Ethereum's Nethermind to Delete 80% of Mainnet History, Reduce Node Disk Space by 80%

Marek Moraczyński, the lead of the Ethereum client Nethermind, has announced that version 1.3.1 of the client is planned to remove Ethereum mainnet history before the merge on May 1st. This decision comes as a response to the significant disk space occupied by historical records, which are not necessary for validating new blocks. Over 80% of Ethereum full nodes' disk space is currently used by these historical records.

In the new version 1.3.1, Nethermind will perform a deletion of these historical records via an ERA file. This operation has been agreed upon by all teams and is scheduled to be executed on May 1st. By deleting all blocks and receipts and retaining only the data necessary to validate the newest blocks, the disk space required for a full node will be reduced to less than 200 GB.

This move is expected to streamline the Ethereum network, making it more efficient and reducing the burden on full nodes. The deletion of historical records will not affect the validation of new blocks, as the necessary data will still be retained. This change is part of the ongoing efforts to optimize the Ethereum network and prepare it for future developments.