Simplifying Ethereum Key to True Trustlessness, Says Buterin

The Ethereum blockchain needs to better explain its features to users in order to achieve true trustlessness, a challenge common across blockchain protocols, says its co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

Trustlessness would see a protocol work without the oversight of developers, as it enforces rules automatically with code. However, if a protocol is so complex that only a small group can work on it, then in practice, others still have to trust that group. 

Ethereum is often described as trustless because transactions and smart contracts are enforced by open-source code and a decentralized network of validators. However, Buterin said in an X post on Wednesday that the network still needs to improve user understanding.

Asked how realistic the notion is, given the tradeoff between technological features and user understanding, Buterin said, “We should be willing to have fewer features sometimes.”

Last year, crypto executives told Cointelegraph that confusion around crypto storage, regulations, and other factors tech-savvy people take for granted could be keeping average users on the sidelines and away from the technology.

Better understanding needed across all protocols

INTMAX, a privacy layer 2 built on Ethereum, agreed with Buterin, and said the same principle applies to privacy infrastructure.

“If only five people can understand how your privacy protocol works, you haven’t achieved trustlessness, you’ve just changed who you trust. Simple, auditable privacy architecture > complex black boxes,” INTMAX said.

Others remarked that deciphering tech-heavy jargon used by some protocols can feel like a full-time job, or outright repel users from an otherwise promising project.

Ethereum aiming for better user experience

Ethereum’s roadmap acknowledges it can still be “too complex to use Ethereum for most people,” and outlines plans to “drastically lower its barriers to entry,” and become “as frictionless as using a traditional Web2 app.”

Related: Ethereum could get faster in January with gas limit rise to 80M

Some of the flagged upgrades aimed at creating a better user experience include smart contract wallets, which streamline complex blockchain details such as gas fees and key management and reducing the barriers to running a node by making them accessible on devices like a phone or browser apps.

The Ethereum Foundation also funds a wide range of educational courses and programs to help people learn more about blockchain development and related technologies. 

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