Vitalik proposes Extremely Lean Chain design for Ethereum that reduces validator data storage requirements through daily cryptographic proofs, enabling millions of validators and improved privacy.
Tech & Launches ·
Vitalik Buterin has outlined a design concept called "Extremely Lean Chain" that proposes shifting Ethereum's state management architecture to reduce on-chain data storage. The plan involves using zero-knowledge proofs to replace per-epoch balance updates, with validators taking on responsibility for state management rather than the chain itself maintaining a full state. This approach aims to shrink the chain's resident state to near-zero levels.
The mechanism relies on daily cryptographic proofs to compress validator data storage requirements, potentially enabling a significant increase in the number of active validators on the network. By offloading state management to participants rather than embedding it in the protocol layer, the design seeks to decouple validator participation from the storage burden currently required to run a full node on Ethereum.
The proposal remains in the research phase and leaves several implementation questions unresolved, including how validator-managed state would be validated across the network, what cryptographic schemes would be standardized, and how the transition from Ethereum's current state model would occur. No timeline or formal adoption process has been announced.