Vitalik Buterin Urges Ethereum Protocol Cleanup in 2026 to Avoid Growing Complexity Risk

On January 18, 2026, Vitalik Buterin warned that Ethereum could devolve into an "unwieldy mess" if protocol complexity keeps expanding without deliberate simplification. He called for a structured cleanup process to remove legacy features, cut cryptographic dependencies, and ensure Ethereum can ossify with quantum-resistant security and scalable ZK-based architecture while continuing to process around 2.5 million low-fee transactions per day.