Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin called for simplifying Ethereum’s base protocol, aiming to make the network more efficient, secure and accessible, drawing inspiration from Bitcoin’s minimalist design.

In a blog post titled “Simplifying the L1,” published on May 3, Buterin laid out a vision to restructure Ethereum’s architecture across consensus, execution and shared components.

“This post will describe how Ethereum 5 years from now can become close to as simple as Bitcoin,” Buterin wrote, arguing that simplicity is key to Ethereum’s resilience and long-term scalability.

While recent upgrades like proof-of-stake (PoS) and Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge (zk-SNARK) integration have made Ethereum more robust, he said that technical complexity has led to bloated development cycles, higher costs and greater risks of bugs:

“Historically, Ethereum has often not done this (sometimes because of my own decisions), and this has contributed to much of our excessive development expenditure, all kinds of security risk, and insularity of R&D culture, often in pursuit of benefits that have proven illusory.”Buterin praises Bitcoin for its simplicity. Source: Vitalik Buterin

Related: ‘Vitalik: An Ethereum Story’ is less about crypto and more about being human

Ethereum eyes “3-Slot Finality” to simplify consensus

One key area of focus is Ethereum’s consensus layer. Central to this effort is the proposed “3-slot finality” model, which eliminates complex components like epochs, sync committees and validator shuffling.

“The reduced number of active validators at a time means that it becomes safer to use simpler implementations of the fork choice rule,” Buterin wrote.

Other proposed improvements include allowing for more straightforward fork choice rules and adopting Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge (STARK)-based aggregation protocols to decentralize and simplify network coordination.

On the execution layer, Buterin proposed a shift from the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to a simpler, ZK-friendly virtual machine like RISC-V. This move could offer 100x performance improvements for zero-knowledge proofs and significantly simplify the protocol.

RISC-V is an open-source instruction set architecture (ISA) used in designing computer processors. It follows a minimalist design philosophy, using a small set of simple instructions for high efficiency and easier implementation.

To preserve backward compatibility, Buterin suggested running legacy EVM contracts onchain via a RISC-V interpreter while supporting both VMs concurrently during a transitional phase.

Source: Vitalik Buterin

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Buterin calls for protocol-wide standards

Buterin also advocated for protocol-wide standardization. He suggested adopting a single erasure coding method, serialization format (favoring SSZ), and tree structure to reduce redundant complexity and streamline Ethereum’s tooling and infrastructure.

“Simplicity is in many ways similar to decentralization,” Buterin wrote. He suggested Ethereum adopt a “max line-of-code” target similar to what Tinygrad does, keeping consensus-critical logic as lean and auditable as possible.

Non-critical legacy features would remain but reside outside the core specification.

Buterin’s proposal aimed at simplifying Ethereum comes as the network continues to lose market share to competing blockchains.

During a panel discussion at the LONGITUDE by Cointelegraph event on May 2, Alex Svanevik, CEO of data service Nansen, said Ethereum’s relative dominance among L1 blockchain networks has declined.

“If you’d asked me 3–4 years ago whether Ethereum would dominate crypto, I’d have said yes,” Svanevik said during a panel discussion at the LONGITUDE by Cointelegraph event. “But now, it’s clear that’s not what’s happening.”

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Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has vetoed a bill that would have allowed the state to hold Bitcoin as part of its official reserves, effectively ending efforts to make Arizona the first US state to adopt such a policy.

The Digital Assets Strategic Reserve bill, which would have permitted Arizona to invest seized funds into Bitcoin (BTC) and create a reserve managed by state officials, was formally struck down on Friday, according to an update on the Arizona State Legislature’s website.

“Today, I vetoed Senate Bill 1025. The Arizona State Retirement System is one of the strongest in the nation because it makes sound and informed investments,” Hobbs wrote in a statement aimed at Warren Petersen, the President of the Arizona Senate.

“Arizonans’ retirement funds are not the place for the state to try untested investments like virtual currency,” she added.

On April 28, the bill passed a final vote in the state House when 31 members of the Arizona House voted in favor of the bill, with 25 opposing. 

Hobbs had previously stated she would veto any legislation not tied to a bipartisan agreement on disability funding.

Source: Governor Katie Hobbs

Related: Bitcoin bros at ‘the club’ may stop US gov’t from buying BTC — Arthur Hayes

Another Bitcoin awaits final vote

A companion bill, SB1373, which would authorize the state treasurer to allocate up to 10% of Arizona’s rainy-day fund into digital assets like Bitcoin, has not yet reached a final vote.

Arizona joins several other states where similar efforts have failed. In recent months, similar proposals in Oklahoma, Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming have stalled or been withdrawn.

In contrast, North Carolina’s House passed the Digital Assets Investment Act on April 30, allowing the state treasurer to invest up to 5% of certain funds in approved cryptocurrencies. The bill has now been moved to the state Senate for consideration.

The state-level efforts to create Bitcoin reserves come amid a push from US President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers to do the same in the federal government. 

Trump signed an executive order in March with a proposal for a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” and a “Digital Asset Stockpile.”

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Crypto app developers are now free to direct users to payments outside of Apple’s ecosystem without restrictions or hefty fees, after a United States district judge ruled that Apple violated an injunction in its antitrust legal battle against Epic Games.

“The Court finds Apple in willful violation of this Court’s 2021 Injunction, which was issued to restrain and prohibit Apple’s anticompetitive conduct and anticompetitive pricing. Apple’s continued attempts to interfere with competition will not be tolerated,” US district judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said in an April 30 court filing.

Apple must make changes “effective immediately”

“Effective immediately, Apple will no longer impede developers’ ability to communicate with users, nor will they levy or impose a new commission on off-app purchases,” Rogers added.

Rogers reiterated, “This is an injunction, not a negotiation. There are no do-overs once a party willfully disregards a court order. Time is of the essence.”

Source: Hector Lopez

The ruling stated that Apple must not impose “any commission or any fee on purchases that consumers make outside an app.” It added, “no reason exists to audit, monitor, track or require developers to report purchases or any other activity that consumers make outside an app.”

It was ruled that Apple can’t control how developers design or place links that lead users to buy items outside the app. Apple also cannot exclude “certain categories of apps and developers from obtaining link access.”

Following the court ruling, several crypto industry participants noticed that Apple guidelines were updated, with some claiming that the tone of the guidelines suggests they weren’t too pleased with the ruling.

Appfigures co-founder and CEO Ariel Michaeli said that people may find Apple’s “passive aggressive language confusing.”

Related: FTX sues NFT Stars and Kurosemi in push to recover tokens

Michaeli summarized Apple’s update as Apps can now link to an external non-fungible token (NFT) collection, can link outside of the App Store without needing an entitlement, and can link to an external payment system without requiring an entitlement.

Crypto commentator “Xero” told their 50,000 X followers on May 2, “This is hugely bullish for mobile crypto games and apps.” Meanwhile, Alex Masmej said, “This is absolutely huge for crypto.”

The same day, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said Epic would be relaunching Fortnite to the US Apple App Store.

“Epic puts forth a peace proposal: If Apple extends the court’s friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we’ll return Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the topic,” Sweeney said.

In August 2023, Justice Elena Kagan declined to let a federal appeals court decision take immediate effect as Epic had asked — with no explanation for the decision.

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