Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, outlined a five-year plan to simplify Ethereum's protocol on May 3, 2025. He aims to make the network more efficient, secure, and accessible, echoing Bitcoin’s design philosophy.

Ethereum's simplification plan highlights its development shift towards accessibility, potentially boosting market sentiments. Immediate price stability shows market confidence in Buterin's strategic direction for Ethereum.

Vitalik Buterin initiated a substantial restructuring of Ethereum's architecture to alleviate complexity. His plan aims to make Ethereum's protocol clearer and less expensive while enhancing security. Buterin seeks to embrace Bitcoin’s minimalist design philosophy in Ethereum's future.

Prominent community members like Sassal.eth have publicly backed the initiative. Buterin intends for Ethereum to be understandable by knowledgeable high school students. As Buterin put it:

"I advocate for a return to basics—making Ethereum's protocol understandable 'by a smart high school student.'"

He acknowledges past development choices, including his own, that inadvertently increased the protocol's complexity.

The response to the plan was positive, with traders maintaining positions amounting to approximately $20.8 billion in Ethereum. Ethereum's price remained largely stable, suggesting confidence in its potential long-term value proposition proposed by Buterin.

Financial analysts suggest Ethereum's newly proposed structure could encourage broader developer participation and strengthen its position as a leading Layer 1 blockchain. The Bitcoin-inspired approach is seen as an attractive long-term strategy for Ethereum.

If successful, simplification could result in reduced development costs and lower barriers for developer participation, enhancing overall network resilience and decentralization. Implementing RISC-V over the Ethereum Virtual Machine is a pivotal technical component.

Past upgrades like Proof-of-Stake have increased complexity but also strengthened Ethereum's foundation. The proposed consolidations and improvements target making Ethereum resilient and secure, following a path acknowledged by its strategic pivot back to basics.