Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has introduced a proposal aimed at improving the scalability and privacy of the Ethereum network through the implementation of “partially stateless nodes.” This new node design seeks to address concerns related to centralization and censorship risks associated with the current reliance on centralized Remote Procedure Call (RPC) providers.
In his proposal, Buterin emphasizes the importance of enabling users to run local nodes to maintain trustless and censorship-resistant access to the Ethereum network. He points out that the dominance of a few RPC providers can lead to pressures to deplatform or censor users, with some providers already excluding entire countries from access.
The concept of partially stateless nodes involves a novel approach where nodes validate blocks without the need to store the full Merkle proofs or the entire blockchain history. Instead, users can configure their nodes to store only specific subsets of the Ethereum state that are relevant to them, such as data related to their accounts, decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, and commonly used tokens like stablecoins and Ether (ETH). This selective storage reduces the resource demands of running a full node, making it more accessible for individual users.
By adopting partially stateless nodes, Ethereum aims to enhance user privacy and reduce the reliance on centralized infrastructure, thereby strengthening the network’s decentralization and resilience against censorship.
