Author: Scof, ChainCatcher
Editor: Nianqing, ChainCatcher
Recently, a new EIP (EIP) in the Ethereum community has sparked discussion. The new EIP-7781 proposal aims to increase the overall throughput of the Ethereum network by shortening block times and increasing data processing capacity. This proposal was proposed by Illyriad Games co-founder Ben Adams on October 5. In simple terms, it will shorten the block generation time from 12 seconds to 8 seconds, increase the data processing capacity of the block, and increase the throughput by 50%. In addition, it also plans to reduce the fees of the Ethereum Layer 2 network by increasing rollup-based delays.
Ben Adams described EIP-7781 as increasing transaction throughput by about 33% without increasing the number of individual blocks or blobs; distributing bandwidth usage over time to reduce peak bandwidth requirements and maintain network efficiency; this is equivalent to increasing the number of blobs from 6 to 8, or increasing the gas limit from 30M to 40M; but this approach does not increase peak bandwidth.
Justin Drake, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, expressed support for the proposal. He believes that shortening the slot time to 8 seconds will significantly improve the overall performance and user experience of the network. This change can not only increase network throughput by 50%, improve the efficiency of DEX (such as Uniswap v3), save approximately US$100 million in CEX-DEX arbitrage costs every year, but also optimize Layer by shortening the confirmation time by one-third. 1 User experience of smart contracts. At the same time, reducing slot time can also better distribute peak loads, making resource utilization of execution clients during non-validation peak periods more balanced, in line with Ethereum's long-term expansion goals. Despite the risk of increased time gaming, Justin Drake sees the change as a key step toward a more efficient, scalable network.
Source: https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/pull/8931
Currently, discussions on EIP-7781 focus on the balance between efficiency improvement and decentralization.
Shortening block times and increasing throughput will obviously improve the user experience, but this may also increase the risk of network centralization. As Web3 researcher Vikram pointed out, verification nodes will face higher hardware and bandwidth requirements, which may make it difficult for individual stakers, especially those who run nodes independently, to keep up with the development of the network. Increasing hardware requirements will weaken the decentralized nature of the network, especially in the Ethereum network, where decentralization and decentralization have always been one of its core advantages. If the entry threshold for stakers is raised, small or individual stakers may exit the network, resulting in more verification rights being concentrated in large institutions. This centralization will go against the original intention of Ethereum, making Ethereum's trust model more dependent on a few nodes. Adam Cochran, partner at Cinnehaim Ventures, pointed out that while the proposal seems "reasonable," further testing is needed to ensure that it does not have a negative impact on investors working from home.
However, supporters of EIP-7781 believe that although there will be certain hardware requirements, these will not seriously affect decentralization. Vitalik also recently proposed to reduce the staking threshold from 36 ETH to 16 or 24 ETH, which may attract more individuals to participate in staking. At the same time, the proposal can better balance the bandwidth usage of the network and reduce the load pressure during peak hours. In addition, this proposal also means that Ethereum has made more far-reaching considerations for the underlying expansion of Layer 1, while Layer 2 expansion solutions will continue to develop. Therefore, the implementation of EIP-7781 is not only an optimization of the performance of the existing network, but also paves the way for future expansion. Anonymous developer Cygaar called the proposal the "first major" move to improve Ethereum's base layer in an article on X. While most of the development focus has been on Ethereum's Layer 2 expansion solutions, this upgrade solves the efficiency problem of the core network.
Overall, EIP-7781 is not only a key step for Ethereum to improve performance, but also needs to consider its long-term impact on network decentralization. If this proposal can be successfully implemented, it will make the Ethereum network more competitive, especially in application scenarios such as DeFi and smart contracts. As of press time, ETH is trading at $2,445, up 1.08% in the past 24 hours.
