Vitalik Buterin Proposes Upgrades for Faster, More Private Ethereum Network

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, discussed strategies to enhance the layer 1 network's performance while maintaining decentralization and privacy.

Highlighted the need for an upgrade to Ethereum’s main layer using zero-knowledge technologies and Private Information Retrieval.
Identified concerns with scaling technologies: high costs, privacy leaks, IP tracking, and RPC provider censorship.
Proposed prioritizing EIP-4444 to reduce node storage requirements to 36 days of history.
Suggested splitting old data across the network and using erasure coding for safety as a short-term solution.
Recommended increasing gas fees for new data while lowering them for existing data usage.

Long-Term Solutions for Ethereum

Buterin advocated for lightweight nodes instead of raising gas limits, reducing centralization risks.
Proposed allowing users to run nodes that store only necessary data while verifying the chain.
Suggested skipping Merkel branches to verify transactions without heavy data storage, halving storage needs.
Introduced the concept of partially stateless nodes, enabling users to choose which data to retain and fall back on external cryptographic services if needed.