Vitalik Buterin Calls for Radical Ethereum Simplification

Vitalik Buterin wants to make Ethereum as simple as Bitcoin — and he’s serious. In a recent blog post, the Ethereum co-founder outlined a five-year roadmap to reduce the platform’s growing complexity. His message was clear: Ethereum is too complicated, and it’s hurting scalability, security, and development. By streamlining its core protocol, Buterin believes Ethereum can become more efficient, secure, and accessible. He’s taking inspiration from Bitcoin’s clean, minimalist design — where simplicity fuels strength.

Ethereum has already achieved major milestones. The switch to proof-of-stake and the rise of zero-knowledge proofs show progress. But Buterin warned that these gains could be lost if Ethereum keeps piling on complex features. Instead, he proposes a leaner foundation, one that avoids unnecessary code and focuses on core function. The vision? A more resilient Ethereum — built for the long haul.

Ethereum’s Consensus Layer Set for Overhaul

At the heart of Buterin’s plan is a massive redesign of Ethereum’s consensus layer. Today’s system relies on complex tools like epochs, sync committees, and validator shuffling. Buterin calls this overkill. His solution is “3-slot finality,” a simpler way to finalize blocks with fewer steps and cleaner logic. He says the new model could be written in just 200 lines of code.

This isn’t just about cutting clutter. Simpler consensus means better security and faster upgrades. It also allows smaller sets of validators to make decisions, reducing risks and streamlining fork choice rules. Buterin also wants to use STARK-based aggregation to decentralize participation without sacrificing performance. These changes could make Ethereum more open, less fragile, and easier to maintain.

The best part? Consensus can be rebuilt without breaking smart contracts. That gives developers the freedom to upgrade one layer without touching the other — a rare benefit in blockchain architecture.

Ethereum Virtual Machine Faces the Chopping Block

Buterin’s boldest proposal may be this: kill the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). He says it’s bloated, outdated, and full of features no one uses. Much of the complexity, he admits, stems from past decisions — some of them his. Instead of more patchwork upgrades, he wants a clean break. The answer? Replace the EVM with RISC-V, a simpler, open-source virtual machine already used in Ethereum’s zero-knowledge systems.

This shift could improve performance by up to 100x. It would also make Ethereum contracts easier to write using traditional programming languages — not just Solidity or Vyper. In the transition, both VMs would run side-by-side, with the EVM re-implemented inside RISC-V to preserve compatibility. Developers would get more tools and fewer headaches.

Buterin laid out a clear four-step process to make the change. While RISC-V isn’t ready to fully replace the EVM yet, the goal is set — and the direction is irreversible.

Protocol-Wide Standards Could Simplify Ethereum

Buterin also wants to clean up Ethereum’s scattered toolset. Right now, the network uses different solutions for the same problems in different parts of the protocol. For example, Ethereum has multiple erasure coding methods and serialization formats. Buterin proposes a unified approach: one erasure code, one format (SSZ), and one tree structure across the board.

He points out that Ethereum’s current Merkle tree — a hexary version — makes proving data difficult and expensive. Switching to a binary tree with better hashing would simplify both execution and consensus. These changes might seem small, but together they can make Ethereum leaner, faster, and easier to understand.

Just like Bitcoin relies on a few core principles — proof of work, simple hashes, and blocks — Ethereum could benefit from having fewer moving parts. Buterin even suggested a “max line-of-code” limit to keep the protocol small and auditable.

The goal is not to strip Ethereum of its power, but to make that power easier to access and maintain.

Simplicity Could Be Ethereum’s Secret Weapon

Vitalik Buterin’s message is loud and clear: simplicity matters. Ethereum wants to be the foundation of global finance, identity, and governance. But it won’t get there by becoming more complicated. Instead, Buterin argues that true scalability and security come from a protocol that’s easy to understand, easy to maintain, and hard to break.

Bitcoin has shown the power of keeping things simple. Now, Buterin wants Ethereum to follow that path — without losing its flexibility. It’s a bold move, but one that could reshape the future of ETH and the broader crypto ecosystem.

Ethereum doesn’t need to be everything for everyone. It just needs to work — clearly, efficiently, and reliably. That’s the vision. And it starts with simplicity.