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Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has unveiled a new proposal aimed at making it significantly easier for everyday users to run Ethereum nodes, by reducing the hardware and storage requirements currently needed to sync with the network.
In a blog post published Sunday on Ethereum’s research forum, Buterin suggested a shift in how nodes store and retrieve data, moving from full data replication to a more flexible, user-centric model.
“Currently, the overhead is impractically high,” Buterin wrote, adding that even with ongoing optimizations, the cost of operating a full node will likely remain out of reach for most users without specialized hardware or cloud support.
Under this approach, nodes would store only the data relevant to the user, rather than Ethereum’s entire global state, which currently exceeds 1.3 terabytes, according to Etherscan.
While he acknowledged last year that achieving that goal may take a decade or longer, the current proposal brings Ethereum a step closer to decentralizing access and reducing reliance on centralized service providers.
The proposal centers around a local-first model. Instead of continuously tracking the full history of Ethereum, nodes would sync with only the relevant portions and request additional historical data as needed — similar to how public library systems share books across branches.
The proposal arrives as Ethereum prepares for its upcoming Pectra upgrade, described by core developers as the most ambitious yet.
The proposal aims to increase the network’s gas limit by 100 times over the next two years, potentially enabling the Ethereum mainnet to handle up to 2,000 transactions per second (TPS).
“Relying too much on a few dominant providers invites censorship risks,” Buterin warned. “There’s value in ensuring greater ease of running personal nodes.”
Earlier this month, Connor said Ethereum’s “biggest mainstream moment” could come through its integration with AI, as the sector struggles with centralization, opaque algorithms, and growing privacy concerns. “AI is plagued by black-box models, centralized data silos, and privacy pitfalls,” Connor noted, adding that Ethereum is uniquely positioned to address these issues.
Ethereum could play a key role in solving some of the most pressing problems facing artificial intelligence, according to Eric Connor, a former core developer of the blockchain.