- Buterin aims to simplify Ethereum’s L1, inspired by Bitcoin’s design.
- Transition to RISC-V VM could boost Ethereum’s performance 100x.
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has revealed a fresh plan to simplify Ethereum’s fundamental protocol, inspired by Bitcoin’s simple design.” Simplifying the L1,” published on May 3, 2025, was Buterin’s extensive blog article outlining a five-year strategy to make Ethereum more efficient, secure, and accessible. The plan is to keep Ethereum running as a top blockchain platform while making it more like Bitcoin in terms of how it works and how it is built.
That being said, Buterin did share his thoughts on X, which is that the simplicity of Bitcoin’s protocol makes it possible for even a high school student to understand it fully. And he stressed that this clarity allows hobbyist programmers to build a Bitcoin client with ease. Therefore, he argued that Ethereum should push for similar transparency as a means of broadening participation and strengthening its foundation.
The plan is to make Layer 1 (L1) of Ethereum easier to understand. L1 is the layer that serves the network. Buterin said that an easier protocol would mean less bugs, lower upkeep costs, and a more stable system generally. He said that the way Bitcoin is set up—blocks are linked by hashes and proven with proof-of-work makes it clear and trustworthy. Of course, Ethereum has problems, but not as many as Buterin is trying to solve with his work on Blockchain.
Benefits of Simplifying Ethereum’s Protocol
Buterin’s proposal points out several benefits of a simpler protocol. It would be easier for people to understand the streamlined system, and more developers and researchers would participate in Ethereum. This would also make the protocol less centralized in the hands of a small group of technical experts.
Simplification also reduces the cost of developing new infrastructure (clients and tools) for the network. Less complexity reduces the chance of critical design and implementation errors for the protocol. The fewer moving parts, the fewer bugs to write and, more importantly, the easier it is to verify that the system is sound, Buterin stressed.
A simpler protocol also decreases vulnerability to social attacks. The network is more secure in coordinating efforts to exploit its structure with fewer components to manipulate. These changes will make Ethereum a more trusted and neutral base layer, like Bitcoin, which helps long-term stability, Buterin said.
Charles Hoskinson, the creator of Cardano and a former co-founder of Ethereum, had issued a warning, stating that if Ethereum doesn’t address its increasing complexity and dependence on Layer 2 networks, it might collapse in ten to fifteen years. According to Hoskinson, these problems have the potential to undermine Ethereum’s fundamental worth, therefore, Buterin’s attempts at simplicity are a welcome reaction to such worries.
Key Changes to Ethereum’s Architecture
Buterin’s simplification plan involves a number of technical reforms. The Ethereum consensus layer is the primary focus of this project’s efforts to simplify it. The proposed “Beam Chain” initiative aims to streamline consensus mechanisms, making them more efficient and secure. In order to do so, we suggest adopting strategies proven in consensus theory and combining them with zero-knowledge technologies such as ZK-SNARKs to optimize the framework.
The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which serves as the smart contract execution environment, has been replaced, which is another significant upgrade. Instead of the EVM, Buterin proposed moving towards a more efficient, ZK-friendly virtual machine like one based on RISC-V architecture. This would shift the performance by up to 100 times and address the current bottlenecks in transaction processing. This transition would be backward compatible with existing contracts so that developers would be able to upgrade it smoothly.
Furthermore, the strategy aims to restrict the number of code lines in Ethereum’s fundamental protocol. Setting this cap allows the community to move towards the concise codebase of Bitcoin and keep crucial functionalities. The goal of these reforms is to turn Ethereum into a more efficient platform that will earn trust and become more globally adopted.
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