Blobs have officially arrived on ethereum via its latest “Dencun” hard fork, making it much cheaper to transact on the network's Layer 2 (L2) blockchains. What's next?
In a blog post published on Thursday, ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin outlined how he expects ethereum to scale for mass adoption, emphasizing a shift in development focus toward L2s.
Vitalik's take on ethereum layer 2
According to Vitalik, the newly deployed EIP 4844 (aka “blobs”) marked a “zero to one” milestone for ethereum scaling, after which all remaining scaling improvements will be “incremental” in comparison.
The upgrade creates a dedicated data availability space (or “blobspace”) on ethereum's base layer, where Layer 2 networks can publish batch transactions for a much lower cost than previously allowed. Networks set to benefit from the update include Polygon, Arbitrum, and Optimism, among others.
With blobs in place, one of ethereum's next goals may be to implement “data availability sampling,” a more efficient method of verifying blobs that could help greatly increase the network's blob space. This could allow the blobs to process approximately 1.33 megabytes of data per second.
“From now on, data availability sampling and increasing blob counts can be introduced behind the scenes, all without user or application involvement,” Vitalik wrote.
Next scaling goals, he said, will be to increase blob capacity and improve existing L2s, both of which carry minimal need for a hard fork.
To improve L2s, the developer recommends reducing transaction sizes through data compression, using L1s for security more sparingly, and scaling rollups internally. He also pushed for a real shift towards decentralization with L2 whose code can only be modified by security councils in exceptional circumstances.
The next ten years of ethereum
With blob publishing and increasing L2 adoption underway, Vitalik emphasized that developers need to start developing protocols that meet the standards of the current decade, not the last.
“We no longer have any excuses,” he wrote. “Today, we have all the tools we will need, and in fact most of the tools we will ever have, to create applications that are both cypherpunk and easy to use. And then we should go out and do it.”
Vitalik continues to advocate for developing more advanced features at the base layer of ethereum, allowing for greater simplicity and reducing the risk of errors in Layer 2 networks.
In recent weeks, Vitalik has proposed multiple ways to help decentralize ethereum staking away from large staking providers. These include creating new, more accessible betting levels through “rainbow support” and imposing tougher financial penalties on whale bettors.
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