What Vitalik Buterin Proposes to Change in Ethereum
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the second largest cryptocurrency by capitalization, Ethereum (ETH), has proposed radically changing the architecture of the blockchain he is developing. In his opinion, it is necessary to replace the fundamental algorithms of “ether” to potentially speed up processes by tens of times, which will allow it to “become almost as simple as Bitcoin.” This is what RBC Crypto writes.
Buterin proposed replacing the software environment known as the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with a new modular engine called RISC-V.
“One of the best things about Bitcoin is how beautiful and simple the protocol is,” Buterin wrote, describing Bitcoin’s architecture.
According to Buterin, the simplicity of the protocol provides advantages that are key to making it a reliable, neutral and universally trusted blockchain.
Buterin explained that RISC-V could reduce the cost of building new infrastructure for Ethereum and reduce long-term protocol maintenance costs, as well as reduce the “risk of catastrophic errors.”
RISC-V has already been used in the development of blockchain networks. One of them is Polkadot (DOT), founded by English computer scientist Gavin Wood. He is also the co-founder of Ethereum and one of the founders of EVM technology, on which the Ethereum blockchain network operates.
Buterin believes that the EVM, created specifically for Ethereum, significantly slows down the blockchain due to its lack of flexibility, and the transition to RISC-V potentially “increases the number of people who understand and can participate in protocol exploration.”
Work on mistakes
The proposal to change Ethereum’s architecture came at the same time as an admission of failures in the development of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Buterin noted that the network often failed to make necessary improvements “sometimes due to [his] own decisions,” which led to actions taken “in pursuit of benefits that turned out to be illusory.” The projected transition time to RISC-V is five years.
At the same time, the Ethereum Foundation (EF), the organization behind the creation and development of ETH, is undergoing a significant restructuring. The two main goals of the EF are to expand the use of Ethereum by providing benefits to users, and to strengthen sustainability and decentralization by addressing the project’s weaknesses.
In addition, one of the biggest upgrades in the last few years, called Pectra, is scheduled for May 7 on the Ethereum network. Although it was originally planned for the end of April, it was postponed due to a number of technical difficulties during the testing phase.
Pectra is divided into two main stages. The first, which will take place on May 7, will include mechanisms to reduce fees on the main network and so-called second-layer (L2) networks such as Arbitrum, Optimism, zkSync, Starknet. It is also planned to include the Account Abstraction feature, which is designed to introduce the possibility of paying transaction fees in tokens other than ETH, such as USDT, DAI or USDC.
The second stage is expected in 2026. It was assumed that changes would affect the Ethereum virtual machine to make smart contracts more efficient, and technology to increase the scalability of the second layer by reducing the load on the network. However, it is now unknown how the old plans will be implemented in connection with Buterin's new proposal for a radical change in the architecture.
Such changes to Ethereum would require broad consensus across a large community of stakeholders, which is a major challenge, Kronos Research analyst Dominic John noted for Decrypt. And the proposed changes themselves could require retraining of developers.
Despite the ambitious plans, since the beginning of January, ETH quotes have fallen by more than 45%, to $1.83 thousand – this price level was observed earlier, at the end of 2023. For comparison: the price of Bitcoin over the same period has grown by about 250% – to $95 thousand. The capitalization of the entire crypto market as a whole has more than doubled over the same period, according to Coinmarketcap.
However, experts suggest not to focus on price.
“Price is not an indicator of technological maturity. The fact that the price [of ETH] is not growing does not mean that Ethereum is failing. On the contrary, it [Ethereum] is growing because it is laying down the infrastructure that others are copying,” Decrypt quotes Tad Pinakievich, a researcher at investment company Galaxy, as saying.
Источник: cryptocurrency.tech
