Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin just celebrated a groundbreaking moment for the network, and it's a big deal for anyone interested in blockchain technology. Imagine a highway suddenly expanding its lanes to handle ten times more traffic—that's essentially what Ethereum just achieved. On November 4, 2025, at 14:37 UTC, the network hit a staggering 3,453 transactions per second (TPS), shattering its previous records. But here's where it gets controversial: while Ethereum's mainnet (layer-1) typically crawls along at 15–30 TPS under normal conditions, this new milestone was made possible by layer-2 solutions like Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, and zkSync. And this is the part most people miss: these layer-2 rollups are the unsung heroes, quietly boosting the ecosystem's capacity to process hundreds, if not thousands, of TPS in total.
Buterin himself has been vocal about the importance of these advancements. In a recent social media post, he hailed zkSync Atlas as “underrated and valuable,” a bold statement that’s sure to spark debate among blockchain enthusiasts. He also doubled down on the idea that “incorruptibility” is the blockchain’s most critical feature—a point that’s hard to argue with, but raises questions about how other networks prioritize security versus scalability. Is Ethereum’s focus on decentralization slowing it down, or is it the key to its long-term success?
Another game-changer Buterin highlighted is PeerDAS (peer data availability sampling), a technology he believes is essential for Ethereum’s scaling journey. This isn’t just tech jargon—it’s a solution to the very real problem of network congestion during high-demand periods, something Ethereum users have painfully experienced in the past. With layer-2 rollups, proto-danksharding, and other innovations in play, Ethereum is finally addressing its scalability bottleneck head-on.
But let’s not forget the elephant in the room: Are these solutions enough to keep Ethereum competitive in a rapidly evolving blockchain landscape? While Buterin’s optimism is infectious, some critics argue that Ethereum’s reliance on layer-2 solutions could be a bandaid fix rather than a permanent cure. What do you think? Is Ethereum on the right track, or are there better ways to scale a blockchain? Let’s debate this in the comments—your take could be the next big idea in blockchain innovation.
