for EOAs” as an extension of the delegation designator framework established in EIP-7702.

Authored by Gregory Markou and James Prestwich, the proposal would allow externally owned accounts (EOAs) to permanently replace secp256k1 ECDSA authentication with alternative signature schemes, starting with Ed25519. The mechanism uses a new 0xef0101 code prefix to designate an account whose authentication key is embedded directly in its code field. Once activated, the original ECDSA key is rendered permanently invalid at the protocol level.

The EIP introduces a new typed transaction (0x05) supporting both ECDSA-signed key migration and Ed25519-authenticated transaction origination. It also defines gas costs, strict Ed25519 verification rules, and an irreversible ECDSA rejection rule for converted accounts.

A notable feature is a “crafted-signature” method enabling creation of provably rootless accounts, where no ECDSA private key ever existed. The proposal frames this as groundwork for future post-quantum signature schemes within the reserved 0xef01XX namespace.

EIP-8141 Proof of Concept Demonstrates Native AA at Protocol Level

Harry Jeon has released a proof-of-concept implementation of EIP-8141, showcasing how “frame transactions” could enable native account abstraction directly at the Ethereum protocol level.

The PoC includes a modified go-ethereum (geth) client, a custom Solidity compiler fork, new EVM opcodes, and reference smart accounts ranging from minimal wallets to a modular Kernel architecture. Unlike ERC-4337, which relies on an EntryPoint contract and bundlers, EIP-8141 introduces a new typed transaction that allows accounts to define validation, execution, and gas payment logic using ordered “frames” executed by the protocol itself.

Frame transactions separate concerns into modes such as VERIFY, SENDER, and DEFAULT, with strict read-only constraints during validation. The implementation also includes ERC-7562-style mempool validation rules and a dedicated frame transaction pool.

Two case studies highlight practical implications: an ERC-20 paymaster design and a modular Kernel account port. Gas benchmarks on a local devnet suggest 24%–43% reductions compared to equivalent ERC-4337 setups, primarily by removing EntryPoint overhead.

The repository is explicitly labeled as research-only and unaudited. Proposed future work includes post-quantum signature integration, refined gas accounting for paymasters, and further mempool performance analysis.

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