Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin spent April Fool’s Day writing both serious and playful content on the Ethereum website and personal blog. Across two posts, he advocated for protocol simplification and increased efficiency, and explored thought-provoking ideas for the future of political and economic systems in an increasingly digital world.
in him more serious posts, Buterin detailed Dencun, the latest hard fork that introduced a series of protocol simplifications as part of a section of Ethereum’s roadmap called “Purge.” This effort aims to streamline Ethereum’s codebase, reduce technical debt, and improve the platform’s overall performance. Notable changes include a reduction in the functionality of the SELFDESTRUCT opcode, the introduction of a limited storage window for BLOBs, and the possibility of removing rarely used precompilation.
These simplifications are expected to make it easier to develop Ethereum clients and build infrastructure, paving the way for greater decentralization and efficiency. In other examples of his “purge” efforts, Buterin removed support for his Proof-of-Work network before the merge, and he eliminated the need to handle Geth clients and “empty accounts.” Highlighted his EIP and more. Additionally, the Dencun hard his fork introduced his 18-day storage window for blobs, significantly reducing storage requirements for Ethereum nodes.
Another area targeted for simplification is precompilation, which is Ethereum contracts implemented directly by clients. As Buterin pointed out, precompilations such as RIPEMD-160, Identity, BLAKE2, MODEXP, etc. are rarely used to source consensus bugs and issues in his new EVM implementations. The Ethereum community is considering removing these precompilations completely or replacing them with equivalent his EVM code.
EIP-4444 is set to remove the requirement that all Ethereum nodes store all historical blocks indefinitely, greatly increasing the decentralization of the network’s nodes. The proposal allows entities like block explorers to store the entire history while leveraging peer-to-peer protocols to store and distribute historical data more efficiently.
Mr. Buterin also discussed LOG reform proposals to remove bloom filters and simplify LOG opcodes. This change paves the way for separate protocols that use zero-knowledge proofs and incrementally verifiable computations to generate provably correct “log trees” for applications that require distributed access to logs. It will be.
The Ethereum execution layer will also move from RLP and Merkle-Patricia tree formats to the more efficient SimpleSerialize (SSZ) format already employed in the consensus layer. This transition will streamline Ethereum’s cryptographic data structure, potentially leading to a single hashed binary Merkle tree suitable for SNARKs in the long run.
April Fools’ Food for Thought from Vitalik
While these technological improvements are essential to Ethereum’s long-term success, Buterin is also exploring more unconventional ideas about the future of society in the digital age. In a thought-provoking post from April 1st, “Degen Communism: the only correct political ideology” Buterin proposed a new ideology that embraces the disruption and risks of the internet while aligning incentives with the common good.
While this post is definitely an April Fool’s joke on the surface, it raises interesting questions about the future of political and economic systems in an increasingly digital and decentralized world.
Central to this concept is the idea of ”chaos with purpose,” which seeks to leverage the volatility and unpredictability of markets and social media to drive innovation and progress, rather than suppressing these forces. suggests that it should. Buterin proposes various mechanisms to channel the benefits of this disruption into public goods and protect vulnerable populations from its downside.
“Decadent Communism” is far from a full-fledged political ideology and is not meant to be taken completely seriously, but it is an example of innovative thinking to address the complex social and economic problems of the 21st century. It emphasizes the need. By embracing change and experimentation while prioritizing equity and social welfare, we may be better able to navigate the challenges and opportunities of the digital age.
As Ethereum evolves, Buterin’s vision for the platform and broader digital environment demonstrates a commitment to both technical excellence and social responsibility. Continued efforts to simplify and improve Ethereum’s protocol, combined with thought-provoking ideas about the future of society, demonstrate the potential for blockchain technology to drive positive change on multiple fronts. I am.
Some of the ideas proposed in Mr. Buterin’s April Fool’s Day post may seem radical or unrealistic, such as the Herberger tax on intellectual property and a “proof-of-stake” system for immigrants, but this century’s It serves as a reminder that addressing challenges requires: Bold and innovative thinking. As the Ethereum community works to build a more efficient and secure decentralized platform, it is essential to consider the broader impact of these technological advances and their potential to shape the future of society.
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