Ethereum Co-Founder Buterin Aims for Bitcoin-Level Simplicity by 2030

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has expressed his vision for the future of Ethereum, aiming to make the blockchain as simple as Bitcoin by 2030. In a blog post, Buterin highlighted the importance of simplicity in blockchain design, noting that Bitcoin's minimalist approach makes it accessible and reduces the risk of bugs and high maintenance costs. He believes that Ethereum can achieve a similar level of simplicity, which would enhance its long-term resilience and scalability.

Buterin acknowledged that recent upgrades, such as proof-of-stake (PoS) and Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge (zk-SNARK) integration, have made Ethereum more robust. However, he also pointed out that the complexity of these upgrades has contributed to higher costs and security risks. He emphasized the need for a simpler design to mitigate these issues.

One of the proposed upgrades is the 'Beam Chain,' a consensus layer upgrade suggested by Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake. Buterin believes that the beam Chain could be much simpler than the current beacon chain. The Beam Chain would eliminate complex concepts like separate slots, epochs, and sync committees, and could be implemented with about 200 lines of code. This simplification would make the consensus layer safer and more robust, with a simpler P2P architecture.

Buterin also proposed replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) contract language with RISC-V to boost efficiency and simplicity. He suggested a phased approach to ensure backward compatibility for existing applications. The first phase would involve writing new precompiles in RISC-V, followed by developers having the option to write contracts in RISC-V. Eventually, all precompiles would be replaced with RISC-V implementations, and an EVM interpreter in RISC-V would be pushed onchain as a smart contract.

To achieve protocol-wide simplification, Buterin proposed using a single standard across different parts of the stack. This includes using a single erasure code for data availability sampling, P2P broadcasting, and distributed history storage. He also suggested using a single shared serialization format across the three Ethereum layers and switching to a binary tree from the hexary Merkle Patricia tree for both the consensus and execution layers.

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Buterin concluded by proposing that Ethereum adopt an ethos where the simpler option is chosen wherever possible. He suggested setting an explicit maximum line of code target, similar to Tinygrad, to make Ethereum consensus-critical code as simple as Bitcoin. This approach would favor encapsulated complexity over systemic complexity, ensuring that the blockchain remains accessible and secure.