Ethereum withstands dynamic evolution as it equilibrates protocol improvement with user demand. Just as the Internet is the result of the cumulative contributions from innumerable people, Ethereum is the product of a disparate but ultimately harmonious work of countless people. It has a long and tried story, with many developments (and incidents) that have had positive changes (and setbacks). If you’re looking to get your hands on this cryptocurrency, Binance provides a detailed guide telling you everything you need to know about how to buy Ethereum.
Ethereum successfully merged on September 15, 2022, but more upgrades are coming to the network. Vitalik Buterin recently suggested that more could be accomplished on the Ethereum blockchain through experimentation. He wrote a blog post detailing several protocols, including account abstraction, ZK-EVMs, liquid staking, private mempools, and code precompiles, highlighting that Ethereum started with a simplicity philosophy. Vitalik Buterin advocates for minimal viable enshrining. But what does it imply, and how will it impact Ethereum’s roadmap?
What Does Enshrining Mean, And Why Is It Important?
Specific functionalities can be enshrined in the blockchain to facilitate implementation without strict rules, meaning complexity isn’t pushed to external layers. Enshrining involves enforcing the logic of a feature in the core of a Layer 1 protocol. The alternative, de-shrining, entails removing a feature from the base layer and pushing it out to be handled by smart contracts. Vitalik Buterin draws attention to the fact that there’s growing fascination within the Ethereum community with enshrining certain features in the core protocol. Months ago, Ethereum’s co-creator posted about the viability of the idea.
Inspired by the Unix philosophy, Vitalik Buterin noted that enshrining is necessary because blockchains are one-of-a-kind social systems, stressing that they’re not personal computing operating systems. Therefore, some features in the protocol can go beyond the existing rationales. Excessive enshrining can weaken the protocol’s trust and governance, undermining its neutrality. This is precisely why it’s necessary to find a middle ground. Vitalik Buterin proposes basic enshrinement, which allows Ethereum to see improvements such as low gas fees, better security, and lower centralization risks. It can address challenges without being too narrowly focused.
Vitalik Buterin Supports the Incorporation of Account Abstraction
According to Vitalik Buterin, the Ethereum protocol could enshrine more features. It might be necessary to bring back account abstraction. Account abstraction (ERC-4337) makes it possible for smart contracts to initiate transactions, unlocking numerous possibilities, such as eliminating seed phrase reliance or removing human error. You can provide someone complete access to your cryptocurrency or choose not to provide it to anyone. Nonetheless, account abstraction is expensive to use and deploy, so it’s not practical for Ethereum Layer 1. ERC-4337 wallets are more user-friendly but too big, taking up roughly 12,800 bytes on-chain.
ERC-4337 does the same thing as EIP-2938, the only difference being that it requires an enshrined in-protocol notion of validation and execution. Vitalik Buterin proposes creating an EIP that enshrines ERC-4337 corresponding accounts and transactions at the protocol level, pushing for its adoption on Layer 2. The return of the Ethereum standard for transactions would help maintain censorship resistance and promote gas efficiency, not to mention that it would support EVM opcodes. Account abstraction has undergone many revisions over the past years; it doesn’t require a hard fork and exists outside the Ethereum protocol.
Ethereum Could Verify EVM Execution In ZK
ZK-SNARK is a cryptographic proof system that enables one party to demonstrate they possess certain information without actually revealing it. There’s no interaction between the prover and the verifier. There are challenges to validating blocks of data within ZK-SNARK. To be more precise, the process of generating and verifying proofs requires considerable computational resources, which limits its application range and impacts the efficiency of the blockchain network. The complexity is pointless, given that ZK-SNARKs take advantage of Ethereum’s EVM. In the future, it might be possible to certify EVM execution in ZK as a protocol feature.
Enshrining ZK-SNARKs in Ethereum would make things smoother and reduce the need for additional governance within the roll-up system. They would be much more data-efficient if they didn’t need to carry witness data. Vitalik Buterin pointed out to the fact that liquid staking could encourage network participation, offering flexibility to those who commit their cryptocurrency for validation purposes. Lido Finance is currently one of the most popular liquid staking pools, allowing users to stake Ethereum with a minimum limit. Vitalik Buterin noted that Lido Finance (and other providers) have their own set of challenges.
The Bottom Line
Rather than striving to accommodate every possible feature at the base layer, Ethereum prefers building protocols on top of the blockchain to avoid sacrificing decentralization or security. The number of people using the Ethereum network has grown, creating the need for scaling solutions. Off-chain solutions are implemented independently of the Mainnet, meaning they require no changes to the existing protocol. Vitalik Buterin strongly believes that enshrining certain features outside Ethereum’s core simplifies the base protocol for increased flexibility. The decision to include or exclude protocols isn’t straightforward. As a matter of fact, it involves intricate compromises.
Enshrining too much can result in a more complex protocol, so it’s not a good idea to add too many features. For example, the implementation of precompiles on the Ethereum blockchain has failed to yield the desired results, proving to be susceptible to various risks and vulnerabilities. Precompiles behave like smart contracts and can be called with a determined gas cost; they’re usually implemented on the client side. Getting back on topic, enshrined features might not align with users’ needs, which tend to change with time, so they risk becoming underutilized.
All in all, we look forward to the upcoming upgrades as Ethereum advances into the future. The peer-to-peer network must strike a balance between protocol simplicity and advanced feature integration, which is simpler said than done. Enshrining new features could help ward off centralization and mitigate other risks within the ecosystem, but caution is of the essence. The debate over whether or not to enshrine will no doubt continue.
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