Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has come forward with an unexpected initiative that could radically change the architecture of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. He proposed adopting the transaction tracking model that Bitcoin has used since its launch in 2009. In his account on social network X, Buterin publicly thanked Bitcoin developers for this "hint," calling their approach an elegant solution to a long-standing problem.
Why Ethereum is becoming "heavier"
The problem in question has hung over Ethereum like a sword of Damocles for many years. Every new account created on the network remains in its history forever. Thousands of nodes around the world store full copies of the ledger, and each account takes up 100 to 150 bytes. Even if a wallet is abandoned and no one uses it, the data about it is not deleted. This leads to a steady "bloating" of the network and growing hardware requirements for validators.
Buterin has repeatedly warned about this problem. As far back as 2026, he stated that Ethereum's biggest bottleneck is its information storage principles, and that simple sidechains would not solve this issue.
A solution from the world of Bitcoin
The key to the puzzle was proposed by Ethereum Foundation researcher Tony Warstadter back in July. He drew attention to the UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output) model, which underlies Bitcoin. Instead of storing aggregate balances, this system tracks each specific "coin" as a kind of non-fungible check.
The difference in scale is striking. If a billion accounts in Ethereum "weigh" up to 150 GB, then a billion spent coins in Bitcoin is only about 300 MB. Users also benefit: currently, to send a transfer, you need to have ETH in your account in advance, but under the new scheme, the transaction fee could be deducted directly from the transaction itself.
Synthesis of ideas and the future
A developer under the handle conall.gwei combined the ideas of Warstadter and Buterin into a single whole. His proposal allows the block creator to publish a single consolidated file of 128 KB that instantly confirms a huge number of payments. Buterin supported this idea.
According to the plan, both approaches will work in Ethereum simultaneously: operations will scale, and anyone will be able to run their own node. This concept is also based on compact STARK proofs, which have already become part of the development roadmap — the so-called "Lean Ethereum." The Ethereum Foundation continues to move forward: in February, priorities for 2026 were published, and recently the team changed its core cryptography to protect against quantum computers.
The market, however, is not yet rushing to celebrate scientific breakthroughs. ETH is trading around $1903, up 1.28% over the day, but has been unable to break through the $2000 mark for several weeks. No specific timelines for implementing the innovations have been announced, and the question of whether development teams will take on both solutions remains open.
My view: this is undoubtedly the most important architectural shift for Ethereum in recent years. The transition to the UTXO model is not just an optimization, but a fundamental rethinking of how the network stores data. If the initiative is implemented, Ethereum will become significantly lighter, faster, and more accessible for decentralized infrastructure. However, don't expect quick results: such changes require delicate coordination and lengthy testing, and the market, as can be seen, is currently only assessing short-term price dynamics, ignoring the long-term potential.