Vitalik Buterin Calls for Ethereum Simplification, Inspired by Bitcoin’s Minimalist Model
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is calling for a major shift in how the blockchain is designed, advocating for a move toward simplicity and minimalism—much like the approach used by Bitcoin. In a blog post published on May 3, Buterin outlined a long-term vision to reduce Ethereum’s complexity, improve its security, and make it more accessible for developers and users alike.
Rethinking Ethereum’s Design
Buterin, known for his deep technical insights and commitment to Ethereum’s decentralization ethos, described the network’s current architecture as “overly complex.” He warned that this growing complexity increases the potential for bugs, isolates research efforts, and unintentionally centralizes influence among a small group of highly skilled developers.
“Even a smart high school student is capable of fully wrapping their head around and understanding the Bitcoin protocol,” Buterin wrote. “A programmer is capable of writing a client as a hobby project.” In contrast, Ethereum’s current technical depth creates steep barriers to entry and discourages broader participation.
To address these concerns, Buterin proposed a gradual simplification strategy over the next five years, with a focus on three key areas: the consensus layer, the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), and standardization across the protocol.
Streamlining Consensus and Improving Efficiency
One of the most significant changes Buterin suggested involves the consensus layer—the mechanism that ensures agreement across the network. He advocated for a leaner finality system and a reduction in the number of validators, which he believes would not only cut operational costs but also accelerate network consensus.
Importantly, Buterin noted that the consensus layer is only loosely connected to the execution layer, giving developers room to implement improvements without risking the stability of the broader system.
Rethinking the Ethereum Virtual Machine
Buterin also proposed modernizing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) by introducing RISC-V, a simpler, open-source computing architecture. This could serve as an alternative execution path and make Ethereum’s computational foundation more efficient and sustainable.
He suggested that future developers could write smart contracts using RISC-V in addition to the traditional EVM, offering greater flexibility and performance benefits. To further streamline operations, he recommended phasing out legacy components like precompiles in favor of on-chain, canonical implementations and introducing a RISC-V-based interpreter.
Toward Protocol Standardization
A final area of focus in Buterin’s vision is standardization. Today, Ethereum uses a variety of tools for similar functions—multiple serialization formats, different erasure codes, and varying Merkle tree implementations. Buterin argues that consolidating these into unified standards would eliminate unnecessary duplication and foster a clearer, more maintainable protocol.
“There is typically very little or no benefit to using different protocols to do the same thing in different places,” he noted. “But such patterns appear anyway, largely because different parts of protocol roadmapping don’t talk to each other.”