Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has released a new research proposal aimed at reshaping the Layer 1 (L1) scaling roadmap with a strong focus on user privacy and support for local node infrastructure.
In a blog post, Buterin emphasizes the need to recalibrate Ethereum’s trajectory by shifting toward a model that favors local node adoption.
His motivation stems from concerns about the potential centralizing effects of continuously increasing the network’s gas limit, a common method used to scale throughput.
He argues that this approach, while helpful in the short term, could burden users operating full nodes by making data requirements increasingly expensive and difficult to manage.
Local Nodes Positioned as Guardians of Privacy and Censorship Resistance
Vitalik underscores the crucial role of local nodes beyond just validating transactions.
According to him, personal full nodes serve as essential tools for maintaining user privacy and censorship resistance.
Particularly, when interacting with blockchain data through local RPC (remote procedure call) endpoints.
In contrast to third-party infrastructure, local nodes allow users to read from and interact with the Ethereum chain without exposing their activity to centralized services.
The capability strengthens the decentralized ethos of Ethereum, ensuring that users can participate in the network while minimizing surveillance and control by external entities.
Key Proposals: EIP-4444 Acceleration, New Storage Models, and Gas Mechanism Changes
To enable this privacy-focused vision, Buterin outlines several technical initiatives.
First, he calls for accelerating the adoption of EIP-4444, which would offload older historical chain data from full nodes to improve performance and reduce storage demands.
Second, he proposes the development of decentralized storage solutions for historical blockchain data, ensuring accessibility without compromising node efficiency.
Third, Buterin suggests modifying the gas fee structure to increase the cost of storing new state data, which could discourage unnecessary storage bloat.
Most notably, he introduces the idea of “partially stateless nodes”, a new node model that allows users to retain only relevant parts of the state they care about, thereby balancing privacy needs with storage efficiency.
A Forward-Thinking Vision That Prioritizes Sustainability and User Empowerment
Vitalik’s roadmap is not merely a technical tweak but a strategic redirection of Ethereum’s long-term priorities.
By emphasizing local nodes, user sovereignty, and storage sustainability, the proposal reflects a growing awareness of the social and infrastructural pressures facing Ethereum as it scales.
Rather than sacrificing decentralization for performance, Buterin’s vision seeks to make the network more inclusive and resilient.
If successfully implemented, this could create a more robust Ethereum ecosystem where users are empowered to participate privately.
Also full nodes are more accessible, and the network remains secure against censorship and centralization risks.