The optimizations brought by the Ethereum Prague upgrade mainly include the following aspects:
1. Scalability optimization
- Verkle tree and statelessness: EIP-2935 introduces the Verkle tree to enable statelessness, eliminating the need for nodes to store network status locally and reducing the computational burden on validators.
- Validator light client: allows users to verify the network without downloading the entire Ethereum blockchain, enabling verification through resource-constrained devices and enhancing decentralization.
- Historical data processing: EIP-4444 stipulates that historical data will be deleted from the full node after a specified period of time, reducing computing requirements, improving node decentralization, and significantly reducing the amount of data required to run a node.