Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum Co-founder) – Designing Ethereum (Oct 2020)
Chapters
Abstract
Exploring the Evolution of Ethereum: Vitalik Buterin’s Vision for ETH2’s Scalability, Decentralization, and Values
In a recent episode of the Bankless podcast, Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, delved into the intricacies of Ethereum 2.0 (ETH2), emphasizing its continuity with Ethereum’s core values and social contract. The discussion covered key aspects such as the transition to proof of stake, sharding for scalability, and the network’s underlying political values like permissionlessness and decentralization. This article provides a comprehensive overview of Buterin’s insights, addressing skepticism surrounding ETH2, its core community values, and the technical advancements aimed at transforming Ethereum into a more efficient, democratic, and resilient blockchain.
Main Ideas:
1. Ethereum’s Journey from ETH1 to ETH2:
Ethereum 2.0 is not a complete overhaul but a natural evolution of the Ethereum network, featuring major upgrades like proof of stake and sharding to enhance scalability, energy efficiency, and democratic participation. The idea of transitioning to proof of stake emerged in 2015 with an aim to implement it in about one to one and a half years. Ethereum’s monetary policy has also evolved, initially proposing an ongoing issuance of 16 million ETH annually, but later adopting a minimum viable issuance approach. This shift was influenced by the practicality of proof-of-stake and the dynamics of proof-of-work mining. Recognizing the challenge of egalitarianism in proof-of-work systems, particularly with the advent of ASICs in mining, concerns about centralization and wealth inequality surfaced. This led to the decision to transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, intending to reduce ETH issuance and address the centralization concerns in mining.
2. Core Values and Political Ideals of Ethereum:
Ethereum is anchored in principles such as self-sovereign money, the elimination of intermediaries, and decentralized control. These principles are pivotal to ETH2’s design, emphasizing permissionlessness, decentralization, and resistance to control by any powerful minority. Ethereum aspires to be a non-neutral network, not favoring any specific group or interest.
3. Technical Innovations in Ethereum 2.0:
ETH2’s Proof of Stake aims at minimizing energy consumption and mitigating centralization risks. Sharding is anticipated to significantly increase Ethereum’s transaction capacity, potentially reaching up to 100,000 transactions per second. Ethereum prioritizes robustness to ensure security even in scenarios with a dishonest majority. The introduction of sharding was initially challenged by its complexity and the assumption of a non-adversarial network. However, the concept of random sampling introduced in 2015 and the development of data availability proofs in 2017, enabled secure sharded blockchains even under a 51% attack.
4. Challenges and Critiques of Ethereum’s Approaches:
Ethereum’s decentralized model offers greater resilience to disagreements and disputes compared to centralized systems, which have faced user disapproval and authoritarian actions. However, there are concerns regarding the egalitarian nature of Proof-of-Work and the implications of Proof-of-Stake on distribution and long-term network control.
5. Innovations in Scalability and Security:
Ethereum’s scalability is being addressed through rollups and sharding, with ETH2’s roadmap giving priority to roll-ups for immediate scalability improvements. The unique security mechanisms in Proof-of-Stake make it more resilient to attacks than Proof-of-Work. The recent realization that combining sharding with rollups can achieve high scalability has gained significant traction.
6. Ethereum’s Role in the Broader Crypto Ecosystem:
Ethereum’s emphasis on values sets it apart from other projects like Tron, highlighting an ongoing debate within the crypto ecosystem regarding the importance of values in blockchain projects. Ethereum actively advocates its values and the trade-offs involved.
7. Layer 2 Adoption and Its Implications:
Users are gradually transitioning to primarily operate on Layer 2 systems, with core applications remaining on Ethereum’s main chain. This migration allows for the adaptation and refinement of cross-rollup strategies. As L2 Rollups transform Ethereum, various applications and sidechains can connect directly to it, potentially centralizing transaction processing. Over time, users may increasingly rely on L2 systems, possibly spending years using Ethereum without interacting with the main chain (L1).
8. The Future of Ethereum and Blockchain Technology:
The future of Ethereum includes the integration of advanced technologies like ZK-SNARKs for base chain execution, with rollups offering a means to handle thousands of transactions per second, thereby reshaping Ethereum’s scalability landscape. Vitalik Buterin believes in the long-term potential of ZK roll-ups over optimistic roll-ups.
Technical Innovations in Sharding:
Sharding, a key feature in Ethereum 2.0, involves each node validating a small portion of the blocks and transactions, enhancing efficiency and reducing the computational load. To ensure security, strategies like rotating node assignments and random transaction indexing were developed. Ethereum 2.0 will incorporate sharding as a fundamental component, dividing the network into 64 shards managed by a beacon chain. This allows for parallel processing and scalability. Despite criticisms regarding its complexity and potential brittleness, recent advancements have lessened dependence on honest majority assumptions. Fraud proofs, which verify the integrity of information without checking every transaction, complement sharding to improve scalability. Ethereum’s future roadmap includes exploring rollup-centric approaches.
EIP-1559 and Its Impact:
EIP-1559 introduces a mechanism for burning transaction fees, which helps in stabilizing fee volatility and block size. It reinforces the centrality of Ether within the Ethereum ecosystem and reduces the political nature of Ether issuance, thus balancing the economics of the ecosystem. Additionally, EIP-1559 results in a significant portion of MEV being burned, further consolidating Ether’s centrality. The interplay of MEV and EIP-1559 leads to substantial Ether burning during spikes in transaction fees, providing a means to fund public goods beyond just securing the Ethereum network.
Ethereum 2.0 Transition and Beyond:
Ethereum 2.0’s transition starts with phase 0 introducing proof-of-stake, followed by phase 1 featuring data shards. The merge will integrate the existing Ethereum state into the ETH2 system, making it the primary execution layer. Before this merge, implementing EIP-1559 and stateless execution in ETH1 is seen as beneficial, along with efficiency improvements and other optimizations. The roll-up round, expected in 2020, initially favors optimistic roll-ups, but ZK roll-ups may become more prominent in the long term.
Concluding Remarks:
Ethereum 2.0 marks a major evolution in the Ethereum ecosystem, underscored by the commitment to values like permissionlessness, decentralization, and value-based governance. The adoption of proof-of-stake and sharding promises enhanced scalability and energy efficiency. Innovative mechanisms such as EIP-1559 and rollups further bolster scalability and security. Despite facing challenges, Ethereum steadfastly pursues its mission of creating a decentralized, democratic, and sustainable blockchain network. With the progression of ETH2, Ethereum is set to transform into a more resilient and versatile platform, capable of supporting a diverse array of applications and services.
Notes by: Alkaid