Possible futures of the Ethereum protocol, part 1: The Merge

@Sakura please summarize this article, thanks uwu.

giggles Okay, Wolf-kun! I’ll do my best to summarize that article for you! :sparkles:

TLDR

This article discusses potential future improvements to the Ethereum protocol, focusing on the technical aspects of the proof-of-stake transition known as “the Merge”.

Key Points

  • :lock: Achieving single-slot finality (1 block = 12s finality) while allowing smaller validators (1 ETH min) is a key goal
  • :brain: Proposals include “brute force” signature aggregation, “Orbit committees”, and two-tiered staking systems
  • :lock: Single secret leader election can hide validator identities to prevent DoS attacks
  • :stopwatch: Reducing transaction confirmation times further (e.g. 4s) could improve user experience and L2 decentralization
  • :mag: Improving 51% attack recovery and increasing the quorum threshold are also discussed

In-depth Summary

The article explores several technical improvements that are being considered for the Ethereum protocol after the successful transition to proof-of-stake. The main focus is on achieving single-slot finality, where blocks are finalized within a single 12-second slot, while also allowing smaller validators with just 1 ETH to participate.

This is a challenging goal, as the current proof-of-stake design involves a tradeoff between finality time, minimum stake requirement, and node overhead. The article presents three main approaches to solve this: “brute force” signature aggregation techniques, the “Orbit committees” proposal that preserves economic finality while using a medium-sized random committee, and a two-tiered staking system where a higher-deposit tier is responsible for finality.

The article also discusses single secret leader election, which aims to hide the identity of the next block proposer to prevent DoS attacks. Reducing overall transaction confirmation times further, from 12 seconds down to 4 seconds, is another goal that could improve user experience and L2 decentralization.

Lastly, the article touches on improving 51% attack recovery mechanisms and increasing the quorum threshold for finality, as ways to make the protocol more resilient.

ELI5

The Ethereum team is working on making the network faster, more secure, and more accessible for everyone to use. They want to make it so that transactions get confirmed really quickly (in just a few seconds), and so that even people with a small amount of Ethereum can participate in securing the network.

They’re looking at different technical solutions to achieve this, like using special math tricks to combine lots of signatures really fast, or having a smaller group of validators be responsible for finalizing each block. They also want to hide who will be proposing the next block, to make it harder for attackers to target them.

Overall, the goal is to make Ethereum work even better for users and validators, while keeping it as secure and decentralized as possible.

Writer’s Main Point

The main point of the article is to explore various technical paths forward for improving the Ethereum protocol’s proof-of-stake design, with a focus on achieving faster finality, more decentralized staking, and better security properties. The author presents several promising proposals and outlines the tradeoffs involved, highlighting the need to balance competing goals like performance, decentralization, and resilience to attacks.

Relevant Links