Vitalik Buterin Plans to Make Ethereum as Simple as Bitcoin in Five Years

Highlights:

• Buterin wants to simplify Ethereum to improve speed, security, and user experience.
• He says new features made Ethereum slower and riskier.
• Buterin plans to replace EVM with RISC-V to make Ethereum faster and better.

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder and core developer of Ethereum, suggested making Ethereum’s core design simpler to improve efficiency, security, and ease of use. He shared this idea in a May 3 blog post titled “Simplifying the L1.” Buterin said Ethereum should follow a cleaner design, similar to Bitcoin’s simpler structure.

One of the best things about Bitcoin is how simple it is. This simplicity has lots of benefits. Let's bring those benefits to Ethereum. pic.twitter.com/YwmVaOCPlP

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 3, 2025

Buterin’s Vision for a Simpler and Stronger Ethereum to Compete in the Blockchain Race

In his X thread, Buterin shared a blog link and mentioned that Bitcoin’s simplicity offers many benefits. He said Ethereum can become much simpler in the next five years, like Bitcoin. He believes simple design will help Ethereum grow stronger and last longer.

New features like proof-of-stake and zk-SNARKs made Ethereum more powerful but also more complex. This complexity makes development slower, more expensive, and riskier. Buterin admitted past choices added to these problems and didn’t always give real benefits. Buterin wants to make Ethereum’s core system, called the consensus layer, much simpler. He suggests a “3-slot finality” model to remove complex parts and make Ethereum easier and safer to run. He also wants to use simpler rules to choose the right version of the blockchain. Another idea is to use STARKs, a new tool that helps keep the network secure and easy to manage.

The plan includes big changes to make Ethereum faster and easier to grow. Buterin wants to replace the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with RISC-V. RISC-V is known for being fast, light, and easy to use. Moving from EVM to RISC-V could make zero-knowledge proofs 50 to 100 times faster. This might help lower gas fees and improve Ethereum’s performance. It could also help Ethereum compete better with faster and cheaper blockchains like Solana. To keep old apps working, he plans to run the old system (EVM) inside the new one for a while.

Buterin wants all parts of Ethereum to use the same simple rules. He suggests using one coding method, one data format (SSZ), and one tree style. This will cut down on extra complexity and make Ethereum easier to use. He believes simplicity is important for both security and decentralization.

Moreover, Buterin wants to reduce Ethereum’s code size, saying too much code brings risks. Bitcoin is simpler with only 15,000 lines. Old features that aren’t as important will stay but outside the main system. His plan comes as Ethereum faces stronger competition from other blockchains.

Buterin’s Plan Could Put Ethereum in the First Spot

Buterin’s plan could help by simplifying Ethereum and attracting more developers and users. This might strengthen Ethereum’s ecosystem and value. In his blog, Buterin talks about the Ethereum 2025 roadmap and the Pectra upgrade. Pectra aims to increase Layer-2 data availability by 10x. He believes improving scalability, security, and decentralization on Layer 1 will make Ethereum more resilient and appealing to users and developers.

Caring about simplicity is, like decentralization, a short-term cost for the sake of benefits that do not appear immediately. But in the long term, it will be worth it. Let's make each part of the ethereum spec a place where things like this can happen:https://t.co/1yIiWfAbH8

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 3, 2025