Ethereum researchers have filed a draft proposal to reduce transaction finality from approximately 16 minutes to roughly 4 minutes by splitting validators’ block-selection and finality votes, according to a document released on October 22, 2026.
Ben Edgington, Ethereum fast-finality research coordinator, led the effort alongside researchers Francesco D’Amato, Roberto Saltini, Yann Vonlanthen, and Mikhail Kalinin. The change targets a structural inefficiency in how validators currently lock in blocks: today, validators cast a single vote that simultaneously selects new blocks and finalizes older ones. The proposal decouples these functions, allowing finality to occur on an independent clock.
The optimization addresses a cost problem for cross-chain transfer services. These platforms front customer funds immediately, then wait for Ethereum settlement to recover capital. At current 16-minute finality, a service processing $1 million in hourly transfers holds approximately $267,000 in idle money per hour. Reducing finality to 4 minutes cuts that idle capital to roughly $67,000 per hour.
Circle, which issues USDC and operates fast-route Ethereum transfers, charges 0.01% for expedited transfers and caps the total value of transfers awaiting settlement. A $10,000 transfer costs $1 under Circle’s fast-route fee. Faster finality would reduce the idle capital costs embedded in such services.
The proposal also creates a pathway for quantum-resistant signature implementation on Ethereum, a longer-term security consideration.
Edgington cautioned that the draft leaves substantial work unfinished. “Many aspects remain TBD,” he stated, referring to unresolved decisions on voting timings, validator penalties, and security analysis. The proposal carries no activation date.
The timing coincides with Solana’s October 22, 2026 activation of its Alpenglow upgrade, which targets 150-millisecond finality, a significantly faster standard than Ethereum’s current or proposed timeline.
