Vitalik Buterin Names How Ethereum Avoids DoS Risk

Cover image via U.Today Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available. Read U.TODAY on Google News Ethereum (ETH) founder, Vitalik Buterin , has explained how the blockchain prevents denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. Buterin’s explanation comes as a response to a question from a user who expressed frustration with the contract size limit on Ethereum. Advertisement Network Stability Depends on Data Efficiency According to Buterin, the limit on Ethereum exists as a safeguard to prevent DoS attacks. Notably, very large contracts are expensive to store in nodes, transmit, or process. So if there is no limit, a malicious attacker could easily deploy huge contracts that deliberately slow down the network. Once the network is destabilized, it could give the attacker ample time to carry out fraudulent acts onchain. Buterin is emphasizing that the size limit is not an arbitrary rule, but a safety and scalability constraint to protect users. It's a DoS risk. When we change the tree ( https://t.co/TLmT2kOHoC ), we will be able to fix this and potentially have unlimited size contracts. (Though to do that we would also need to figure out the gas mechanics of how very large contracts get published, as today the… — vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) December 23, 2025 The Ethereum founder, however, hinted at a possible change in the future. This will depend on improvements to the Merkle Patricia Trie, which currently has efficiency limitations. ‘When we change the tree … we will be able to fix this and potentially have unlimited size contracts,’ he stated. Buterin suggests that plans are on to change how Ethereum stores its data to the EIP-7864's unified binary tree upgrade. This will make state access and storage more efficient while reducing the DoS risk caused by large contracts. This is different from the EIP-7907 , which has increased the contract size limit by about ten times the original size. Ethereum Gas Costs Will Apply Despite Future Upgrades You Might Also Like Tue, 12/23/2025 - 09:33 Everyone Is Bearish on XRP Right Now, and That Is the Bullish Part By Gamza Khanzadaev It is worth pointing out that even when the size limit is resolved, users will still have to deal with gas costs. For clarity, deploying a contract costs gas per byte of code. The cost, as per Buterin’s explanation, is approximately 82kb. This signals that if users get an ‘unlimited contract size’ on Ethereum, it does not mean that it would be free. The developers might have to rethink deployment gas pricing to fit into the new reality. Meanwhile, the blockchain is already planning the next upgrade for 2026, termed ‘Hegota’ . Part of the key focus of the upgrade will include state management, execution-layer optimization, and Verkle Trees. #Ethereum