Oct 22, 2026, 8:14 a.m. EDT
3 min read
Summary
- Ethereum researchers have proposed cutting transaction finality from about 16 minutes to roughly four minutes, though the unfinished plan has no activation date.
- Faster finality could reduce costs for cross-chain transfer services by allowing them to recover and reuse funds more quickly.
- The proposal would separate validators’ block-selection and finality votes, potentially enabling further speed gains and an eventual shift to quantum-resistant signatures.
Ethereum developers are aiming to reduce the waiting period for transaction finality from roughly 16 minutes down to approximately four, an adjustment that could decrease expenses associated with transferring value across different ledgers.
Ben Edgington, who oversees fast-finality research for Ethereum, submitted the proposal on Wednesday alongside co-researchers Francesco D’Amato, Roberto Saltini, Yann Vonlanthen, and Mikhail Kalinin.
The initial objective targets a fourfold enhancement, though the architecture remains incomplete and lacks a scheduled activation date.
Under the existing system, a transaction appears within an Ethereum block long before the network officially deems it final—the precise moment when validator nodes, which protect the blockchain, guarantee they will never alter it. Anyone transferring assets away from Ethereum must decide when it is secure to disburse funds on the destination chain.
Nonetheless, sixteen minutes is a prolonged duration for capital to remain stuck in limbo.
Consider an instance where an individual transfers $10,000 out of Ethereum onto a separate network. A bridge service might disburse the amount instantly using its own preexisting liquidity there, and subsequently wait to be reimbursed after the initial transaction fully settles. The user receives their capital in seconds, while the provider has $10,000 tied up until Ethereum finalizes the action.
Investigations by the Ethereum Foundation treat this stagnant liquidity as an authentic operational expense for these entities, meaning a reduced wait time permits them to recycle the capital much sooner. Practically speaking, a business advancing a continuous $1 million every hour would have about $267,000 pending reimbursement under a 16-minute lag. Conversely, at a four-minute mark, that figure shrinks to approximately $67,000.
Stablecoin issuers such as Circle CRCL$86.62· Market Closed, creator of the dollar-pegged USDC, already monetize speed. Its accelerated pathway originating on Ethereum currently bills 0.01%, equating to $1 for every $10,000, prior to network and application fees. The standard routing option imposes no Circle transfer surcharge.
Additionally, Circle places a ceiling on the aggregate value of expedited transfers awaiting ultimate settlement, meaning each finished settlement unlocks capacity for new ones.
Splitting the vote
The 16-minute duration stems directly from how validator nodes cast ballots on Ethereum. Each participant submits a single ballot that fulfills two distinct functions simultaneously: assisting in the selection of the upcoming block and locking in past blocks permanently. Validators rotate through casting these votes, meaning a block only achieves finality following two full cycles of universal participation.
Because both responsibilities rely on one shared ballot, finality can only advance as quickly as that rotation allows. The new draft grants each duty its own dedicated vote, permitting the locking mechanism to operate on a faster schedule that developers can continue to accelerate over time.
The authors note that dividing these votes would also facilitate an eventual transition toward quantum-resistant signatures. Ethereum will require this specific upgrade should quantum computers ever advance sufficiently to crack contemporary cryptography.
Despite this, a four-minute interval would still appear sluggish compared to Solana, which activated its Alpenglow upgrade on Wednesday with a finality target of roughly 150 milliseconds.
As of Thursday, the draft leaves voting schedules, penalty structures, and elements of its security assessment undecided. Edgington noted that “many aspects remain TBD” and that the immediate goal was securing an official proposal number, which moves the concept into Ethereum’s formal upgrade pipeline.
Read More: Solana’s biggest network change since 2020 is live. Here’s how users benefit
Originally published at https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/10/22/ethereum-s-four-minute-settlement-plan-could-lower-the-cost-of-moving-crypto.
