Ethereum’s Endgame (Part I) | Justin Drake, Ethereum Foundation

Gelato founder Luis Schliesske sits down with Justin Drake, Ethereum Foundation researcher, for a 2+ hour deep dive into the endgame vision for Ethereum.

This conversation unpacks the most ambitious research shaping Ethereum’s future — from native rollups and based sequencing to beamchain, preconfirmations, and how Ethereum can scale to 10 million TPS without sacrificing decentralization or security.

Justin explains why L2 silos break Ethereum’s network effects, how synchronous composability could be restored, and why credible neutrality requires sequencing at the base layer. They also explore Ethereum’s ossification strategy, the trade-offs around preconfirmations, and how real-time proving reshapes the roadmap.

If you care about rollup infrastructure, bridging, ZK proving systems, or Ethereum’s role as a global settlement layer — this episode is unmissable.

Episode Highlights

• Why L2 silos break synchronous composability — and how to fix it

• The case for based sequencing and preconfirmations as a UX unlock

• Security gaps in current L2s (fraud proofs, ZK circuits, and security councils)

• How native rollups solve reimplementation, governance, and bug risks

• The vision behind beamchain and Ethereum’s ossification through optimality

• Scaling the L1 with ZK proofs to reach 1 gigagas per second

Resources & Links

👉 Follow Justin Drake on X: @drakefjustin
👉 Follow the Ethereum Foundation on X: @ethereum
🌐 Learn more about the Ethereum Foundation