BNB Chain has announced the addition of Reth as a new execution client, a Rust-based implementation of the Ethereum protocol developed by Paradigm. Currently, BNB Smart Chain (BSC) relies heavily on Geth and Erigon clients, with Geth holding a 56.2% market share and Erigon at 43.8%. The introduction of Reth aims to enhance the network's resilience, security, and scalability, particularly addressing the issue of client diversity which has become critical as the opBNB network currently supports only the op-geth client.
Rationale for Introducing Reth
Client Diversity and Security: The integration of Reth will provide a third, Rust-based option for execution clients, enhancing the network's security by mitigating risks associated with relying on a limited set of clients. Rust's secure programmability and performance make it a compelling choice for blockchain applications.
Support for Reth: BNB Chain has previously supported Rust implementations like open-bsc and bsc-akula, which have ceased maintenance. Paradigm's Reth, however, offers a modern, modular, and high-performance alternative. Reth 1.0's performance has been promising, showing potential to reach 1 gigagas per second, aligning with BNB Chain's goals.
Benchmarking and Performance
Stage Sync: Initial benchmarks show Reth achieving 690 MGas/s on historical sync for the opBNB network and 621 MGas/s for BSC full nodes. However, syncing from genesis for BSC is considerably longer, taking approximately 24 days for a full node.
Live Sync: For BSC, live sync performance reached around 195 MGas/s. On the opBNB network, the performance was lower, primarily due to the inefficiencies of the mdbx database in handling fast-blocking layer 2 solutions.
Call to Action for the BNB Chain Community
To support the integration and development of Reth, BNB Chain encourages the community to:
Explore Reth: Familiarize yourself with Reth's features and roadmap.
Join Discussions: Participate in online forums and share your insights.
Test and Validate: Node operators are encouraged to run Reth nodes and evaluate their performance.
Provide Feedback: Share feedback with the development team to help shape the future of Reth.
Spread Awareness: Inform peers and colleagues about Reth to strengthen community support.
Outlook and Future Plans
BNB Chain's 2024 tech roadmap emphasizes building the highest-performance EVM platforms. The collaboration with Paradigm on Reth aims to achieve groundbreaking performance levels, including 1 gigagas per second. The team plans to integrate BSC/opBNB Geth optimization experiences into Reth, such as parallel prefetch and multi-layer cache.
In the long term, Reth may serve as a validator for BSC and a sequencer for opBNB, with ongoing development focusing on features like Parallel EVM, State Expiry, and Consecutive Blocks. These initiatives aim to elevate BNB Chain's infrastructure and support its growth as a leading blockchain platform.
