Updated on:12/24/2025 05:05 PM 
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has introduced a groundbreaking proposal aimed at enhancing blockchain accessibility through innovative node infrastructure solutions.
In a comprehensive research blog post published on May 19, Buterin emphasized that the long-term sustainability of the Ethereum network hinges on maintaining users' ability to operate personal nodes—a capability increasingly challenged by escalating storage demands and bandwidth limitations.
According to Buterin, Ethereum nodes constitute the fundamental infrastructure supporting the entire blockchain ecosystem. These nodes are responsible for transaction data storage, activity validation, and preservation of the network's decentralized architecture.
However, as the Ethereum network continues to expand, operating full nodes has become increasingly resource-intensive, compelling many participants to depend on centralized Remote Procedure Call (RPC) services due to:
Buterin cautioned that this centralization trend undermines critical aspects of the blockchain ecosystem, including user privacy, resistance to censorship, and Ethereum's foundational principle of decentralization.
Consequently, he stressed the importance of developing solutions that enable personal node operation while accommodating Ethereum's ongoing growth and evolution.
Buterin stated:
To streamline node operations, Buterin prioritized the implementation of Ethereum Improvement Proposal 4444 (EIP-4444), which would restrict historical data storage requirements to a 36-day window.
Additionally, he advocated for a distributed storage approach utilizing erasure coding techniques to fragment and disperse historical data across the network, ensuring continued availability of older blockchain information.
Buterin explained:
Furthermore, Buterin suggested revising Ethereum's gas pricing mechanism to promote more efficient resource utilization. He proposed increasing gas costs for state creation activities—including new storage allocations, contract deployments, and ETH transfers to dormant accounts—to discourage excessive data accumulation.
Simultaneously, he recommended reducing execution costs to alleviate overall network congestion.
A particularly innovative aspect of Buterin's proposal involves the introduction of partially stateless nodes.
These specialized nodes would maintain only a selective subset of the complete Ethereum state relevant to their specific operational requirements, rather than storing the entire blockchain state.
The Ethereum co-founder clarified that these nodes would continue to validate blocks and respond to data queries, but exclusively for the state portions they manage. He elaborated:
For additional data requirements, Buterin indicated that node operators could leverage cryptographic methodologies or external service providers to maintain privacy and operational flexibility.
