2026 will become the inflection point for Ethereum's ZK scaling: the validation mechanism will usher in a "merge-level" transformation

On December 26, researchers and developers anticipate that 2026 will become a pivotal year for Ethereum, relying on zero-knowledge proofs (ZK) to achieve exponential scalability. By then, some Ethereum validators will no longer re-execute transactions but will directly verify ZK proofs, fundamentally changing the way the blockchain operates, with scale comparable to Ethereum’s transition from PoW to PoS in 2022, known as “The Merge.” Ethereum researcher Justin Drake stated that the initial validators will begin verifying ZK proofs for each block instead of re-executing all transactions, which will provide immediate scalability benefits for Layer 1 and lay the foundation for future 10,000 TPS. Currently, Ethereum mainnet throughput is about 30 TPS. During Devconnect, Drake demonstrated that ZK proof verification can be completed using an old laptop, and it is expected that by the end of 2026, approximately 10% of validators will switch to ZK verification mode (Lean Execution Phase 1). This transition will significantly reduce hardware requirements for validation nodes while maintaining network decentralization. Ethereum Besu client engineer Gary Schulte pointed out that future compute-intensive tasks will mainly be handled by block builders and ZK provers, while ordinary validators will only need to perform lightweight checks, creating conditions to increase gas limits and overall throughput. According to the roadmap, Ethereum is currently in Phase 0 (voluntary validation), expected to enter Phase 1 (partial validator switch) in 2026, and move into Phase 2 in 2027, where block producers will be required to generate ZK proofs, achieving full ZK execution.