Vitalik Buterin: Verkle Trees Implementation to Benefit Ethereum Stakers and Network Nodes

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has highlighted the advantages of implementing Verkle Trees within Ethereum’s staking protocol.

In a recent post, the Ethereum mastermind said this technological upgrade would specifically benefit Ethereum solo stakers and network nodes.

Verkle Trees are expected to enable “stateless validator clients,” allowing staking nodes to operate with minimal hard disk space and achieve near-instant synchronization.

Buterin has previously outlined a comprehensive roadmap for Ethereum’s development, describing it as the “endgame” for the smart contract blockchain.

This roadmap follows the successful activation of the Beacon Chain, which transitioned Ethereum to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism in September 2022.

What Are Vitalik Buterin’s Verkle Trees?

Verkle Trees are a crucial component of this roadmap, falling under the Verge phase, the third stage of Ethereum’s development plan.

This phase focuses on introducing Verkle Trees to optimize data storage and reduce node size.

Buterin published the technical details of Verkle Trees in the Ethereum Improvement Proposal documentation in 2022.

Verkle Trees function similarly to Merkle Trees, which aggregate all transactions in a block to provide proof of the data’s authenticity.

However, Verkle Trees offer a significant advantage by providing much more efficient proof sizes.

They employ tree-like structures and utilize vector commitments, a specific type of hash, which are passed to sub-nodes.

These vector commitments offer long-term benefits to the Ethereum network.

The primary benefit of Verkle Trees is their ability to assist Ethereum in achieving statelessness.

This concept envisions nodes verifying blocks without the need to store Ethereum’s “state.”

With Verkle Trees, smaller proof sizes can be included within each block of the Ethereum blockchain, enabling nodes to verify blocks using the data contained within those blocks themselves.

I'm really looking forward to Verkle trees. They will enable stateless validator clients, which can allow staking nodes to run with near-zero hard disk space and sync nearly instantly – far better solo staking UX. Also good for user-facing light clients.https://t.co/Bg2KXH07Id

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 18, 2024

Implementing Verkle Trees will result in various new functionalities.

First, it will lower the hardware requirements for running Ethereum nodes, thereby enhancing network decentralization.

Additionally, new nodes can join the network almost instantly and synchronize quickly, contributing to a more efficient and accessible Ethereum ecosystem.

Ethereum Staking Sees Renewed Interest

The Ethereum network is experiencing a surge in the number of validators seeking to stake their ETH.

As reported, the validator entry queue currently stands at 7,045, representing over 225,000 Ether (equivalent to $562 million), its highest level since October 2023.

The backlog is estimated to be cleared in slightly over 48 hours. Due to Ethereum’s limitations on the number of new validators that can join the network per epoch, a backlog occurs as more entities seek to participate.

An Ethereum epoch lasts approximately 6.4 minutes.

Validators are entities that stake a minimum of 32 Ether in the network, enabling them to participate in running Ethereum’s proof-of-stake consensus blockchain.

In return for staking their Ether, validators receive a steady rate of return similar to interest income from fixed-income instruments like bonds.