Lean Ethereum: why the Ethereum network needs another large-scale modernization

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has presented an updated vision for the network's development called Lean Ethereum. This is not a separate hard fork or network split, but a multi-year modernization of the base protocol.

According to Buterin, implementing the concept will take three to four years. In terms of scale, he compared the upcoming changes to Ethereum's transition from mining to Proof-of-Stake, which was completed in September 2022 after several years of preparation.

What Lean Ethereum is

The main idea behind Lean Ethereum is to gradually simplify Ethereum while simultaneously improving the network's performance, security, and resilience.

Buterin directly states that a significant portion of Ethereum's key components may be replaced as part of this transformation. At the same time, developers will have to maintain compatibility with existing smart contracts, applications, and infrastructure.

It is this combination of deep modernization and the requirement for backward compatibility that makes the task particularly challenging. Today, Ethereum is not only a Layer 1 blockchain*, but also the underlying platform for Layer 2 solutions*, decentralised finance, stablecoins, tokenised assets issued on a blockchain, and thousands of applications.

* A Layer 1 blockchain, or L1, is the main blockchain network that independently processes transactions, stores data, and provides security.

* Layer 2 solutions, or L2, are additional networks and technologies operating on top of a Layer 1 blockchain. They process some transactions outside the main network, helping to reduce fees and increase processing speed, and then submit the resulting data to the main blockchain.

Why Ethereum needs another overhaul

Following the transition to Proof-of-Stake, Ethereum resolved one of its main architectural challenges by abandoning energy-intensive mining. However, this did not eliminate the network's other limitations. These include:

• complex software architecture supporting the operation of the network;
• the constant increase in the number of technical rules and mechanisms within the protocol;
• the limited ability of the main network to process large numbers of transactions;
• dependence on Layer 2 solutions, to which a significant share of operations is transferred;
• the increasing complexity of data storage and verification of the blockchain's current state;
• the need to prepare the network in advance for new cryptographic threats, including the development of quantum computing.

The Lean Ethereum concept assumes that further scaling should be accompanied not only by the addition of new functions, but also by the simplification of the underlying architecture.

A possible abandonment of the Ethereum Virtual Machine — EVM

One of the most significant elements of the proposed plan is the gradual abandonment of the Ethereum Virtual Machine.

The EVM, or Ethereum Virtual Machine, is the execution environment that processes smart contract code and determines how the state of the blockchain changes after each transaction.

The EVM has become the technological standard for a significant portion of the cryptocurrency market. Networks compatible with it allow developers to transfer applications and use familiar programming languages, primarily Solidity.

EVM-compatible ecosystems include BNB Chain, Avalanche, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Mantle, and several other blockchains and Layer 2 solutions.

However, the EVM architecture was created during the early stages of Ethereum's development and was not designed for many modern tasks. As the network becomes more complex, its limitations are becoming increasingly noticeable.

Buterin therefore allows for the possibility that, in the future, another architecture may become Ethereum's primary execution layer, while the EVM will remain as a compatibility layer.

What could replace the EVM

Among the possible alternatives, Buterin has previously mentioned RISC-V and leanISA.

RISC-V is an open instruction set architecture originally developed for processors. In a blockchain context, it could be used as a more universal and standardized execution environment. Its advantages include a simple specification, a well-developed ecosystem of tools, and potentially more convenient integration with zero-knowledge proof systems.

Based on the general logic of Buterin's proposals, LeanISA is expected to be an even more minimalistic architecture adapted specifically for blockchain-related tasks.

The transition to a new execution mechanism could provide Ethereum with several advantages:

Simplify the development and verification of software supporting the network;

• accelerate the execution of individual operations;
• make the creation of cryptographic proofs faster and cheaper;
• Simplify the implementation of new transaction confirmation methods;
• reduce the number of complex rules within the protocol;
• Improve Ethereum's reliability and resilience over the long term.

However, such a migration would be extremely complex. Ethereum must retain the ability to execute existing contracts, as tens of billions of dollars' worth of assets are locked in them.

Why this is not merely about making the network faster

Lean Ethereum cannot be reduced to increasing the number of transactions per second alone.

In recent years, Ethereum's scaling strategy has been built around a roadmap focused on the use of rollups, or batched transactions. Under this model, the majority of user transactions are transferred to Layer 2 networks, while Ethereum serves as the settlement, security, and data availability layer.

The network's further development is therefore associated less with directly increasing the throughput of the Layer 1 blockchain than with improving the efficiency of the entire modular architecture.

Ethereum must provide:

• inexpensive data transfer from Layer 2 networks to the main network;
• final and reliable transaction confirmation;
• stable operation of validators that verify transactions and maintain network security;
• the ability to verify the current state of the blockchain at any time and confirm that the data is correct.

Privacy as a fundamental feature

Buterin devoted particular attention to privacy. He described it as a "first-class goal," meaning that it should be taken into account at the architectural level rather than added later as an auxiliary feature.

Today, Ethereum's transparency makes it possible to verify transactions, but at the same time it exposes addresses, balances, transaction histories, and interactions with applications.

This creates problems not only for private users but also for businesses. A fully transparent financial infrastructure is ill-suited to corporate settlements, payments, payroll, and commercial transactions.

Privacy may be developed through:

• proofs confirming that a transaction is valid without disclosing its details;
• transfers in which the amount or participants are concealed;
• the concealment of specific transaction data;
• the protection of related information, such as the time of the transfer and the application used;
• user identification without disclosing unnecessary personal data;
• selective disclosure of information only to the participants who genuinely need it.

The objective is therefore not to make Ethereum completely opaque, but to provide users with tools for controlled confidentiality.

Preparing for quantum threats

Post-quantum security has become another priority.

Modern blockchains use cryptographic schemes whose security is based on the difficulty of solving certain mathematical problems. In theory, sufficiently powerful quantum computers could solve some of these problems considerably faster than classical systems.

For Ethereum, the main threat is associated with digital signatures. If the algorithms currently in use cease to be secure, an attacker could potentially reconstruct a private key from a public key and gain control over the associated funds.

There is currently no practical quantum threat to Ethereum, but the transition to new cryptographic standards requires extensive preparation.

It is necessary to:

• select new algorithms resistant to attacks by quantum computers;
• change the structure of accounts and the transaction format;
• update cryptocurrency wallets;
• adapt the software supporting the operation of the network;
• securely migrate existing addresses to the new standards;
• preserve the functionality of already deployed smart contracts and applications.

How realistic the roadmap is

The updated plan was published on Strawmap.org and is based on proposals by Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake. It outlines seven major areas of network development through the end of the decade.

At the same time, the roadmap should not be regarded as an approved upgrade schedule.

Ethereum does not have a single governing authority. Changes go through research, discussion, publication, client software development, testing, and coordination among ecosystem participants.

Buterin has considerable influence over the direction of research, but he cannot approve an upgrade unilaterally.

The most likely scenario is that the changes will be implemented gradually as part of several major network upgrades.

How the upgrade is connected to the Ethereum price

Large-scale technological changes do not guarantee an increase in the value of ETH.

Following Ethereum's transition to Proof-of-Stake, the price of ETH continued to decline relative to Bitcoin. By early July 2026, the ETH/BTC pair had lost approximately 65% compared with its 2022 levels.

In US dollar terms, Ethereum also underperformed Bitcoin: BTC increased more than threefold, while ETH gained approximately 40%.

However, it would be incorrect to attribute this solely to the transition to staking or locking assets in exchange for rewards. The market was also affected by monetary policy, demand for ETFs, institutional investor activity, the development of Layer 2 networks, fee changes, and competition from other blockchains.

Lean Ethereum should primarily be viewed as a technological strategy rather than as a short-term pricing factor.