Search the Community

#Layer 2 #Vitalik #Ethereum In October 2024, Ethereum’s founder Vitalik Buterin released a series of articles on the future development of the Ethereum protocol, which drew significant attention from the global blockchain community. In these articles, Vitalik elaborated on the latest progress of Ethereum’s “Surge” phase and the critical role Layer 2 solutions will play in the protocol’s future. These articles not only outlined Ethereum’s technical roadmap but also shed light on the direction Layer 2 scaling solutions are heading, signaling a significant growth opportunity for decentralized applications (dApps) and the DeFi ecosystem in the coming years. Click to register SuperEx Click to download the SuperEx APP Click to enter SuperEx CMC Click to enter SuperEx DAO Academy — Space Ethereum’s “Surge” Roadmap: Tackling the Scalability Challenge Since its launch in 2015, Ethereum has established itself as the foundation of the blockchain industry with its smart contract platform. However, the rapid increase in network usage has brought scalability challenges to the forefront. Issues like network congestion and high transaction fees have long plagued users and developers. To address these challenges, Vitalik proposed five key phases in Ethereum’s future development: Merge, Surge, Scourge, Purge, and Splurge. The “Surge” phase, in particular, focuses on enhancing Ethereum’s scalability. The core objective of the “Surge” roadmap is to significantly increase Ethereum’s transaction throughput through the introduction of sharding technology. Sharding is a technique that divides the blockchain into smaller parts (called shards), enabling transactions to be processed in parallel. This innovation is expected to dramatically reduce network congestion, lower transaction fees, and lay the technical foundation for Ethereum’s broader scalability. Layer 2 Scaling Solutions: The Backbone of Ethereum’s Future Although sharding will play an essential role in the long term, Vitalik highlighted in his articles that Layer 2 scaling solutions will be the main path to Ethereum’s scalability in the near future. Layer 2 solutions are technologies built on top of Ethereum’s main network (Layer 1) that enable scalability by moving a large volume of transactions off-chain, while maintaining the security and decentralization features of Ethereum. Currently, leading Layer 2 solutions include Rollups, state channels, and sidechains. Among these, Rollups have gained the most traction as a core Layer 2 technology. There are two main types of Rollups: Optimistic Rollups and ZK-Rollups. Optimistic Rollups assume that transactions are valid by default to reduce computation, while ZK-Rollups leverage zero-knowledge proof technology to ensure transaction validity. Both offer distinct advantages — Optimistic Rollups are simpler and more user-friendly, while ZK-Rollups boast higher efficiency and enhanced privacy protection. In his articles, Vitalik expressed great optimism about the future of Layer 2 solutions, noting that the further development of these technologies will propel Ethereum to new heights. Rollups and other Layer 2 technologies not only promise to dramatically improve Ethereum’s transaction capacity, but they also enable a diverse array of applications, including decentralized finance (DeFi), NFT trading, and decentralized social platforms. Challenges and Opportunities for Layer 2 While Layer 2 technologies offer enormous potential, they also face several challenges in their implementation. One significant challenge is the complexity of the technology. Although Rollups can theoretically improve performance significantly, a variety of development, testing, and deployment hurdles need to be overcome to achieve large-scale adoption. Vitalik also pointed out that interoperability between different Layer 2 solutions is a crucial issue. Ensuring liquidity, compatibility, and security across various Layer 2 networks will be vital to the success of these solutions. Another key factor is the user experience. While Layer 2 solutions can substantially lower transaction fees and improve speed, they may still seem complex to the average user. At present, users must navigate multiple steps and tools to move funds between different Layer 2 networks. Simplifying this process and enhancing user-friendliness will be critical for Layer 2’s widespread adoption. Despite these challenges, the application scenarios for Layer 2 solutions are rapidly expanding as the technology matures. In the DeFi space, Layer 2 is already lowering operational costs for users and enabling the development of more complex financial products. In the NFT market, Layer 2 provides the infrastructure for mass minting and trading of NFTs, addressing the high transaction fees on Ethereum’s mainnet. Looking ahead, decentralized social platforms and games will also benefit from Layer 2, offering developers a broader range of opportunities for innovation. The Future of Layer 2: Aiming for One Million TPS In Vitalik’s vision, the future of Ethereum lies in the combination of Layer 2 and sharding technologies, which will enable the network to process millions of transactions per second (TPS). This will not only solve current scalability issues but also transform Ethereum into a truly global distributed computing platform. Vitalik predicts that as Rollup technologies become more widely adopted, Ethereum’s mainnet will increasingly serve as a settlement layer for Layer 2 solutions, ensuring the finality and security of transactions. He emphasized the critical role of Rollup technology and outlined the roadmap for its optimization over the coming years. Rollups will compress transaction data to a minimum, while sharding will further enhance the overall network’s throughput. Vitalik also discussed the importance of cross-chain interoperability in the future, stating that seamless interaction between different Layer 2 networks will be the key to achieving global blockchain applications. Conclusion: A Bright Future for Ethereum Vitalik Buterin’s “Surge” roadmap paints an optimistic picture of Ethereum’s future. With the combination of Layer 2 and sharding technologies, Ethereum is set to evolve from a decentralized application platform into the foundational infrastructure capable of supporting global finance, social interaction, commerce, and more. In the next few years, Layer 2 solutions will be the driving force behind Ethereum’s scalability, enabling the network to leap from handling thousands of TPS to millions. While there are technical and user experience challenges to overcome, the continued maturation of these technologies will pave the way for their resolution. Ethereum will steadily move toward its vision of becoming the global decentralized computing platform, providing a robust foundation for decentralized applications and innovation worldwide. All of this positions Ethereum as a key player in the future of blockchain, ensuring it remains at the forefront of industry development and growth.

#SuperEx #Ethereum #VitalikButerin On October 14th, Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, expressed dissatisfaction with the first major overhaul of Ethereum’s consensus mechanism in a blog post and proposed several potential improvements to Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model. Among his suggestions were lowering the financial threshold for individual stakers and shortening Ethereum’s block confirmation time. Click to register SuperEx Click to download the SuperEx APP Click to enter SuperEx CMC Click to enter SuperEx DAO Academy — Space Since Ethereum’s upgrade to Proof-of-Stake, the network has no longer relied on energy-intensive computer networks to secure itself, shifting instead to a system where validators lock up assets in the network. Validators are rewarded for bundling transactions into blocks and verifying the accuracy of other blocks, but there is one key condition: validators need to stake 32 ETH (about $84,000) as collateral, a high barrier that has clearly caused hesitation for many. Vitalik Buterin criticized this phenomenon and emphasized: “Polls have repeatedly shown that the primary factor preventing more people from solo staking is the 32 ETH minimum threshold. Lowering this threshold to 1 ETH would solve that problem, and other issues would become the main constraints on solo staking.” The second part of Buterin’s proposed improvements focused on the issue of transaction finality. He pointed out that the current block confirmation time on Ethereum is relatively long, which results in users having to wait for extended periods to ensure the irreversibility of transactions in some scenarios. Buterin suggested shortening the transaction finality time to improve user experience, especially in areas like micropayments and high-frequency trading, where rapid confirmations are crucial. He explained: “While Ethereum’s current mechanism offers strong security, we cannot overlook efficiency concerns. Shortening confirmation times would not only enhance network usability but also support more real-time applications.” Additionally, Buterin mentioned the possibility of introducing more resilient penalty mechanisms to deter malicious validators from undermining the network’s security. Although the current penalties do provide some deterrence, they might be too lenient to address more sophisticated attack vectors. Thus, Buterin stressed the need to continually adjust and refine the incentive and penalty structures for validators to ensure the network remains stable and secure in any circumstance. In the conclusion of his blog post, Buterin called for further discussion within the Ethereum community, noting that these improvements would not only offer greater flexibility for existing stakers but also bring in more participants to the ecosystem. While these proposals have yet to form a concrete timeline, it is clear that Buterin aims to push Ethereum towards greater decentralization and fairness through these changes. With the introduction of these suggestions, the community’s attention to the future direction of Ethereum has intensified. Many industry experts believe that these proposals represent a significant step forward in making Ethereum more efficient and widely adopted. However, some have raised concerns about the pace of reforms, arguing that more discussions and testing are needed to ensure the network’s performance can be enhanced without introducing security vulnerabilities or systemic risks. Buterin’s blog post has sparked extensive discussions both within and outside the Ethereum ecosystem. Many project developers and stakers have expressed support for these improvements, especially the proposal to lower the staking threshold, as it would further reduce the barrier to entry for everyday users, enhancing Ethereum’s decentralized nature. Nonetheless, the debate over specific implementation details and potential trade-offs is expected to remain a hot topic in the coming months. Once these improvements are approved, they could potentially transform Ethereum’s consensus mechanism over the next few months or even years, making it more inclusive and efficient, laying the groundwork for Ethereum’s long-term sustainability.