Vitalik Buterin reveals details on next Ethereum update

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin spoke about the next stage of the blockchain roadmap, the Purge.

According to Buterin, the roadmap’s new stage aims to simplify the network structure and reduce the load on nodes. Central to developing the protocol at this stage is the implementation and development of EIP-6780, introduced during the recent Dencun hard fork. It optimizes the SELFDESTRUCT opcode, increasing security and simplifying protocol implementation.

A quick note on next steps in Ethereum protocol simplification and node resource load decreases (aka "the Purge"):https://t.co/BAebCGrisB
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) April 1, 2024

“This EIP is a key example of an often undervalued part of Ethereum protocol development: the effort to simplify the protocol by removing complexity and adding new security guarantees.”
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder

Buterin outlined several more points within Ethereum to optimize the protocol. Recently, a Geth client removed thousands of lines of code, decluttering network support that had been added before the Merge, while EIP-7523 fixed the “empty accounts” issue.

Thanks to the update, support for most empty accounts from Ethereum proof-of-work (PoW) networks has ceased. Dencun’s 18-day blob storage window also contributed to the protocol’s simplification, limiting the stored information to 50 GB, which stays the same over time.

In addition, Buterin proposed using a precompilation mechanism—these Ethereum contracts which contain logic implemented directly by the clients instead of EVM code.

“Precompiles are used successfully today, notably to enable ZK-SNARK-based applications with the elliptic curve precompiles.”
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder

In March, the Ethereum co-founder drew attention to the need for internal scaling of the network and parallelization of rollup processing to build on the success of the Dencun update. The most significant upgrade since migrating to the proof-of-stake (PoS) algorithm due to the Merge implemented the possibility of blob transactions.