According to CryptoPotato, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has identified several problems that need to be addressed to resolve the issue of centralization on the leading smart contract blockchain. During the ongoing Korea Blockchain Week, Buterin revealed that the centralization of nodes is one of the major problems and suggested that the challenge be fixed by reducing the cost of running nodes and making such activities less difficult.
Data from Ethereum mainnet statistics shows that most of the network's nodes are run through centralized entities, with approximately 60% handled by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and 6% run by Google Cloud. This centralization issue has raised concerns about the Ethereum blockchain facing the challenge of a single point of failure. Some industry experts have also warned that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos could shut down Ethereum-based decentralized applications by simply turning off AWS.
Buterin said the node centralization problem is a 'big piece of the puzzle' to ensure Ethereum remains decentralized in the long run. He explained that statelessness is an essential technology in making it easier for people to run nodes. Stateless clients can run a node on basically zero, and in the longer term, there's a plan to maintain fully verified Ethereum nodes where users could run them on their phones. Buterin disclosed that Ethereum will take significant steps towards statelessness during the upcoming Verge and Purge upgrades. However, he mentioned that the issue would most likely be fixed in ten to twenty years.
Buterin also outlined other steps that can be taken to enhance Ethereum's decentralization, including easing documentation, eliminating barriers to distributed staking, and making staking more secure and convenient. Meanwhile, he stated that achieving higher levels of scalability is currently the most pressing concern for the Ethereum network.
