Ethereum’s Sword of Damocles: Blockchain Size Exceeds 180GB, May Reach 1TB by 2018

The size of the Ethereum blockchain has already surpassed that of Bitcoin, reaching about 180GB, and experts warn that further increases could spell disaster.

After a user reported that ethereum transaction logs were taking “more than a week” to download and sync nodes, cryptocurrency commentator and entrepreneur Tuur Demeester has a reason: the ethereum blockchain has reached 180GB in size.

“Tuur Demeester: Blockchain bloat is one of the challenges facing Ethereum. Encouraging fast syncing would undermine decentralization, so this solution is likely not enough.”

“Tuur Demeester: According to one source, the Ethereum blockchain has swelled by 700%+ in the last 12 months: it is now around 180GB.”

According to data, the size of the Ethereum blockchain surpassed that of Bitcoin in February 2017, when both were around 130GB in size.

Other Twitter commentators suggested that this so-called “blockchain bloat” problem could be exacerbated because the relative free-for-all nature of wallets associated with Ethereum means that many users are likely to have many wallets.

Additionally, a large number of altcoins rely on the Ethereum blockchain and as various ICOs are completed, these altcoins will see frenetic trading activity.

The future held by ETH itself also means more problems.

Based on the continued upward trajectory, the largest altcoin blockchain could reach 1TB before 2018, which would make blockchain syncing a very lengthy affair.

“David Keenleyside: Based on this, the Ethereum blockchain is expected to exceed 1TB in the next 12 months. If it continues to grow at this rate, it will die; space = money $$$”

ETH prices continued to hit new highs over the weekend, having risen by more than 3,000% since the beginning of the year. Mainstream media are now reporting on various Ethereum-related news.