Quick Breakdown
- Buterin says computation scales most easily, data can scale with limits, but blockchain state remains the hardest structural bottleneck.
- Techniques like proofs, parallel execution, and data sharding enable growth without forcing all nodes to do equal work.
- Protocols should replace state with data, and data with computation, where possible
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has reignited the blockchain scalability debate, arguing that not all system components scale equally and that state remains the most structurally difficult constraint for decentralized networks. In a recent technical commentary, Buterin laid out a clear hierarchy for scaling blockchains: computation is the easiest to scale, followed by data, while state is the hardest.
The framing offers a lens through which protocol designers can evaluate trade-offs as networks push toward higher throughput without introducing new forms of centralization. According to Buterin, understanding this hierarchy is critical to making sound architectural decisions, particularly for general-purpose blockchains like Ethereum.
The scaling hierarchy in blockchains:
Computation > data > state
Computation is easier to scale than data. You can parallelize it, require the block builder to provide all kinds of “hints” for it, or just replace arbitrary amounts of it with a proof of it.
Data is in the…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 27, 2026
Computation and data offer room to scale
Buterin notes that computation sits at the top of the scalability stack because it can be optimized in several ways. Execution can be parallelized, partially replaced with cryptographic proofs, or assisted through “hints” provided by block builders. These techniques allow networks to increase computational capacity without requiring every node to perform the same workload.
While more constrained, data availability still allows for meaningful scaling. If a blockchain requires strong guarantees that data is available, those guarantees cannot be bypassed. However, data can be split, erasure-coded, and distributed across the network, as seen in approaches like PeerDAS. This enables graceful degradation, where nodes with lower capacity can still participate by handling proportionally smaller blocks.
State emerges as the hardest problem
The state, by contrast, remains fundamentally rigid. To verify even a single transaction, a node must have access to the full state. While cryptographic structures like Merkle trees allow nodes to store only the state root, updating that root still requires complete state access. Attempts to split state typically involve deep architectural changes and are not easily generalized.
As a result, Buterin argues that protocols should default to replacing state with data where possible, and data with computation where feasible, provided these substitutions do not introduce new centralization risks.
In another development, Buterin warned that the crypto industry risks drifting away from the principles that made Bitcoin resilient in the first place.
If you would like to read more articles like this, visit DeFi Planet and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and CoinMarketCap Community.
Take control of your crypto portfolio with MARKETS PRO, DeFi Planet’s suite of analytics tools.”
