Ethereum’s Future: Simplifying the Layer 1 Protocol
Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, currently valued at $220 billion with a price of $1,824, is the benchmark many blockchains aspire to. But it’s far from perfect. In a recent post titled “Simplifying the L1,” Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin shared a vision for the platform’s future.
Over the next five years, Buterin believes Ethereum should make a conscious effort to simplify its core Layer 1 protocol. His goal: make Ethereum leaner, easier to understand, and more resilient, qualities that have helped Bitcoin stand the test of time.
Vitalik draws inspiration from Bitcoin’s (BTC) design, calling it “beautifully simple.” He breaks it down, “There is a chain, which is made up of a series of blocks. Each block is connected to the previous block by a hash. Each block’s validity is verified by proof of work. Each block contains transactions. Transactions spend coins that were either created through the mining process, or outputted by previous transactions. And that’s pretty much it.” Ethereum, by contrast, has historically taken a more feature-rich, experimental route, often adding complexity for marginal gains.
Setting Limits on Complexity
One radical idea Vitalik proposes is to set a maximum line-of-code limit for Ethereum’s protocol. This would help keep the system lean and easier to understand, audit, and maintain. Ethereum’s current consensus system, the Beacon Chain, is powerful, but complicated. Buterin suggests replacing it with a streamlined alternative that he says could be much simpler. He outlines a new approach built on years of research and experience.
The 3-Slot Finality Redesign is a method that eliminates the need for epochs, complex committee shuffling, and sync committees. This design is not only simpler, with about 200 lines of code for a basic implementation, but also has near-optimal security.
He also explains that with fewer active validators, Ethereum could adopt simpler fork choice rules, which determine which chain is “correct” in the event of a split. Another key innovation is the STARK-based aggregation. While the underlying cryptography is complex, Vitalik says: “It is at least highly encapsulated complexity, which has much lower systemic risk toward the protocol.”
Ethereum’s execution layer, specifically the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), has become bloated over time, and Vitalik admits some of it is his own doing, “The EVM is increasingly growing in complexity, and much of that complexity has proven unnecessary… a 256-bit virtual machine that over-optimized for highly specific forms of cryptography… precompiles that over-optimized for single use cases that are barely being used.”
Instead of focusing on small improvements, Vitalik Buterin suggests completely transitioning Ethereum to a simpler, more efficient virtual machine, possibly something like RISC-V or another VM already used in Ethereum’s zero-knowledge (ZK) prover systems.
This overhaul could bring significant benefits, including performance boosts, potentially more than 100 times faster. For developers, this change could enhance the experience by allowing languages like Solidity and Vyper to compile to the new VM.
Vitalik’s message is clear: Ethereum doesn’t need to grow more complicated to grow stronger. By simplifying its consensus and execution layers and by keeping its codebase intentionally lean, Ethereum could become more secure and more efficient for the long haul.