Ethereum, the engine of blockchain innovation, faces a major challenge: its growing complexity. Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the network, warns about protocol congestion, an excess of complexity that threatens Ethereum’s efficiency and security. To address this, he proposes a radical solution: simplifying the code by removing superfluous elements. However, this approach raises questions: can Ethereum be lightened without compromising its core principles of decentralization and trust?
In Brief
- •Vitalik Buterin has proposed a “garbage collection” to address Ethereum’s protocol bloat, an initiative aimed at streamlining the network’s code.
- •This proposal seeks to simplify the protocol by removing unnecessary features and reducing Ethereum’s overall code complexity.
- •Despite the enthusiasm surrounding this idea, some experts warn that it could weaken the network’s decentralization and security.
- •The debate over code simplification highlights a growing divide within the Ethereum community between advocates of constant innovation and those calling for greater stability.
The Growing Complexity of Ethereum: An Obstacle to Trust and Autonomy
While he sees this network as the Linux of blockchain, Vitalik Buterin has expressed concerns about the uncontrolled growth of the Ethereum protocol, highlighting that the blockchain has become a tangle of hundreds of thousands of lines of code making its operation increasingly opaque to users.
According to him, this phenomenon affects several fundamental aspects of the network:
- •A loss of trust: excessive complexity forces users to rely on experts who explain the protocol’s operation, rather than having a direct understanding of the system themselves.
- •The weakening of decentralization: although the network has a large number of nodes, increasing complexity reduces true decentralization because it limits access to information for a large majority of participants.
- •Failure to pass the “walkaway” test: Buterin points out that, in the current state, if the development teams disappeared, it would be nearly impossible to rebuild quality clients from the existing code, calling into question the network’s long-term resilience.
The trend to add new features without removing obsolete ones exacerbates this situation. By favoring the addition of new capabilities, Ethereum becomes increasingly difficult to understand and maintain, which impacts its security and efficiency.
Buterin insists: “even if the network has a large number of nodes, which theoretically allows fault tolerance, it fails to meet the fundamental criteria of simplicity and trust”.
Vitalik Buterin’s Proposal for an Ethereum Code Cleanup
To counter this problem, Buterin proposes introducing a “garbage collection” process in the development of Ethereum.
Practically, this approach would aim to reduce the network’s complexity by removing superfluous elements and simplifying the code. Buterin calls for a systematic cleanup, where rarely used features would be extracted from the main protocol and moved into external smart contracts, thereby relieving the blockchain from the burden of overly complex code.
“It is crucial that we reduce the number of lines of code and avoid excessive dependencies on overly complex cryptographies”, he said. This simplification would also make client behaviors more predictable and easier to implement by reducing reliance on overly technical elements and promoting a clearer and more stable approach.
Past examples of simplification, like the transition from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS), show that large-scale reforms can be effective in lightening the network while maintaining its security.
However, Buterin’s proposal goes beyond these initial reforms. He envisions a future where Ethereum protocols are free from unnecessary additions and where the blockchain becomes more robust and accessible.
Nonetheless, this simplification does not come without challenges. How to balance this complexity reduction with the need to maintain innovation, especially the significant reforms to come, and adapt the network to users’ needs? And, more importantly, could this approach impact decentralization, one of Ethereum’s fundamental pillars?