According to Vitalik Buterin, the implementation of Verkle trees has the potential to bring significant benefits to Ethereum solo stakers and network nodes. The Ethereum co-founder praised this technological upgrade in a recent post, highlighting its ability to enable “stateless validator clients” and allow staking nodes to operate with minimal hard disk space and near-instant synchronization.
Buterin had previously outlined a five-step process for Ethereum’s development, leading up to what he referred to as the endgame. This process began with the activation of the Beacon Chain in September 2022, which marked Ethereum’s shift to proof-of-stake consensus.
Verkle trees are a key component of the development roadmap that Buterin shared in late 2022. They fall under the Verge stage, the third phase of Ethereum’s development plan, and are designed to optimize data storage and node size. In his Ethereum Improvement Proposal documentation, Buterin provided technical details about Verkle trees and their functionality.
Similar to Merkle trees, Verkle trees utilize tree-like structures, but with a key distinction. Nodes in Verkle trees use a specific type of hash called a vector commitment, which is passed to sub-nodes. This approach offers long-term benefits to the Ethereum network.
The main advantage of Verkle trees is their contribution to achieving statelessness in Ethereum. This means that nodes verifying blocks would no longer need to store the state of Ethereum. Verkle trees enable smaller proof sizes that can be included within each block of the Ethereum blockchain, allowing nodes to verify blocks using only the data within the block itself.
The implementation of Verkle trees will bring about various new functionalities. It will reduce the hardware requirements for running Ethereum nodes, thereby enhancing decentralization. Additionally, new nodes will be able to join the network almost instantly and sync quickly.
The development of Verkle trees is still ongoing, and the implementation of the Ethereum protocol will require several changes. These include the introduction of a new data structure to store the network’s state, a new gas accounting model, a strategy for migrating from Merkle to Verkle trees, new cryptographic primitives, and new fields at the block level.
In conclusion, the implementation of Verkle trees holds great promise for Ethereum solo stakers and network nodes. It is expected to improve the efficiency and decentralization of the network while enabling stateless validation and reducing hardware requirements. However, the full realization of these benefits will require further development and implementation of the Ethereum protocol.