Ethereum Co-Founder Proposes 50-100x Performance Boost With Simplified Design

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder and core developer of Ethereum, has recently proposed a bold vision to simplify the Ethereum network, drawing inspiration from Bitcoin's minimalist design. In a blog post, Buterin outlined a strategy to address Ethereum’s long-standing challenges with complexity, high development costs, and security vulnerabilities over the next five years. The proposal aims to position Ethereum as a more resilient and efficient “world ledger” for finance, governance, and high-value data authentication.

One of the key points Buterin highlighted is the simplicity of Bitcoin, which he believes has numerous benefits. He aims to bring these benefits to Ethereum by reducing its complexity. Ethereum’s codebase has grown significantly over the years, now exceeding 300,000 lines, compared to Bitcoin’s lean 15,000 line consensus code. While the increased code lines enable advanced features like smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps), they have also led to significant security risks. The infamous 2016 DAO hack, where a flaw in a smart contract allowed attackers to siphon $50 million in ETH, is a prime example of these risks.

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To mitigate these issues, Buterin’s proposal includes implementing a maximum code line limit for Ethereum’s core protocol. By trimming it to a more manageable size, Buterin aims to shrink Ethereum’s attack surface, making it easier to audit and maintain while reducing the likelihood of costly exploits. “Simplicity, like decentralization, is upstream of resilience,” Buterin wrote, emphasizing the long-term benefits of a leaner Ethereum despite the short-term challenges of implementation.

The proposal also includes significant technical shifts to enhance performance and scalability. Buterin advocates replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with a RISC-V virtual machine, an open-source instruction set architecture known for its efficiency. This shift could improve zero-knowledge proof performance by 50-100x, potentially lowering gas fees and making Ethereum more competitive with newer blockchains like Solana, which have gained market share due to their speed and cost-effectiveness.

Additionally, Buterin calls for protocol-wide standardization, such as adopting a single erasure coding method, serialization format (favoring SSZ), and tree structure. These changes aim to eliminate redundant complexity, streamline tooling, and make Ethereum more accessible to developers. The move comes at a critical time as Ethereum continues to face competition from other blockchains. As the network embarks on this ambitious five-year journey, Buterin’s vision could redefine Ethereum’s role in the blockchain ecosystem, balancing innovation and stability.

In his blog post, Buterin also mentioned the Ethereum 2025 road map and the Pectra upgrade. The latter intends to increase Layer-2 data availability 10x, while Buterin states that if scalability, security and decentralization get a major boost on Layer 1, this would make Ethereum much more resilient and attractive for users and developers. Buterin stressed that in the short term, benefits of the changes proposed by him “do not appear immediately.” However, “in the long term, it will be worth it.” He suggested adding those modifications over the next five years.

Buterin’s proposal underscores the importance of simplicity in achieving long-term resilience and efficiency in blockchain technology. The debate over complexity versus simplicity in blockchain design is far from over. Whether this push for simplicity will solidify Ethereum’s position or spark new challenges remains to be seen. However, Buterin’s vision for a simplified Ethereum network, inspired by Bitcoin’s minimalist design, could pave the way for a more secure, efficient, and resilient blockchain ecosystem.