Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin says the network must become easier to understand if it wants to fully live up to its promise of trustlessness, a challenge he argues extends across much of the blockchain industry.
Key Takeaways:
Vitalik Buterin says Ethereum’s trustlessness depends not just on decentralization, but on how many people can understand the protocol. Growing technical complexity risks shifting trust from code to a small group of experts. Ethereum developers may need to sacrifice features to make the network simpler and more widely understandable.In a post on X this week, Buterin said that while Ethereum already operates without centralized control, true trustlessness goes beyond code execution and validator decentralization.
It also depends on how many people can actually understand how the protocol works.
Vitalik Buterin Warns Complexity Can Undermine Blockchain Trustlessness
Trustlessness, in theory, means a system enforces its own rules through code, without relying on developers or intermediaries.
However, Buterin noted that when a protocol becomes so complex that only a small group of experts can grasp it end to end, users are still forced to trust that group in practice.
“An important and underrated form of trustlessness is increasing the number of people who can actually understand the whole protocol from top to bottom,” Buterin wrote. “Ethereum needs to get better at this by making the protocol simpler.”
Ethereum already enforces transactions and smart contracts through open-source software and a decentralized validator set.
However, Buterin acknowledged that growing layers of features, upgrades and technical abstractions have made it harder for average users, and even developers, to fully follow how the system operates.
Asked about the tradeoff between advanced features and simplicity, Buterin said the ecosystem should be willing to accept fewer features if it leads to better understanding and broader participation.
Projects building on Ethereum echoed Buterin’s view. INTMAX, a privacy-focused layer-2 network, said trustlessness breaks down when only a handful of people can audit or explain a system.
“If only five people can understand how your privacy protocol works, you haven’t achieved trustlessness, you’ve just changed who you trust. Simple, auditable privacy architecture > complex black boxes,” the project said.
Ethereum Roadmap Targets Simpler User Experience
Ethereum’s own roadmap acknowledges the problem. The network has said it remains “too complex” for most users and has outlined plans to lower barriers to entry and make Ethereum feel closer to a Web2 experience.
Planned improvements include smart contract wallets that simplify gas fees and key management, as well as making node operation possible on consumer devices like smartphones and browsers.
The Ethereum Foundation also continues to fund education initiatives aimed at expanding understanding of blockchain technology.
As reported, Ether held on centralized exchanges has dropped to an all-time low, with balances falling to just 8.7% of total supply, the smallest share since Ethereum launched in 2015.
The decline marks a 43% drop since July, a shift analysts say is tightening liquid supply and setting the stage for a potential market squeeze.
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