Vitalik proposes a simplified mechanism to curb Ethereum's complexity; Solana founder: Without iteration, you're just waiting to be eliminated.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin posted on 1/18 stating that Ethereum has been continuously adding new features over the long term, leading to increasingly complex and difficult-to-understand protocols. He openly stated that if a protocol is filled with millions of lines of code and multiple levels of cryptography at the PhD level, it may ultimately lose its core essence of “trustlessness” and “self-sovereignty.” Therefore, he called for the formal inclusion of “simplification” and “garbage collection” mechanisms in the Ethereum development process. In response, Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko proposed an entirely opposite approach, emphasizing that blockchain must continually evolve; stopping progress is equivalent to heading toward obsolescence.

More features lead to protocol bloat eroding original intent

Vitalik pointed out that Ethereum has been adding features to maintain backward compatibility over the long term, but rarely removing old designs, resulting in increasing protocol complexity. He believes that over-bloated (bloat) protocols weaken trustlessness and self-sovereignty, as users can only rely on a few experts to explain how the system works, which contradicts the fundamental principles of blockchain.

Three major problems caused by complexity, damaging trust and sovereignty

Vitalik believes that excessive complexity brings three main issues:

• Ordinary people cannot understand the protocol and must rely on “authorities” for explanations.
• If the development team disappears, it becomes nearly impossible for outsiders to rebuild high-quality clients.
• Even technically skilled users find it difficult to verify system operations themselves, weakening self-sovereignty.

He pointed out that current upgrade assessments mostly prioritize “not breaking existing systems,” leading to decision-making that favors “only adding, not removing.” Over time, this mechanism causes protocols to accumulate too much historical baggage, making structures increasingly complex and harder to maintain.

Simplify protocol design to lower development and maintenance barriers

To counteract unnecessary protocol bloat, Vitalik advocates for the formal inclusion of “simplification” or “garbage collection” mechanisms in Ethereum’s development process. The goal is to reduce code size, decrease reliance on complex cryptography, and establish more fixed rules to make client behavior easier to implement and predict. Examples of moving toward simplification include the transition from PoW to PoS and recent gas reforms.

Ethereum is still immature and needs to strengthen key capabilities

Vitalik also admits that Ethereum still has a long way to go before truly “letting go,” including defenses against quantum attacks, scalable architecture, and more decentralized block production mechanisms—all of which need continuous reinforcement to achieve long-term autonomous operation.

Solana CEO holds a different view, emphasizing that without iteration, a project will die

After Vitalik’s post, Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko immediately expressed a completely different opinion. He stated that Solana must continually iterate; as developer and user needs evolve, features must be adjusted. Stopping iteration would lead to obsolescence.

Yakovenko even envisions that in the future, Solana’s transaction fees could fund AI-assisted development, allowing AI to participate in writing and optimizing code to ensure Solana can always iterate.

Two chains, two philosophies: the ongoing tug-of-war between security and speed

Ethereum emphasizes high decentralization and self-sovereignty, willing to sacrifice some scalability to ensure long-term stability; Solana emphasizes rapid evolution and alignment with practical application needs. Supporters of Vitalik worry that too many features increase vulnerabilities and centralization risks, while supporters of Yakovenko believe that excessive conservatism stifles innovation.

The values of the two founders also reflect two core industry principles: one fears that too many features will amplify risks and centralization pressures, while the other believes that excessive conservatism will halt innovation and cause missed opportunities. How the on-chain industry will develop remains to be seen.

(Vitalik: Ethereum aims to reach a stable freeze state by 2026, and the blockchain must pass the “letting go test”)

This article about Vitalik advocating for simplification mechanisms to curb Ethereum’s complexity, and Solana founder: no iteration, no survival, first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.