Ethereum Foundation Warns: ‘State Bloat’ Threatens Node Decentralization
Researchers caution that unchecked data growth could force node operation into the hands of a few ‘sophisticated operators,’ proposing State Expiry as a critical fix.
Ethereum Foundation researchers have issued a formal warning regarding the network’s expanding data burden, terming it a “state bloat” crisis that could severely undermine decentralization. In a detailed analysis released this week, the research team argued that while recent scaling upgrades like Layer 2 expansion and EIP-4844 have lowered fees, they have inadvertently accelerated the rate at which the blockchain’s memory grows.
The ‘State’ Trap
The “state”. The live record of all account balances, smart contract storage, and bytecode, is the network’s memory. Unlike transaction history, which can be pruned, every full node must store the entire state to process new blocks. As of late 2025, this dataset is expanding without a ceiling.
Researchers noted that if the state becomes too large to be easily stored by consumer hardware, the network faces a centralization tipping point. The warning was blunt:
“If the state becomes too large, too centralized, or too difficult to serve, all network layers become more fragile. If only a small set of sophisticated operators can afford to store and serve the full state, Ethereum’s censorship resistance, neutrality, and resilience could weaken.”
Three Paths Forward
To combat this, the Foundation proposed three technical architectural shifts:
- State Expiry: The most radical proposal involves removing data that hasn’t been accessed in over a year from the active set. Users would need to provide a cryptographic “proof” to revive this dormant data. Researchers estimate roughly 80% of current state data is inactive.
- Partial Statelessness: This allows nodes to verify blocks without storing the full state, relying instead on “witness” data provided by block builders. This shifts the storage burden to specialized entities while keeping validation lightweight.
- State Archive: A tiered storage model separating “hot” active data from “cold” historical data, ensuring nodes don’t degrade in performance as the chain ages.
Market Reaction
The technical warning comes as Ethereum (ETH) faces headwinds in the market, struggling to hold the $2,920 support level (-6% in 24h). While the bloat issue is structural rather than immediate, the report signals that the roadmap for 2026 will likely prioritize heavy-duty maintenance over new features to preserve the network’s permissionless nature.
