Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposes radical simplification of cryptocurrency platform

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has outlined a five-year plan to streamline the protocol, prioritizing simplicity to enhance the security and usability of the blockchain platform. Drawing inspiration from Bitcoin’s minimalist design, Buterin aims to address Ethereum’s growing complexity, which he believes could undermine its long-term development.

Key proposals include simplifying the consensus mechanism, integrating RISC-V to make smart contracts more efficient, and unifying approaches to erasure coding, data serialization, and the use of Verkle Trees. These changes are intended to reduce redundancy, lower computational costs, and improve overall platform efficiency. According to Buterin, embracing simplicity will help strengthen Ethereum’s position in global finance.

He also advocates minimizing the complexity of the protocol’s code. The streamlined version of Ethereum would retain its full functionality while becoming more accessible for developers and node operators.