Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has introduced a novel design aimed at alleviating the hardware requirements for operating a network node, paving the way for a fully decentralized network that can be maintained without the need for complex infrastructure. In a recent blog post, Buterin presented the concept of 'partially stateless nodes,' which would allow users to store only a subset of Ethereum's data, as opposed to the entire 1.3 terabyte blockchain. The ultimate goal of this proposal is to empower everyday users, not just institutions, to run nodes on their personal devices.
Currently, running a full Ethereum node demands substantial disk space, typically exceeding 1 terabyte, making it impractical for most users. While third-party services provide access to blockchain data, they come with significant trade-offs in terms of privacy and censorship, as noted by Buterin. Instead, his new model suggests that each node should store only the data most relevant to the user, while verifying other parts of the chain on demand using advanced cryptography.
This 'local-first' approach is analogous to a library system, where one keeps frequently used books and borrows the rest as needed. Buterin explained that this type of node would offer the benefits of direct local access to the state that a user needs, along with maximum privacy of access to that state. The system would also enable users to configure what data their node stores, such as commonly used smart contracts, tokens, or specific applications, using a straightforward on-chain setting. Users would not need to store Merkle proofs, as raw data would suffice.
This proposal builds upon the ongoing implementation of EIP-4444, which aims to limit node history storage to 36 days, with older data distributed across the network using erasure coding, ensuring the chain remains permanent without burdening any single operator. Although the proposal is still in its early stages, it has the potential to shape the next phase of the network's decentralization roadmap.