Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, has unveiled a new initiative called Purge, aimed at optimizing the Ethereum protocol and easing the burden on network nodes. Purge is a pivotal step forward for Ethereum, prioritizing the removal of obsolete network data and streamlining the system gradually. This initiative will result in decreased storage requirements for nodes, reducing the necessary hard disk space for node operation, and simplifying the technical intricacies of the protocol.
The implementation of EIP-6780, as part of The Merge, served as a precursor to the Purge initiative. This Ethereum Improvement Proposal effectively removed the majority of Self Destruct functions. As a result, The Merge alleviated some of the workload associated with the Purge. Consequently, the protocol is now able to streamline network participation costs, aligning with the path towards simplification.
Buterin is confident that this transition will have minimal impact on historical data and its storage. Even if each node opts to store only a fraction of the data, multiple copies of old transaction data may still exist across the network.
Moreover, Buterin emphasized the necessity of eliminating precompiled Ethereum contracts, which are utilized for implementing cryptography incompatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). This task is also incorporated into the Purge initiative.
