Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin has unveiled a proposal to protect the network’s censorship-resistant nature as it continues to scale, emphasizing the need for more accessible personal node operation.
In a blog post shared on Sunday, Buterin outlined a technical vision to make Ethereum’s base layer more accommodating for everyday users who wish to run their nodes. He cautioned that an overreliance on centralized Remote Procedure Call (RPC) providers risks user freedom and network neutrality.
How to make Ethereum L1 scaling more friendly to users running local nodes for personal use:https://t.co/881XRJLpI0
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 19, 2025
“A market structure dominated by a few RPC providers will face strong pressure to deplatform or censor users”,
Buterin warned.
“Many RPC providers already exclude entire countries,”
RPC services are the backbone of most crypto wallets and decentralized applications interacting with Ethereum without hosting their own nodes. However, Buterin argued that this convenience comes at the cost of trustlessness, privacy, and resilience.
To counter this, he proposed a new model centred on “partially stateless nodes.” Unlike traditional full nodes, which store and process the entire Ethereum state, these lightweight alternatives would validate transactions and blocks without holding the full blockchain history. Instead, they would allow users to maintain only the data relevant to their personal use, such as their accounts, tokens, and preferred DeFi protocols.
“Users could run a node tailored to their specific needs,”
Buterin explained, noting that this approach drastically reduces resource demands while preserving the benefits of direct blockchain interaction.
This innovation becomes increasingly vital as Ethereum scales and its gas limits expand, raising the bandwidth and storage requirements for full nodes. Buterin’s proposal ensures that independent access to Ethereum remains viable even as technical complexity grows.
In April, Buterin proposed a new strategy to enhance user privacy on the Ethereum network without significant changes to its core infrastructure. He outlined ways for wallets and developers to integrate privacy tools, such as Railgun and privacy pools, directly into existing wallets.
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