Vitalik Buterin Foresees Diversified Evolution in Ethereum's Layer 2 Ecosystem
Summary:
Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, in a blog post, discusses the future evolution of the Ethereum layer 2 environment. He acknowledges the diverse strategies adopted by various protocols to enhance scalability, security, and reduce costs. Featuring Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) rollups, "sidechain ventures," and "almost-EVMs," he highlights the challenges and trade-offs of transitioning from layer 1 to layer 2 within the Ethereum ecosystem. He suggests different applications require variant levels of security and connectivity and pinpoints the upcoming hard fork, EIP-4844, as a significant update set to increase the network's data availability.
The co-creator of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, anticipates ongoing advancement in the array of strategies implemented within the Ethereum layer 2 environment. In a personal blog post, he offers an analysis of the current standing of Ethereum’s scalability infrastructure, which involves several layer 2 protocols adopting distinct strategies towards enhancing scalability, security, and inferior costs.
He spotlights Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) rollups by Arbitrum, Optimism, Scroll, Kakarot, and TaiKo as pivotal in enhancing the security of their solutions. On the other hand, "sidechain ventures" like Polygon generate their unique rollup solutions.
Additionally, Buterin points out the relevance of “almost-EVMs” such as zkSync, extensions like Arbitrum Stylus, and zero-knowledge proof pioneers Starknet in propelling the ecosystem’s scaling technology. However, transitioning from layer 1 to layer 2 within the Ethereum ecosystem remains challenging due to technical limitations and potential loss of momentum.
He also highlights interest from centralized, non-Ethereum projects looking to assure greater security via blockchain solutions. Typically, such projects previously depended on “permissioned consortium chains” for similar solutions. Additionally, non-financial platforms such as games and social media, seeking decentralization but not necessarily high-level security, are considered.
Taking a social media application as an example, Buterin argues that different sections of the application have varying functional needs. Functions like username registration and account recovery require high security, whereas routine low-value activities like posts and votes call for less security. Furthermore, a chain failure resulting in loss of a user's post would be a tolerable cost, while loss of an account due to a similar failure would be considerably more significant.
The Ethereum co-founder also explored the compromises involved in selecting different rollup solutions, offering scaling capabilities variant to the ecosystem. The level of "connectedness" to Ethereum relies on the ability to safely withdraw to Ethereum from L2s and to securely read data from the Ethereum blockchain.
Buterin suggests that higher security and tight connections are crucial for some applications, while others may require a more flexible arrangement for enhanced scalability. Ethereum's forthcoming hard fork is expected to introduce EIP-4844, nicknamed "proto-dank sharding," predicted to greatly augment the network's data availability. Additionally, Buterin points out that progress in data compression paves the way for superior functionalities.
Published At
10/31/2023 2:06:39 PM
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