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Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum's co-founder, pointed out a significant vulnerability in his own creation—the risk of node centralization. Speaking recently at Korea Blockchain Week, Buterin cited the overwhelming reliance on centralized services like Amazon Web Services for running most of Ethereum's active nodes. Such concentration could create a single point of failure, thereby undermining the core principle of decentralization in Ethereum's infrastructure.
Buterin identified six major issues requiring immediate attention to fortify Ethereum's decentralized nature. Among them, the cost and complexity of operating nodes stood out as a particularly crucial aspect. Buterin elaborated that enabling statelessness—a technology that allows nodes to run without storing enormous data—could be a game-changer. Stateless nodes would enable Ethereum to function on basic, low-cost hardware, thereby reducing dependence on centralized services.
While node centralization may sound like jargon to the average person, it essentially means the Ethereum network is more susceptible to failures or manipulations, given that a majority of nodes run through a handful of service providers. If these nodes were more diversified, being run on individual, low-cost hardware, the risks would be spread out and minimized.
Statelessness is already baked into Ethereum's long-term plans. The roadmap includes developmental stages like "The Verge" and "The Purge," intended to foster the advent of fully verified Ethereum nodes that could even run on a mobile phone.
However, Buterin admitted that these technological advancements are not right around the corner. The realistic timeline might span a decade or even two. He also outlined other important steps for reducing Ethereum's centralization risks. This includes simplifying the documentation required for node operation, lowering the entry barriers for distributed staking, and generally making it easier and safer for individuals to stake Ether (ETH).
On the subject of Ethereum's scalability—the network's ability to handle a large number of transactions efficiently—Buterin emphasized its urgency. Currently, most scalability improvements are coming from the use of zero-knowledge (ZK) rollups. These ZK-rollups can process transactions more efficiently by handling computational work outside Ethereum's main chain.
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