What’s Next for Post-Merge Ethereum? The Surge, Verge, Purge, and Splurge Explained

This article is an OKX — Okcoin research partnership.

The Ethereum Merge marked a historic shift from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS), slashing energy consumption by 99%. But Ethereum’s evolution is far from over. Here’s a deep dive into the next phases: the Surge, Verge, Purge, and Splurge — upgrades poised to transform Ethereum into a scalable, decentralized, and ultra-efficient blockchain.

Key Takeaways

Merge Impact: Ethereum now uses PoS, reducing ETH issuance by ~90% (a "triple halving") and enabling gas fee burns via EIP-1559.
Future Upgrades: Parallel development of the Surge (sharding), Verge (Verkle trees), Purge (ledger pruning), and Splurge (miscellaneous optimizations).
End Goal: Achieve 100k transactions per second (TPS), lower fees, and stateless validation for true decentralization.

The Merge Recap

Ethereum’s PoS transition:

Energy Efficiency: 99% reduction in power usage.
ETH Issuance: New formula (166*√total ETH staked) drastically cuts supply growth.
Fee Burning: EIP-1559 permanently removes ETH from circulation via gas fee burns.

This sets the stage for Ethereum’s next act.

Vitalik’s Roadmap: The Five Phases

1. The Surge: Scaling via Sharding

Problem: Mainnet congestion and high gas fees.
Solution:

Introduce 64 shard chains to offload transactions from Layer 1 to Layer 2.
Layer 2 rollups (e.g., Arbitrum, Optimism) bundle transactions, reducing costs by ~90%.
Outcome: Target throughput of 100k TPS, enabling microtransactions for social/gaming use.

👉 Explore Layer 2 solutions

2. The Verge: Stateless Clients with Verkle Trees

Problem: Validators require massive storage for network state.
Solution:

Replace Merkle trees with Verkle trees (smaller proofs).
Enable stateless clients—validators need minimal data, lowering hardware requirements.
Outcome: Decentralized validation via smartphones.

3. The Purge: Slimming the Ledger

Problem: Full nodes store 1TB+ of historical data.
Solution:

EIP-4444: Nodes no longer need to archive the entire ledger.
Outcome: Lighter nodes, faster sync times, and reduced operational costs.

4. The Splurge: Miscellaneous Upgrades

Catch-all for optimizations like:

Account abstraction (smart contract wallets).
MEV mitigation (fairer transaction ordering).

FAQs

Q1: When will Ethereum reach 100k TPS?

A: Post-Surge, estimated within 2–3 years as sharding rolls out.

Q2: How does Verge improve decentralization?

A: Stateless clients allow validation on low-power devices (even smartphones).

Q3: Will gas fees drop to zero?

A: No, but Layer 2 fees could fall to fractions of a cent.

Q4: Is Ethereum abandoning its mainnet?

A: No—mainnet remains the "spine" for Layer 2 security.

Conclusion

Ethereum’s post-Merge upgrades aim to resolve scalability trilemma tradeoffs: security, decentralization, and speed. While challenges remain, the roadmap signals Ethereum’s ambition to power Web3’s future.

👉 Stay updated on Ethereum’s progress

Disclaimer: This content is informational only. Cryptocurrency investments carry risks; consult a financial advisor.