Buterin Calls for Core Overhaul to Cut Proving Costs by 80%

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is calling for a fundamental overhaul of the network's core architecture, arguing that more than 80% of proving costs come from two deep-layer components: the state tree and the virtual machine. He proposes replacing Ethereum's current hexary Merkle Patricia tree with a simpler binary tree design to reduce verification bandwidth.

The new binary tree would group storage slots into pages, allowing decentralized applications that load related data to do so more efficiently. This could potentially save more than 10,000 gas per transaction in some cases.

Buterin also outlined a longer-term vision to move past the Ethereum Virtual Machine altogether in favor of a RISC-V-based architecture. He described a phased deployment: RISC-V would first power precompiles, then support user-deployed contracts, and eventually absorb the EVM itself as a compatibility layer.