{"id":92380,"date":"2025-12-18T20:54:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T17:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=92380"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:34:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T08:34:02","slug":"ethereum-foundation-warns-of-blockchain-bloat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/ethereum-foundation-warns-of-blockchain-bloat\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethereum Foundation warns of blockchain &#8216;bloat&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The surge in users and <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/buterin-advocates-shift-from-scaling-to-optimising-ethereum\">the expansion of the gas limit<\/a> have led to the &#8216;bloating&#8217; of the Ethereum blockchain, adversely affecting node operations. The Ethereum Foundation (EF) <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.ethereum.org\/2025\/12\/16\/future-of-state\">warned<\/a> of this issue, proposing several potential solutions.<\/p>\n<p>The protocol&#8217;s state encompasses all data stored on the network. Node operators must download this data set to track transaction history and other information necessary for block verification.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/img-9a1227bcab7956cc-1293477376051289.webp\" alt=\"image\" class=\"wp-image-272038\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Growth of Ethereum&#8217;s state size. Source: EF.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As data accumulates, running a full node becomes more costly, unreliable, and less decentralised, EF clarified. Developers highlighted specific costs:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Validators and full nodes must store more information, increasing the database load;<\/li>\n<li><span data-descr=\"remote procedure call\" class=\"old_tooltip\">RPC<\/span> providers need to maintain access to the full state for timely requests, incurring additional storage costs;<\/li>\n<li>As the state grows, network synchronisation becomes slower and less reliable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;Increasing the gas limit accelerates state growth by allowing larger entries in a block. Other blockchains already face this issue. As state sizes increase, running a full node becomes unrealistic for ordinary users, leading to redistribution among a few large providers,&#8221; EF added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What to Do?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Ethereum&#8217;s long-term development strategy includes a stateless concept, allowing validators to verify blocks without storing the blockchain&#8217;s full history.<\/p>\n<p>While this idea reduces the load on validators and provides higher throughput, it also shifts the responsibility for data storage to a smaller, more specialised group, risking network centralisation.<\/p>\n<p>The EF team proposed three potential approaches to address the issue. The first method, State Expiry, removes inactive data, allowing it to be restored with proofs if necessary.<\/p>\n<p>According to research, about 80% of the state has not changed or been used for over a year, yet all nodes still store it entirely. Developers are considering two paths:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Data tagging, adding expiration dates, and a recovery function.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Multi-epoch&#8221; expiration, where the state decreases each epoch.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>State Archive is the second approach. It creates &#8220;hot&#8221; and &#8220;cold&#8221; states. The first group of data remains readily accessible, while the second is stored separately for history and verification.<\/p>\n<p>The final option, Partial Statelessness, allows nodes to store only <span data-descr=\"for example, only those parts of the state relevant to a specific set of users or applications\" class=\"old_tooltip\">&#8220;subsets&#8221;<\/span> of the state, while wallets and light clients cache the necessary data. This approach will reduce storage space costs and lessen dependence on large RPC service providers.<\/p>\n<p>Back in December, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/vitalik-buterin-advocates-for-simplifying-ethereum\">called<\/a> for simplifying the network in terms of user interface.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The surge in users and the expansion of the gas limit have led to the &#8216;bloating&#8217; of the Ethereum blockchain, adversely affecting node operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"Ethereum Foundation warns of blockchain 'bloat' affecting nodes.","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[25,46],"class_list":["post-92380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-blockchain","tag-ethereum"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"206","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"Ethereum Foundation warns of blockchain 'bloat' affecting nodes.","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92380"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92395,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92380\/revisions\/92395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}