Buterin Seeks Ethereum Overhaul to Unlock Zero-Knowledge Scalability

Ethereum's co-founder Vitalik Buterin has called for a fundamental overhaul of the network's core architecture. He argues that more than 80% of proving costs stem from two deep-layer components: the state tree and the virtual machine. According to Buterin, these bottlenecks must be redesigned if the protocol is to scale through zero-knowledge technology.

The proposed solution involves replacing Ethereum's current hexary Merkle Patricia tree with a simpler binary tree design. This would produce Merkle proofs roughly four times shorter than the existing structure, cutting verification bandwidth and making lightweight clients far cheaper to run.

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 where RISC-V would first power precompiles, then support user-deployed contracts, and eventually absorb the EVM itself as a compatibility layer.

However, not everyone agrees that the network needs more deep-layer changes. Analyst DBCrypto criticized growing abstraction across the Ethereum roadmap, arguing that each additional layer increases complexity and introduces potential attack surfaces.