Ethereum Explores Bitcoin-Style UTXOs to Improve Blockchain Scaling

• Utreexo for Bitcoin was brought into the discussion by Vitalik Buterin, while describing the hybrid approach suggested by Ethereum.
• Native UTXO, recursive STARKS, and Frame Transactions are among the things that are being researched for Ethereum.

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, praised the progress of UTXO research by Bitcoin developers while explaining Ethereum’s new scaling direction. This shows how the new hybrid architecture can be created using Ethereum’s account system along with the UTXO state system.

Such an architecture will enable various activities to take place using various states depending on the needs of activities. However, Ethereum researchers want to achieve scalability without reducing decentralization, censorship resistance, and availability of nodes.

Native UTXOs Could Cut Down Payment State

Utreexo provides a model that Ethereum researchers can leverage to minimize the amount of data stored individually by the nodes using the concept of cryptographic accumulators. Researchers have been exploring the same idea to apply to the Ethereum blockchain, which operates on account-based infrastructure. Toni Wahrstätter proposed the use of native UTXOs in Ethereum for simple payments, while retaining the existing Ethereum accounts. The model would be able to cut down the amount of permanent state by about 99.8% for payment applications.

Recursive STARKs Aim at Bandwidth Usage

A recursive-STARKs mempool study conducted by Buterin aims at solving bandwidth consumption issues associated with the growing Ethereum network. According to the study, the STARK proof is assumed to be optimized to reach about 128 kilobytes. Proofs related to validity may be grouped instead of transmitting each of them separately. With eight peers and a 500-millisecond aggregation period, additional consumption is estimated at around 2 megabytes per second per node. The study is oriented toward efficient proof transmission rather than unbounded transactions.

Frame Transactions Still Under Consideration

The native UTXO proposal relies upon EIP-8141, called Frame Transactions. This proposal is about a programmable transaction frame that includes validation, gas, and execution. Currently, Frame Transactions are considered for Hegotá but are not yet approved by Ethereum. Only the FOCIL proposal has been approved for Hegotá. As per the Ethereum roadmap, Hegotá is scheduled to take place in 2027 after Glamsterdam in late 2026. Hence, Buterin’s Utreexo indicates that Ethereum is still actively working on this research aspect.

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