The Purge, an initiative led by Vitalik Buterin, aims to simplify the Ethereum network by removing unnecessary and outdated data. In order to limit the amount of data stored, EIP-4444 history expiry will be implemented. This move not only reduces the storage requirements for historical data, but also decreases the technical debt of the Ethereum protocol and the hard drive requirements for node operators.
To further simplify the protocol and enhance security, Buterin introduced EIP-6780 during the Dencun hard fork, which eliminated most of the “SELFDESTRUCT” code functions. As a result, each Ethereum block will have more storage space, with the possibility of completely removing the SELFDESTRUCT code in the future.
The Purge will enforce EIP-4444 history expiry, allowing nodes to choose whether to remove blocks from the history that are less than one year old. Historical data will only be necessary when synchronizing with the chain head, meaning that fully synchronized nodes do not need history data older than one year when verifying new blocks.
Buterin believes that EIP-4444 has the potential to significantly increase the decentralization of Ethereum nodes. In addition, Geth has removed support for pre-Merge networks, resulting in the removal of thousands of lines of code.
In other news, Hokkoku Bank in Japan has introduced a stablecoin backed by bank deposits.
