Vitalik Buterin Proposes Five-Year Roadmap to Simplify Ethereum Protocol, Citing Bitcoin’s “Elegant Simplicity”

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has unveiled a comprehensive five-year roadmap to drastically simplify the Ethereum protocol, in an effort to enhance security, reduce technical debt, and make the network more resilient in the long term. In a blog post titled “Simplifying the L1,” published on May 3, 2025, Buterin draws inspiration from the architectural simplicity of Bitcoin, describing its design as “beautifully simple” and positioning Ethereum’s future development on a similar trajectory of clarity and efficiency.

Tackling Ethereum’s Mounting Complexity

Since Ethereum's inception in 2015, the network has evolved from a programmable blockchain into a multifaceted ecosystem supporting decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and complex Layer 2 rollups. However, this evolution has come at the cost of increasing technical complexity, which Buterin believes could eventually compromise Ethereum’s core mission and security.

“We must recognize that while innovation has enabled Ethereum to do more, it has also made the base layer harder to understand, audit, and secure,” Buterin wrote. “A bloated and overly intricate protocol is not sustainable.”

This concern is especially pressing as Ethereum continues to undergo major upgrades — such as proto-danksharding and the transition to full data availability sampling — which require increasing coordination across Layer 1 (L1) and Layer 2 (L2) components.

3-Slot Finality: A More Elegant Consensus Mechanism

A central pillar of Buterin’s proposal is the introduction of a simplified consensus system using 3-slot finality. This design aims to streamline the way Ethereum reaches consensus on new blocks, replacing the current system under Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model — which involves hundreds of thousands of validators and multiple stages of block finalization.

The 3-slot system would reduce the time and complexity associated with finality, increase chain efficiency, and potentially improve network responsiveness without sacrificing decentralization. According to Buterin, this model could also make it easier for node operators and protocol developers to audit and verify the network’s state.

“The Ethereum consensus protocol must become easier to reason about — more like a well-documented scientific model than an intricate web of edge cases,” he noted.

Replacing the EVM with RISC-V: A Paradigm Shift

Perhaps the most technically ambitious part of Buterin’s plan is the proposal to replace the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) — the computation engine that processes smart contracts — with RISC-V, a modular, open-standard instruction set architecture. RISC-V is widely regarded for its simplicity, extensibility, and hardware compatibility.

Buterin argues that adopting RISC-V could improve processing performance by up to 100x, dramatically reducing the complexity of executing and verifying smart contract code. Such a shift would also bring Ethereum closer to mainstream computing architectures, potentially lowering the barrier for hardware-level optimization and enabling easier integration with global tech ecosystems.

While a change of this magnitude would require significant coordination across clients, tooling, and developers, Buterin believes it’s essential for Ethereum’s long-term sustainability.

Why Bitcoin’s Simplicity Matters

Buterin’s admiration for Bitcoin’s minimalist design is central to his argument. He contrasts Bitcoin’s relatively stable and transparent protocol — which has changed very little over the past decade — with Ethereum’s rapidly evolving, modular architecture.

He asserts that while Ethereum has succeeded in enabling innovation, it risks alienating developers and users who struggle to keep up with its growing complexity. The aim of this roadmap, he says, is not to turn Ethereum into Bitcoin, but to adopt its ethos of minimalism and reliability at the base layer while still enabling experimentation at the edges through Layer 2s and smart contracts.

“Bitcoin gets criticized for being too conservative, but that conservatism is also what makes it robust. Ethereum must now adopt some of that spirit, without losing what makes it special,” he said.

Reactions and Implications for Ethereum’s Future

The proposal has sparked vigorous discussion within the Ethereum community. Some developers welcomed the vision as a much-needed course correction, particularly as the network grows more reliant on Layer 2 solutions like Optimism, Arbitrum, and zkSync. Others expressed skepticism about the feasibility of replacing the EVM, a core component that underpins the entire Ethereum smart contract ecosystem.

Critics also warn that major protocol changes could create fragmentation or unintended vulnerabilities if not managed carefully. Still, many agree that simplifying Ethereum’s core protocol could help reduce the learning curve for new developers, ease validator participation, and improve the protocol’s auditability.

A Philosophical Reorientation

More than a technical proposal, Buterin’s blog post signals a philosophical reorientation for Ethereum. Rather than continuing to layer complexity onto the base protocol, the focus will be on consolidation, refinement, and long-term robustness.

The vision aligns with Ethereum’s growing maturity as a global financial and computational infrastructure. As Buterin concluded in his post, “In the long run, a blockchain must not only be powerful but also comprehensible. Only then can we ensure that it serves the world for generations to come.”

What Comes Next?

Implementation of this roadmap will likely involve years of research, debate, and phased deployment — mirroring Ethereum’s transition to Proof-of-Stake and other major upgrades. Still, Buterin’s vision has already laid the groundwork for what may be Ethereum’s most pivotal chapter yet: a return to simplicity, without sacrificing its expansive potential.

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