Ethereum Size Explodes: A Critical Threat to the Network

For several months, Ethereum has multiplied updates to improve its scalability and support the explosion of decentralized applications (dApps). But this expansion now comes at a price. According to several developers of the crypto network, the amount of data stored by Ethereum is rising at a worrying rate. And the situation could become much more serious than it appears.

A State Swelling at an Alarming Speed

The “state” of Ethereum is a real-time snapshot of the crypto network:

• account balances;
• smart contract code;
• stored data.

Today, this state reaches about 390 GiB. At the current growth rate, the crypto network is projected to hit a danger zone of 650 GiB in less than 1.6 years (that is, in 2027).

Why is this critical? If the state indeed becomes too large, the hardware requirements to run a node will increase drastically. This threatens to centralize the crypto network by excluding ordinary participants.

Analysis: fewer independent nodes mean less decentralization. And this is exactly what Ethereum has sought to avoid since its inception.

EIP-8037: Miracle Solution for Ethereum or a Cure Worse Than the Disease?

To stop the hemorrhage, developers propose EIP-8037. Instead of a time-weighted rent, this proposal acts as a brake. It significantly increases the gas costs required when deploying new contracts, accounts, and storage slots.

The idea: make data writing more expensive to incentivize crypto developers to code more efficiently.

However, the measure is controversial. Some believe it primarily penalizes small crypto projects. The fact is that these will see their deployment costs on Ethereum jump overnight.

According to Vitalik Buterin, There Is No Simple Solution

Developer Lee Ash suggests an alternative avenue on X. According to him, each user should store their own data. Thus, the Ethereum blockchain would only keep hashes and cryptographic proofs.

Vitalik Buterin quickly dismissed this idea by responding:

The problem is that data used to verify proofs must be stored and updated, which ends up representing an amount almost as large as the system state.

Buterin thus acknowledges that alternative state management solutions exist. However, they are very complex and all involve compromises compared to the current Ethereum. In other words, there is no easy path.

In any case, the growth of data on Ethereum is not only a technical problem. It is also a warning about the sustainability of the crypto network, which has already lost 35% of its value. Without rapid and coordinated decisions, Ethereum risks having to choose between accessibility and security. The balance could then tip. The coming months will be decisive.