Vitalik Buterin Proposes Significant Changes to Ethereum: Here’s What Will Happen If They Are Accepted

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is making headlines with his proposal for a radical reform of the network’s fee system.

Buterin aims to introduce a new system he calls a “multi-dimensional fee model” in an effort to overcome the limitations of Ethereum’s current fee structure and increase the network’s long-term scalability.

In his proposal, co-authored with researcher Anders Elowsson, Buterin suggests implementing a single maximum fee limit (max_fee) system across all resources, rather than requiring users to set separate fee limits for each network resource, such as compute, storage, and data, when sending a transaction. This structure would allow for dynamic fee allocation, enabling more efficient resource utilization.

Traffic on the Ethereum network has decreased recently, and gas fees have been below 1 Gwei for an extended period. This low demand environment further highlights the inadequacies of the current fee structure. Buterin’s proposed new system promises a sustainable and stable fee architecture that can respond more flexibly to these fluctuations.

Key components of the new model include:

• A unique fee update mechanism
• A generalized reference pricing method
• There is a gas compensation system to ensure cost stability.

Currently, the Ethereum network handles general transactions (EIP-1559) and blob data transactions (EIP-4844) through separate systems. Buterin’s proposal aims to combine these two systems under a multi-dimensional fee model, providing a consistent approach in an environment where resource usage is increasingly diverse.

The first phase of the new system will begin with the calldata component, which significantly impacts transaction propagation speed. It will then be extended to other resources within the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). The proposed model will be implemented gradually, ensuring backward compatibility to avoid disrupting the existing user experience.

*This is not investment advice.

Source