Vitalik wants to "slim down" Ethereum: Why more code can be more dangerous

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently proposed a seemingly counterintuitive view: protocols should not accumulate features indefinitely. He believes that hundreds of thousands of lines of code and complex cryptographic mechanisms cause Ethereum to lose its core value—trustlessness and sovereignty. To address this, he advocates introducing clear “simplification” and “garbage collection” mechanisms to systematically clean up redundant parts of the protocol. This is not just a simple code optimization but a strategic shift crucial to Ethereum’s long-term survival.

The Hidden Risks of Protocol Bloat

Why Simplicity Is Critical

Vitalik points out that even with high decentralization, if the protocol becomes bloated due to millions of lines of code or complex cryptography, it will ultimately fail. The straightforward logic here is: a protocol that users cannot understand or verify is effectively rebuilding trust intermediaries.

Simplicity relates to three key issues:

• Trustlessness: Can ordinary users verify the chain’s state themselves instead of blindly trusting third parties?
• Resilience Testing: In extreme situations, can users run nodes independently and protect their assets?
• Sovereignty: Do users truly control their assets?

Counterexamples have already appeared. Over the past decade, in pursuit of usability and mainstream adoption, Ethereum has made compromises across multiple dimensions: increasing node operation barriers, DApp data leaks becoming commonplace, wallets relying on third-party infrastructure, and block construction trending toward centralization. These are results of sacrificing principles for functionality.

The Trap of Backward Compatibility

Ethereum faces a classic dilemma: to ensure smooth network upgrades, backward compatibility must be maintained. But this also means old features and code remain in the protocol forever, accumulating like “technical debt.” Over time, the protocol becomes increasingly complex and harder to maintain.

The Solution: Simplification and Garbage Collection

Three Standards for Simplification

Vitalik proposes specific standards for simplification:

1. Minimize code lines — achieve the same functionality with more concise code
2. Avoid unnecessary dependencies on complex cryptographic components — reduce reliance on intricate cryptography
3. Add more invariants — use mathematical constraints to ensure protocol correctness instead of relying on complex logic

The core idea of these standards is: maintain the same security with less code and clearer logic.

Two Approaches to Garbage Collection

For accumulated redundancies, Vitalik suggests implementing garbage collection mechanisms:

• Incremental approach: gradually remove or simplify low-frequency features, such as implementing certain complex functionalities via smart contracts
• Large-scale approach: undertake fundamental protocol upgrades, such as transitioning from PoW to PoS (which Ethereum achieved in 2015), or downgrading complex features to smart contract code through Rosetta-style backward compatibility schemes

This means Ethereum needs to regularly “trim the fat,” rather than letting outdated features occupy space forever.

Broader Strategic Context

This view is not isolated. According to recent news, Vitalik has defined 2026 as Ethereum’s “year of regaining ground”—refocusing on decentralization, privacy, and sovereignty. Protocol simplification is a key part of this strategy.

In other words, Vitalik is saying: Ethereum has compromised too much in the past decade for the sake of usability; it’s time to recalibrate.

This includes not only protocol-level simplification but also comprehensive adjustments at the application and tooling layers—from lightweight node operation, to privacy mechanisms, to decentralized wallet design.

Summary

Vitalik’s proposal for simplification and garbage collection reflects a deep understanding: The value of a blockchain lies not in the number of features but in minimizing trust.

An bloated but feature-rich protocol is less desirable than a simple but robust one. This marks Ethereum’s shift from “doing everything” to “focusing on core strengths”—a strategic adjustment aligned with the critical timeline of 2026.

For the ecosystem, this means future upgrades will be more cautious, with every new feature scrutinized for whether it deserves to be permanently embedded in the protocol. This may slow down some feature releases but will result in a clearer, more trustworthy, and more sustainable infrastructure.