‘Ethereum must remove features to survive’ says Vitalik – But why?
Vitalik Buterin argues that Ethereum's long-term survival depends on removing old features and simplifying its core protocol, a process he calls "protocol simplicity" or "garbage collection." He believes accumulated complexity makes the network harder to understand, maintain, and run, threatening its decentralization. Buterin emphasizes the "walkaway test"—Ethereum should function even if its core developers leave, allowing new teams to build clients or run nodes without relying on a small group of experts. He warns against the "High Priest" problem, where over-reliance on advanced cryptography forces trust in specialists, undermining self-sovereignty. Solutions include moving legacy features, like old transaction types, to smart contracts via account abstraction and potentially replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with a simpler system, while keeping the EVM as a contract. Buterin views Ethereum's first phase as necessary experimentation but now advocates for maturing into a secure "hyperstructure" that prioritizes simplicity and reliability over limitless functionality.
ambcrypto01/19 06:02
