Buterin Calls for Stripped-Down Reform between Ethereum 2.0 or Ethereum Lite

Summary

• Buterin Proposes Major Ethereum Simplification: Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has outlined a plan to significantly reduce the complexity of Ethereum’s core protocol (Layer 1), aiming for a more efficient, secure, and minimalist design inspired by Bitcoin.

• Key Technical Changes Proposed: The proposal includes simplifying the consensus layer (e.g., introducing “3-slot finality,” using STARKs), potentially replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with a more ZK-proof-friendly alternative like RISC-V, and standardizing formats across the protocol.

• Motivation: Reduce Complexity and Enhance Resilience: This shift addresses concerns that Ethereum’s current complexity leads to high development costs, security risks, and inefficiency, with the goal of creating a leaner, more auditable, and decentralized network better positioned against competing Layer 1 blockchains.

Buterin Proposes Fundamental Redesign for Ethereum, Emphasizing Simplicity and Efficiency

Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of Ethereum, has put forth a significant proposal advocating for a fundamental simplification of the blockchain’s intricate architecture.

The goal is to steer Ethereum towards a leaner design, reminiscent of Bitcoin’s core principles, potentially reshaping its future development path.

Detailed in a blog entry on May 3rd titled “Simplifying the L1,” Buterin presented a strategic roadmap intended to enhance the Ethereum network’s efficiency, security, and ease of access over the coming five years.

This push for simplicity signifies a potential recalibration of Ethereum’s development ethos, which historically embraced complex technical enhancements.

Buterin’s suggested overhaul targets key areas, including the network’s consensus mechanisms, transaction execution layer, and foundational standards, which he argues have become excessively complex, expensive, and susceptible to risks.

Addressing Ethereum’s Growing Complexity

Buterin recognized that even though there have been important improvements like moving to proof-of-stake (PoS) and using zk-SNARK technology, these changes have also made things much more complicated.

He contended that Ethereum’s elaborate technical nature has resulted in protracted development timelines, inflated operational expenses, and heightened exposure to security vulnerabilities.

“Historically, Ethereum has often not done this [kept things simple], sometimes because of my own decisions,” Buterin admitted in his post.

He linked this tendency towards complexity to “excessive development expenditure, all kinds of security risk, and insularity of R&D culture,” often driven by perceived benefits that ultimately proved less impactful than anticipated.

Taking cues from Bitcoin’s less intricate structure, Buterin proposed that Ethereum could transition into a more straightforward and robust platform without compromising its essential functionalities.

He underscored the connection between simplicity and decentralization, noting that streamlined codebases are inherently easier to verify and manage.

Proposed Overhauls for Consensus and Execution

A core element of Buterin’s plan involves streamlining Ethereum’s consensus layer.

A main idea is to introduce “3-slot finality,” a system meant to simplify some complicated parts of the protocol, such as epochs, synchronization committees, and how validators change.

The objective is to minimize system overhead while preserving network security and decentralization.

Buterin elaborated that having fewer active validators simultaneously “makes it safer to use simpler implementations of the fork choice rule.”

Furthermore, he recommended incorporating STARK-based aggregation protocols to further simplify consensus operations and boost scalability.

STARKs represent a transparent and scalable alternative to existing cryptographic techniques, potentially enhancing decentralization and reducing technical hurdles.

Buterin suggested that we should change the current Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to a new virtual machine that works better with zero-knowledge proofs and is more efficient, proposing RISC-V as a possible option.

He asserted that such a transition could yield performance improvements of up to 100 times in generating zero-knowledge proofs, which are crucial for enhancing privacy and scalability.

RISC-V, being an open-source instruction set architecture, aligns with the minimalist approach Buterin champions.

To ensure continued functionality, Buterin proposed supporting existing EVM contracts through a RISC-V interpreter, enabling a period where both environments can operate concurrently.

Standardization and a Leaner Core Protocol

Another crucial aspect of Buterin’s vision is the pursuit of standardization across the protocol.

He suggested adopting uniform methods for erasure coding, employing a standard serialization format (specifically favoring SSZ – Simple Serialize), and utilizing a unified tree structure.

These standardizations are intended to reduce redundancy within the blockchain’s tooling and infrastructure.

“Simplicity is in many ways similar to decentralization,” Buterin stated, calling for a principle akin to a “max line-of-code” standard, similar to the approach used in projects like Tinygrad.

The proposal would enforce conciseness and auditability for essential consensus logic.

Legacy features deemed nonessential would not be eliminated entirely but rather shifted outside the core protocol specifications, maintaining a streamlined core while preserving support for existing applications.

Facing Increased Competition

This call for fundamental simplification arises as Ethereum encounters increasing challenges from rival Layer 1 blockchains.

Underscoring this competitive pressure, Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik commented during a panel on May 2nd about Ethereum’s potentially diminishing market dominance.

Svanevik noted that while he previously expected Ethereum to dominate, “it’s clear that’s not what’s happening” currently, adding context to the strategic importance of Buterin’s proposed reforms.

Also Read: Vitalik Buterin Plans For Ethereum’s bitcoin Transition

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