Last week (November 12-15), the seventh Devcon was held in Bangkok, focusing on the challenges Ethereum currently faces, solutions, and the roadmap for future development. The three main themes of interest were Beam Chain, the Pectra upgrade, and the unification of Ethereum L2.
Author: https://x.com/Presto_Research/
Translation: Blockchain in Plain Language
1. Beam Chain
The focus of the entire Devcon was undoubtedly Justin Drake's (@drakefjustin) speech on Beam Chain at 5 PM on the first day. Beam Chain is a long-term improvement proposal for the Ethereum consensus layer, aimed at addressing existing limitations and leveraging the latest technological innovations like ZK proofs to 'clean up technical debt'. The speech presented nine major upgrades under three categories:
Source: Devcon
1) Block Production
1) Anti-censorship capability: Proposed in EIP-7805, utilizing the 'Inclusion List' mechanism to ensure transactions are not censored by centralized block builders.
2) Validator Isolation: Proposed adopting Attester-Proposer-Separation (APS) mechanism to reduce reliance on intermediaries and further decentralize block production.
3) Faster Intervals: Reducing block time from the current 12 seconds to 4 seconds, accelerating block processing speed and transaction finality time.
2) Staking
Smarter issuance mechanism: Proposing a staking cap to optimize Ethereum's issuance model, achieving a balance between inflation and deflation.
Lower Validator Threshold: Reducing the staking requirement to 1 ETH to promote decentralization and allow more users to participate in the validator role.
Faster Finality: Proposed adopting a mechanism with 3 slots (36 seconds) for finality, replacing the current 15-minute transaction confirmation time.
3) Cryptography
On-chain Zero-Knowledge: Enhancing consensus security through the use of ZK-SNARKS, supporting execution based on zkVM, and aggregating signatures into ZK proofs.
Quantum Security: To address future quantum computing threats, adopting cryptographic schemes based on hash signatures that are resistant to quantum attacks.
Strong Randomness: Using verifiable delay functions (VDFs) to generate unbiased randomness for validator selection.
4) Future Outlook
After the announcement, concerns arose on Crypto Twitter about the five-year timeline of this roadmap. However, Justin Drake assured the community that updates would be rolled out gradually. Given that Ethereum is actively addressing current user experience challenges, this progress is worth keeping an eye on in the future.
2. Pectra Upgrade
The Pectra upgrade is an important milestone in Ethereum's development, initially envisioned as a precursor to the more complex Fusaka upgrade (Verkle transition). However, as of October 2024, the Pectra upgrade has expanded to include the most Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), encompassing ten significant code changes. To manage complexity, the upgrade is divided into two phases, with the first part planned for activation on the mainnet in early 2025.
The main goal of this Pectra upgrade is to improve Ethereum's PoS mechanism, optimize user experience, and enhance data availability (DA) capabilities.
Validators and Network Health
EIP-7251: Increases the maximum effective staking balance to 2048 ETH while retaining a minimum threshold of 32 ETH. This adjustment allows large node operators to consolidate validators while enabling independent stakers to benefit from compound rewards. By reducing the total number of validators, this alleviates network pressure as Ethereum approaches 1.6 million validators (November 2024), mitigating network bottleneck issues.
User Experience Optimization
EIP-7702: Introduced a new type of transaction that allows external accounts (EOA) to delegate code execution via an authorization list. It supports the following features:
Batch Processing: Allows users to approve and spend tokens in one go;
Fee Payment: Transaction fees paid by a third party;
Permission Downgrade: Restrict account access permissions. These improvements make account management more efficient and flexible for users.
EIP-2537: Introduced support for zero-knowledge encryption (providing pre-compiled functionality for efficient cryptographic operations on the BLS12-381 curve), which will significantly enhance the efficiency of privacy applications and Rollup solutions.
Data Availability Improvements
EIP-7742: Prepared for elastic Blob data capacity changes in Ethereum. By removing redundant maximum Blob validation in the execution layer and delegating dynamic Blob target management to the consensus layer, higher scalability is achieved during scaling adjustments.
3. Unified Ethereum L2
Source: @hal2001
1) Fragmentation in the Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem
Ethereum's second layer (L2) solutions have played a revolutionary role in addressing scalability issues, making transactions faster and cheaper. However, with the popularity of these solutions, they also bring a significant challenge: fragmentation. Each L2 chain is an independent ecosystem with unique rules, interfaces, and liquidity pools. This fragmentation complicates cross-chain operations for users and developers. For example, transferring funds or executing governance votes between L2s requires complex bridging mechanisms, leading to poor user experience, higher costs, and inefficiencies.
2) Intent: A bridge for seamless cross-chain operations
The concept of 'intent' serves as a unifying link in the fragmented Ethereum ecosystem, addressing this issue. Users can declare their intended actions, such as token swaps or NFT transfers, without manually managing the complexities of individual L2s. 'Intent' can be seen as a universal 'order form' that clearly specifies the user's desired goals. Just like when ordering online, the system coordinates multiple warehouses to fulfill requests, intent abstracts the technical details of the operation chain, making the experience smoother.
ERC-7683 standardized the expression and execution of these intents, ensuring interoperability among Ethereum mainnet, L2, and sidechains. It provides the necessary structure for cross-chain communication, integrating fragmented systems within the same framework. This coordination eliminates inefficiencies, allowing operations to flow smoothly within the Ethereum ecosystem, ultimately making the system more coherent and user-friendly.
3) Creating Synergies: ERC-7683 with EIP-7702
When 'intent' combines with EIP-7702 (which focuses on account abstraction), its power is significantly enhanced. EIP-7702 allows externally owned accounts (EOA) to temporarily function as smart contract wallets during transactions. This innovation eliminates the need for users to create dedicated smart contract wallets for complex transactions (such as cross-chain operations).
The combination of ERC-7683 and EIP-7702 enables users to initiate complex cross-chain interactions directly from their EOAs. For example, users can declare an intent to swap tokens on L2, transfer profits to another chain, and execute governance votes—all in a seamless transaction. By combining the standardization of intent with the flexibility of account abstraction, the Ethereum ecosystem can offer a smoother user experience.
4. Conclusion
Ethereum has long been committed to improving scalability, but this year's Devcon showcased a strong trend focusing on various user experience issues that have been previously overlooked. While there are still many long-term goals ahead, it is noteworthy how Ethereum continues to evolve into a better product. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the next Devcon!
Article Link: https://www.hellobtc.com/kp/du/11/5547.html
Source: @Presto_Research
