According to Cointelegraph, Arbitrum, Ethereum's leading layer 2 scaling solution, is advancing its ecosystem with the introduction of the Bounded Optimistic Liveness Dispute (BoLD) protocol. This new system aims to enhance the network's resistance to transaction processing delays. The proposal, unveiled on January 6, is currently undergoing a final vote through the Arbitrum decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), with the voting period set to conclude on January 24. At the time of reporting, the proposal had received unanimous support from community members, amassing 965,000 votes in favor.
Arbitrum operates two primary chains: Arbitrum One and Arbitrum Nova. Arbitrum One, with a total value locked (TVL) of $17.70 billion, is designed for general use, offering a cost-effective platform for Ethereum-compatible smart contracts. In contrast, Arbitrum Nova, with a TVL of $43 million, caters to applications requiring higher transaction throughput. Currently, both chains depend on a select group of approved validators to verify transactions and prevent delays. Validators play a crucial role in monitoring network activity to ensure the integrity of transactions.
The BoLD protocol seeks to democratize Arbitrum's validation system by allowing open participation, eliminating the current restriction to a limited set of validators. It aims to resolve disputes within a fixed timeframe, addressing the issue of bad actors exploiting the system to delay transaction confirmations. The proposal outlines that BoLD mitigates delay attack risks by enforcing a fixed upper time limit on dispute resolution, thus removing the need for a permissioned validator set. If implemented, the system promises to resolve disputes within approximately 12.8 days. BoLD has been operational on the Arbitrum testnet since April 2024.
A notable feature of BoLD is its censorship timeout mechanism, designed to counteract sequencer censorship or outages. This mechanism addresses scenarios where the sequencer, responsible for processing and ordering transactions, either censors certain transactions or ceases operation. On December 15, 2023, Arbitrum One experienced a 78-minute outage due to a sequencer stall amid a surge in network traffic.
While BoLD will enable permissionless validation on Arbitrum One, Arbitrum Nova will maintain its permissioned model due to its smaller TVL, making unrestricted validation less feasible. However, the proposal includes adding Infura to Nova's validator whitelist to bolster security. Infura, a blockchain infrastructure provider, offers developers access to Ethereum nodes without the need for their own infrastructure. The proposal states that Infura's inclusion will enhance Nova's security, stability, and reliability. If approved, BoLD will be deployed on Arbitrum One and Nova on February 12.
