Author: https://x.com/Presto_Research/
Translation: Plain Language Blockchain
1. Beam Chain
The focus of the entire Devcon was undoubtedly the presentation by Justin Drake (@drakefjustin) at 5 pm on the first day about the Beam Chain. Beam Chain is a long-term improvement proposal for the Ethereum consensus layer, aimed at addressing the existing limitations and leveraging the latest technological innovations such as ZK proofs to "clean up technical debt". The presentation proposed nine major upgrades in three categories:
Source: Devcon
1) Block Production
1) Censorship Resistance: As proposed in EIP-7805, the "Inclusion List" mechanism will ensure that transactions are not censored by centralized Block builders.
2) Validator Isolation: The proposal suggests adopting the Attester-Proposer-Separation (APS) mechanism to reduce reliance on intermediaries and further decentralize Block production.
3) Faster Time Intervals: Reducing the Block time from the current 12 seconds to 4 seconds to accelerate Block processing and transaction finality.
2) Staking
Smarter Issuance Mechanism: Proposing a staking cap to optimize the Ethereum issuance model, striking 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 as validators.
Faster Finality: Proposing a 3-slot (36-second) finality mechanism to replace the current 15-minute transaction confirmation time.
3) Cryptography
On-Chain Zk-ization: Leveraging ZK-SNARKs to enhance consensus security, support zkVM-based execution, and aggregate signatures into ZK proofs.
Quantum Security: Adopting quantum-resistant cryptographic schemes, such as hash-based signatures, to withstand future quantum computing threats.
Strong Randomness: Using Verifiable Delay Functions (VDFs) to generate unbiased randomness for validator selection.
4) Future Outlook
After the announcement, some on Crypto Twitter expressed concerns about the five-year timeline of this roadmap. However, Justin Drake assured the community that the updates will be rolled out incrementally. Given Ethereum's active efforts to address current user experience challenges, this progress is worth continued monitoring 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) in a single upgrade, comprising ten significant code changes. To manage the complexity, the upgrade is divided into two phases, with the first part scheduled to activate the mainnet in early 2025.
The primary objectives of this Pectra Upgrade are to improve Ethereum's PoS mechanism, optimize the user experience, and enhance Data Availability (DA) capabilities.
Validators and Network Health
EIP-7251: Raising the maximum effective staking balance to 2048 ETH, while retaining the 32 ETH minimum threshold. This adjustment allows large node operators to consolidate validators, while independent stakers benefit from compounding rewards. By reducing the total number of validators, it mitigates the network pressure as Ethereum approaches 1.6 million validators (as of November 2024), alleviating network bottleneck issues.
User Experience Optimization
EIP-7702: Introduces a new transaction type that allows Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) to delegate code execution through an authorization list. It supports the following features:
Batch Processing: Enabling users to complete token approval and spending operations in a single transaction.
Fee Delegation: Allowing third parties to pay the transaction fees on behalf of the user.
Permission Downgrading: Restricting account access privileges. These improvements make user account management more efficient and flexible.
EIP-2537: Introduces support for zero-knowledge cryptography (providing precompiled functions for efficient cryptographic operations on the BLS12-381 curve), significantly improving the efficiency of privacy applications and Rollup solutions.
Data Availability Improvements
EIP-7742: Prepares Ethereum for the dynamic Blob data capacity changes. By removing the redundant Blob maximum validation from the execution layer and delegating the dynamic Blob target management to the consensus layer, it achieves higher scalability during the expansion adjustments.
3. Unifying Ethereum L2
Source: @hal2001
1) Fragmentation in the Ethereum L2 Ecosystem
Ethereum's Layer 2 (L2) solutions have played a revolutionary role in addressing scalability issues, making transactions faster and cheaper. However, as these solutions have proliferated, they have also brought a significant challenge: fragmentation. Each L2 chain is an independent ecosystem with unique rules, interfaces, and liquidity pools. This fragmentation makes it cumbersome for users and developers to perform cross-chain operations. For example, transferring assets or executing governance votes between L2s requires complex bridging mechanisms, leading to poor user experience, higher costs, and inefficiency.
2) The Intention: A Bridge for Seamless Cross-Chain Operations
The concept of "Intention" serves as a unifying link in the fragmented Ethereum ecosystem, addressing this problem. Users can declare their expected operations, such as Token swaps or Non-Fungible Token (NFT) transfers, without manually managing the complexities of individual L2s. Intentions can be seen as a universal "order form" that explicitly specifies the user's desired outcome. Just as in online ordering, the system will coordinate multiple warehouses to fulfill the request, Intentions abstract away the technical details of the operating chains, providing a smoother experience.
The ERC-7683 standard has formalized the expression and execution of these Intentions, ensuring interoperability between the Ethereum mainnet, L2s, and sidechains. It provides the necessary structure for cross-chain communication, integrating the fragmented systems within a common framework. This coordination eliminates inefficiencies, allowing operations to flow seamlessly within the Ethereum ecosystem, ultimately making the system more consistent and user-friendly.
3) Synergistic Potential: ERC-7683 and EIP-7702
When "Intentions" are combined with EIP-7702 (focused on account abstraction), their power becomes even more pronounced. EIP-7702 allows Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) to temporarily act as smart contract wallets during transactions. This innovation eliminates the need for users to create dedicated smart contract wallets to perform complex operations (such as cross-chain interactions).
The integration of ERC-7683 and EIP-7702 enables users to directly initiate sophisticated cross-chain interactions from their EOAs. For example, a user can declare an Intention to swap Tokens on an L2, transfer the proceeds to another chain, and execute a governance vote - all within a seamless transaction. By combining the standardization of Intentions with the flexibility of account abstraction, the Ethereum ecosystem can provide a more streamlined user experience.
4. Conclusion
While Ethereum has long been focused on improving scalability, this year's Devcon has shown a strong shift towards addressing various user experience issues that have been previously overlooked. Although there are still many long-term goals, it is worth observing how Ethereum continues to evolve into a better product. Looking forward to the next Devcon!
Link to the article: https://www.hellobtc.com/kp/du/11/5547.html
Source: @Presto_Research
TRON's mainnet has been running for 4 years, and the ecosystem has developed rapidly. The number of TRON accounts has exceeded 100 million, and the total number of Blocks has exceeded 40 million. TRON's Non-Fungible Token (NFT) ecosystem is also booming, with the number of NFT transactions exceeding 100 million. Staking on the TRON network has become a popular way for users to earn Tokens. In addition to TRON, other blockchain projects such as Kin, BTC, ETH, FIL, HT, OP, AR, RON, and ONG have also seen significant development in their ecosystems.
