Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has called on developers to rethink how Ethereum evolves, warning that the network is becoming too complex and harder to sustain over time.
In a recent post on X, Buterin said Ethereum is facing protocol bloat, a situation where new features are continuously added while old or unnecessary ones are rarely removed.
According to him, this growing complexity could quietly weaken Ethereum’s core promise of trustlessness and user sovereignty.
Buterin explained that true decentralisation is not only about having many nodes or validators. Instead, it depends on whether the protocol is simple enough for independent developers to understand, audit, and rebuild if necessary. When systems become overly complex, only a small group of experts can fully understand them, which undermines the idea of an open and permissionless network.
To make his argument clearer, Buterin compared Ethereum to rocket engines. Rocket engines must be extremely simple and precise, because every extra or unnecessary part increases the chance of failure. In the same way, he argued, blockchain protocols should avoid carrying technical weight that does not provide real, long-term value.
One major cause of this complexity, according to Buterin, is backward compatibility. Ethereum developers often keep older features to avoid breaking existing applications. While this approach helps in the short term, it creates long-term technical debt, code that becomes harder to maintain, secure, and improve.
To address this, Buterin suggested introducing a formal simplification process, similar to “garbage collection” in software engineering. This would involve regularly reviewing Ethereum’s core protocol and removing outdated or rarely used components.
He outlined a few practical ideas:
- Reduce the total amount of core protocol code
- Limit the use of overly complex cryptographic tools
- Make Ethereum’s rules clearer and more predictable
Buterin also pointed to Ethereum’s transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake as proof that major simplification is possible without sacrificing security. He added that some features could be moved out of Ethereum’s core layer and handled through smart contracts instead.
While some developers worry that simplifying the protocol could slow innovation, others see it as a necessary step to keep Ethereum secure, decentralised, and sustainable in the long run. Overall, Buterin’s message is clear: for Ethereum to last, it must remain simple enough for more people, not just experts, to understand and trust.
Buterin’s point is both accurate and necessary. In complex systems, unchecked growth often becomes a hidden weakness rather than a strength. Simplification protects decentralisation by reducing security risks, lowering barriers for new developers, and preventing power from concentrating in the hands of a few technical experts. In the long term, simplicity is not a setback, it is the foundation that allows trustless systems like Ethereum to remain resilient, transparent, and truly open.
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