Ethereum's new state trie: PBT and the state migration path

This Ethereum Foundation session, given by Maria in the Core Protocol track, offers a fast, accessible tour of two evolving proposals for Ethereum's state. The first is the Partitioned Binary Tree (PBT), which rethinks how Ethereum commits to accounts, storage and code. The second is the migration path away from today's MPT-based state. The talk outlines the design goals behind the work and sketches a proposed offline journey for the transition: conversion, verifiable distribution, catch-up, shadow commitments and activation. It also highlights trade-offs that are still under discussion. The session is presented as a starting point rather than a finished blueprint, with the aim of giving attendees a mental model for reading the drafts, understanding why the transition is unusually delicate, and joining the work while key details are still being shaped.