Ethereum Foundation озвучила стратегии борьбы с раздуванием состояния блокчейна Translation: Ethereum Foundation Unveils Strategies to Combat Blockchain State Bloat

The growing number of users and the expansion of the gas limit has resulted in the «inflation» of the Ethereum blockchain’s state, adversely affecting node operations. This concern was highlighted by the Ethereum Foundation (EF) team, who proposed several potential solutions.

The state of the protocol encompasses all the data stored on the network. Node operators must load this data to track transaction histories and other information necessary for block validation.

As data accumulates, operating a full node becomes increasingly costly, unreliable, and less decentralized, the EF clarified. The developers identified specific drawbacks:

«An increase in the gas limit stimulates state growth, as it allows the inclusion of larger records in a block. Other blockchains are facing this issue as well. As state sizes increase, running a full node becomes unrealistic for regular users, leading to a consolidation among a few major providers,» the EF added.

The long-term development strategy for Ethereum includes the concept of statelessness, which allows validators to verify blocks without needing to maintain the entire history of the blockchain.

While this idea alleviates the burden on validators and allows for higher throughput, it also shifts the responsibility of data storage to a smaller, more specialized group, exposing the network to centralization risks.

The EF team has proposed three possible approaches to address the issue. The first method, State Expiry, involves removing inactive data, which can be restored through proofs if needed.

Research indicates that about 80% of the state has not changed or been accessed in over a year, yet all nodes continue to retain it in full. The developers are exploring two paths:

The second method, State Archive, creates «hot» and «cold» states. The first group of data will remain readily accessible, while the second will be stored separately for historical reference and verification.

The final approach, Partial Statelessness, allows nodes to retain only certain «subsets» of the state, while wallets and light clients cache necessary data. This method would reduce storage space requirements and lessen reliance on major RPC service providers.

In December, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin called for simplifying the network from a user interface perspective.