Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin expressed some regrets about the initial design of Ethereum during his attendance at the ETH Berlin event last week. These regrets revolve around the development of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), smart contracts, and Ethereum’s proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism.
EVM Development:
Buterin mentioned that the initial design of the EVM chose 256-bit processing instead of 64-bit or 32-bit. However, this design proved to be too complex for 256-bit and inefficient, leading to the generation of redundant data on the blockchain even for simple tasks. The EVM can be understood as a virtual computer running on the Ethereum network, capable of executing smart contracts and operating DApps.
Optimization of Smart Contracts:
Buterin also stated that early Ethereum developers should have focused on enabling developers to write smart contracts with less and easier code.
Transition to PoS Mechanism:
In addition, Buterin emphasized that Ethereum’s transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) in 2022 should have happened earlier, marking a historic step for the platform.
Automatic Logging for Ethereum Transfers:
Buterin suggested that automatic logging for Ethereum transfers should have been present from the beginning.
Choice of Encryption Algorithm:
Lastly, Buterin expressed that if given the chance, he would have used SHA-2 instead of the current Keccak algorithm for encrypting Ethereum.
Despite these small design errors, Buterin acknowledged that it is inevitable for any project to encounter such situations.
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