New Ethereum Proposal Wants to Make Running a Node Easier, Cheaper

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wants to make it easier for average users to perform Ethereum nodes by changing how they synchronize with the network, using regular consumer hardware.

A node can be built on Ethereum on any computer that can perform its software and connect with others to share and verify data in the network. Work together, validate transactions and maintain the safety of Ethereum.

Having a full node is valuable because it means that a user can maintain a local server who can perform the Ethereum server as if they were locally, Buterin explained.

With a full node, users can “read the chain in a reliable, censorship -resistant and privacy -friendly way”, Buterin written Sunday in the Ethereum Research Blog.

But today running a full junction means saving 1.3 Terabytes of data, according to data from Etherscan. Without serious hardware or cloud sources, most people can’t do it, given the costs.

“Currently, the overhead is impractically high, and even after many efficiency improvements it will probably remain expensive,” Buterin noted.

“Instead of storing all blockchain data, nodes would only hold the portions they need, while historical data older than 36 days are distributed on multiple nodes for shared storage,” said Ryan Yoon, senior analyst at Tiger Research, said Decodeer.

“See it as a library system–You do not need every book in your local branch if you can request them from other libraries when needed, “he added.

Local, wider route map

In 2023, Buterin argued for For a long-term goal to make fully verified Ethereum nodes on “regular consumer hardware” such as mobile phones, although he admits that it can take a decade or more.

Buterin’s new proposal introduces a local first model. The idea is simple: let nodes only follow what the user is important, instead of following the entire global state of Ethereum.

Instead of saving everything, they would collect specific information if necessary and check whether it is correct.

The idea also fits in the wider route map of Ethereum, which is now being recorded with the first phase of the Pectra -upgradeThe “most ambitious” update of his system mentioned.

For Buterin, just a few dominant providers creates a risk of censorship.

If the Ethereum market is structured in this way, it will “get strong pressure to achieve or censoring users,” he wrote.

For those reasons: “It is value to continue to ensure a greater convenience of running a personal junction,” Buterin added.

The proposal “feels like a relief”, Michael Cameron, co-founder of Vanilla Finance, a decentralized trading platform that is active in the ecosystem of the BNB chain, said Decrypt.

While the latest technologies on Ethereum offer confidentiality and privacy, “their computational overhead and metadata – vulnerabilities” expose the dangers of trust in just a few large players, Cameron explained.

However, challenges to fully realize that concept will continue to exist.

It would require “strong mechanisms for selection of State Subset and Fallback options, which can add complexity,” Cameron said, adding that distributing storage would only succeed “as sufficient nodes to ensure the availability of data.”

Following that sentiment, Yoon from Tiger Research said that, while stimulating the number of nodes and they would help geographical distribution “the network would escape centralization risks”, study how to apply “thorough evaluation” would be needed.

Still, “that’s a hill that is worth fighting,” Cameron said.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair