in a new blog x.com/VitalikButerin/status/1846713513097810296″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>mail Titled “Possible Futures for the ethereum Protocol, Part 2: The Surge,” ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin outlined an ambitious roadmap with the goal of scaling ethereum’s transaction processing capacity to over 100,000 transactions per second. (TPS) at Layer 1 (L1) and Layer. 2 (L2) solutions. This initiative, known as “The Surge”, seeks to improve scalability while preserving decentralization and security.
Buterin began by reflecting on ethereum's initial scaling strategies, which involved sharding and Layer 2 protocols like state channels and Plasma. At first, ethereum had two scaling strategies on its roadmap, he wrote, pointing to a 2015 paper that looked at sharding, a method in which each node only needs to verify and store a fraction of transactions. This approach mirrors how peer-to-peer networks like BitTorrent work.
At the same time, Layer 2 protocols were developed to offload calculations and data from the main chain while taking advantage of the security of ethereum. Rollups emerged in 2019 as a powerful Layer 2 solution that required significant on-chain data bandwidth. “Fortunately, by 2019 fragmentation research had solved the problem of verifying 'data availability' at scale. As a result, the two paths converged and we got the rollup-centric roadmap that continues to be ethereum's scaling strategy today,” Buterin explained.
ethereum Roadmap: The Rise
The Surge aims to achieve several key goals: reach over 100,000 TPS on L1 and L2, preserve the decentralization and robustness of L1, ensure that at least some L2 fully inherit ethereum's core properties of trustlessness, openness, and resistance to censorship, and maximize interoperability between L2 to make ethereum feel like a unified ecosystem.
One of the main techniques to achieve these objectives is data availability sampling (DAS). Currently, ethereum's L1 data bandwidth is limited, limiting the cumulative TPS to about 174. To break this barrier, ethereum plans to implement PeerDAS, a form of one-dimensional sampling that allows nodes to check the availability of data from efficient way.
“Our medium-term goal is 16 MB per slot, which, when combined with improvements in cumulative data compression, would give us ~58,000 TPS,” Buterin said. In the future, two-dimensional sampling could be adopted to improve efficiency, although with greater complexity. “We need much more work to find the ideal version of 2D DAS and demonstrate its security properties,” he added.
Data compression techniques are also crucial to reducing the data footprint of transactions. These include signature aggregation using BLS signatures, address replacement with pointers to historical data, and custom serialization of transaction values. “This way we can represent most monetary values very compactly with a custom decimal floating point format, or even a dictionary of especially common values,” Buterin suggested.
Widespread plasma is another important component of The Surge. Plasma enables off-chain transactions with on-chain security guarantees. By incorporating SNARKs (Succinct Non-Interactive Knowledge Arguments), Plasma becomes more powerful and generalizable. “Even if only a subset of assets can be protected (…) the status quo of ultra-scalable EVM has already been greatly improved, which is a validium,” he said.
Buterin also emphasized the need to mature L2 testing systems. Most rollups today are not completely trustless and rely on security tips that can override testing systems. He highlighted the importance of reaching “Stage 2” rollups, which are fully secure and trustless. This involves formal verification, using mathematical techniques to demonstrate that test systems align with the EVM specification.
“We can create a formally verified SNARK tester from a minimal virtual machine,” he explained. Additionally, implementing multiple test systems, or “multiprovers,” ensures redundancy and security. “If the test systems coincide, the Security Council has no power,” Buterin stressed.
Improving interoperability between L2 is also a key objective. A major challenge is making the L2 ecosystem seamless for users. Buterin proposed several improvements, such as chain-specific addresses including the chain identifier to simplify cross-L2 transactions, standardized payment requests for easy and secure payment requests on different chains, and the development of protocols such as ERC-7683 and RIP. -7755 for efficient efficiency. asset exchanges and gas payments.
Buterin also advocated for light clients and keystore wallets to allow users to verify chains without relying on RPC providers and simplify cross-chain key management. “Our ability to successfully handle this issue is a testament to our ability to stay together as a community,” Buterin said.
While L2 scaling is vital, improving L1 remains crucial to the security and economic viability of ethereum. Buterin discussed strategies such as increasing the gas limit, making specific operations cheaper through proposals such as EOF (EVM Object Format), and exploring native accumulations. “A big question that any L1 scaling roadmap must answer is: what is the ultimate vision of what belongs in the L1 and what belongs in the L2?” he posed, emphasizing the need for balance to maintain ethereum's core strengths.
Buterin concluded: “Our task now is to complete the rollup-focused roadmap and resolve these issues, while preserving the robustness and decentralization that make ethereum L1 special.”
At press time, eth was trading at $2,625.
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