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Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin stated that Ethereum, the world’s largest altcoin, has gradually evolved into an excessively complex system, which negatively affects the protocol’s long-term security and resilience. According to Buterin, the growing number of lines of code, numerous complex cryptographic dependencies, and structures that only a narrow group of experts can fully understand have made the protocol increasingly difficult to manage for both users and developers. In this context, he argues that Ethereum must be simplified, stripped of unnecessary complexity, and protected against security risks in order to preserve its sustainable and decentralized objectives.
Ethereum’s Complexity and Associated Risks
According to Buterin, Ethereum’s long-term goals of trustlessness and self-sovereignty are directly tied to the simplicity of the protocol. However, over time, Ethereum has failed three critical tests due to hundreds of thousands of lines of code, complex cryptographic dependencies, and architecture understood by only a small expert group:
- It is not truly trustless
- New teams would struggle to maintain the system if the current developer groups disappeared
- Users cannot fully audit and verify the protocol
He also pointed out that complexity increases security vulnerabilities due to interactions between different protocol components. Buterin emphasized that prioritizing short-term feature additions during Ethereum’s development contradicts the goal of building a centuries-long decentralized infrastructure. He noted that the desire for backward compatibility encourages constant additions while making removals difficult, leading to what he described as protocol bloat.
Three Core Principles for Simplification
According to Buterin, simplifying the protocol should be guided by three fundamental principles:
- Reducing the number of lines of code as much as possible
- Avoiding unnecessary and overly complex technical dependencies
- Introducing more reliable invariants (unchanging rules) into the protocol
As an example, he highlighted that certain Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) have already significantly simplified client development and scalability.
Incremental and Large-Scale Cleanups
Buterin explained that simplification can be achieved through both incremental improvements and large-scale cleanups. He described the transition from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake as a major “garbage collection” effort. Looking ahead, he suggested that similar large-scale cleanups could be implemented through initiatives such as “thin consensus.” He also noted that some complex but rarely used features could be removed from the core protocol and implemented instead through smart contracts, reducing the burden on new client developers.
Buterin believes that Ethereum’s pace of change should slow down over the long term. Describing the first fifteen years as a period of experimentation and exploration, he argued that ineffective or low-value components should not become permanent baggage. Ultimately, he emphasized that Ethereum’s future depends on evolving into a simpler, more understandable, and more resilient protocol.
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